Latest / AFR Saints / Sean Salisbury on Tyler Shough: Can the Saints QB Make the Leap?

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Sean Salisbury on Tyler Shough: Can the Saints QB Make the Leap? · AFR Saints

• 0:00
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• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Salisbury hanging out with us, as he will, each Tuesday
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  Speaker 1: throughout the football season. We're so fired up to have
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  Speaker 1: Sean back. We'll do a segment of college, a segment
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  Speaker 1: of pro, as we always do. Sean, the Saints are
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  Speaker 1: an interesting one because optimism sort of abounds around here
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  Speaker 1: because the way Tyler Shuck played last year in the
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  Speaker 1: last nine starts going five and four. The question is,
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  Speaker 1: what type of leap can he take? What do you think,
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  Speaker 1: based on what limited we've seen, Shuck, is a realistic
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  Speaker 1: year two expectation for the Saints quarterback?
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  Speaker 2: I thought he made a bunch of great, I think
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  Speaker 2: he made a bunch of great leaps we talked about
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  Speaker 2: as the season was going. I think he ended up
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  Speaker 2: with like five and four or something as a starter.
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  Speaker 2: Played well, considering he didn't start at the season. I
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  Speaker 2: know it's just a game over 500, but considering the
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  Speaker 2: resources and, you know, what they were going through and
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  Speaker 2: when he got the gig and the expectations, which were,
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  Speaker 2: I think overall as a team, not very high, but
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  Speaker 2: he had to come in and change those expectations, which,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I'm big on, when people talk to me
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  Speaker 2: about traits of a great quarterback is do you elevate
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  Speaker 2: the guys around me?
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  Speaker 3: And he did. And I know that says, well, how
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  Speaker 3: do you do that? I don't know. I don't know.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know that answer.
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  Speaker 2: I just know by making plays in your expectations, if
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  Speaker 2: you expect it, somehow guys respond. I, I expect him
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  Speaker 2: to take another leap in a couple of places, protect
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  Speaker 2: the ball a little bit better. Well, especially in the pocket,
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  Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying? Secure it and get better
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  Speaker 2: throwing the deep ball. Because when you look at it,
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  Speaker 2: the things he does well, high football IQ, no doubt.
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  Speaker 2: underrated lower half movement on the edge for a guy that's,
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  Speaker 2: that's got a lot of hype to his game.
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  Speaker 3: It's a big guy, invaluable experience.
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  Speaker 2: And Maddie, you and I talked about a lot when
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  Speaker 2: they finally, you know, when they're going through the quarterback
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  Speaker 2: situation and trying to decide what they had to do,
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  Speaker 2: we needed to find out no matter who it was.
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  Speaker 2: And when you draft a guy, we drafted shook is
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  Speaker 2: coming into this year.
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  Speaker 3: Where were you?
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  Speaker 2: If you didn't play him and find out, then you
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  Speaker 2: come to the draft in 2026 draft, and you're like, man,
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  Speaker 2: what do we do right now?
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  Speaker 3: Well, they were able to find out that they believe, and.
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  Speaker 2: I do too, that as we go back in hindsight,
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  Speaker 2: where they drafted him was right. The guy's got some
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  Speaker 2: ability and experience. So, listen, accurate, simple play. You know
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  Speaker 2: I'm big on the greatest simple play guy in the world,
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  Speaker 2: and high IQ was the guy who played there that
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  Speaker 2: took him to a Super Bowl in Drew Brees.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not saying he's Drew Brees, but he's got some
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  Speaker 3: of those traits.
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  Speaker 2: And he's obviously a bigger body and better feet outside
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  Speaker 2: the pocket. So it gives Kellen Moore a chance to
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  Speaker 2: do something. Add Jordan Tyson when he's healthy. It was
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  Speaker 2: such a bummer to have that setback because with the lobby,
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  Speaker 2: they've started to build on it.
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  Speaker 3: And ETN's a versatile back. I expect maybe quantum.
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  Speaker 2: And we don't have the M at the end of
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  Speaker 2: quantum just yet.
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  Speaker 3: Leaps is fine.
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  Speaker 2: I think that you're going to see Drastic might be
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  Speaker 2: a little harsh because I think the way he played
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  Speaker 2: showed us there's a lot of ability there. But I
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  Speaker 2: think he does the he makes the simple stuff pretty simple.
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  Speaker 2: And I know that sounds pretty simple on my terms,
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  Speaker 2: but to me, the best are able to sustain that.
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  Speaker 2: Guys like me just didn't make some plays, do it sometimes.
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  Speaker 2: I was a some timer. He looks to be a
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  Speaker 2: guy that can do it all the time. Now, when
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  Speaker 2: the big shots there, you have to deal with it.
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  Speaker 2: And when you're playing against pressure, you've got to be
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  Speaker 2: able to deliver the ball against pressure. But in that
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  Speaker 2: short intermediate stuff, he's really efficient and really good at it.
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  Speaker 2: So when people say, well, efficient, they always want to
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  Speaker 2: hear overly overpowering and can throw it 150 miles an
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  Speaker 2: hour and huge plays.
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to tell you, give me the other.
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  Speaker 2: Guys first that make the move chains and then hit
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  Speaker 2: the big ones there.
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  Speaker 3: For him, the improvements have to be just secure the
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  Speaker 3: football in the pocket.
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  Speaker 2: And make sure that when the big shots are there,
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  Speaker 2: because Kellen Moore will take them, that you hit them.
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  Speaker 3: But I think he's way ahead of schedule.
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  Speaker 2: And I think the New Orleans Saints, when you just
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  Speaker 2: look at stability that they're trying to create at that position,
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  Speaker 2: and injuries elsewhere are going to help it, but keep
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  Speaker 2: him upright. Because when you keep him upright in pocket,
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  Speaker 2: when it's clean, the guy's really frigging good.
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  Speaker 3: And when they say, well, isn't everybody? No, everybody isn't.
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  Speaker 2: Because it goes back to not everybody can make the
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  Speaker 2: simple play in a clean pocket. But those are the
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  Speaker 2: things that starting quarterbacks that sustain really good play are
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  Speaker 2: supposed to make. There's nothing worse than a clean pocket
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  Speaker 2: third and five guy runs a flat right.
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  Speaker 3: You got a curl flat combo. The guy sit in
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  Speaker 3: the flat and bounce it to him. And now we're punting.
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  Speaker 3: We've seen it.
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  Speaker 2: You got Yanks went into the ground and the mere
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  Speaker 2: mortals have done it.
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  Speaker 3: But those guys, you just don't miss those plays. They
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  Speaker 3: just don't.
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  Speaker 2: And so I think Shook's got a lot of that
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  Speaker 2: good stuff in him. And there's going to be improvement.
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  Speaker 2: He's going to see it more. It's going to become
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  Speaker 2: a clearer picture because he's got experience from a rookie year,
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  Speaker 2: but played a lot of football and is with an
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  Speaker 2: offensive coach, meaning the head coach that knows how to attack.
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  Speaker 2: So you don't ever have to worry about does he
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  Speaker 2: know who to get and how to get him and
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  Speaker 2: protections and that. But the protection, making sure the pocket
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  Speaker 2: stays clean, he's efficient outside it and that the deep
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  Speaker 2: ball and securing the football is hold true. But I
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  Speaker 2: would expect that the New Orleans Saints fans are going
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  Speaker 2: to be quite pleased with the development and the next level,
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  Speaker 2: because this is a winnable division by anybody.
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  Speaker 3: It just is. It really is a clean pocket.
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  Speaker 2: And Shook's going to be, I think, one of those
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  Speaker 2: that people are grateful that they drafted him and they
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  Speaker 2: got themselves a sustainable starting quarterback.
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  Speaker 1: Sorry, Sean. I want to ask about the division. I'm
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  Speaker 1: glad you went there, but let me get one more
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  Speaker 1: before we do that, which is, so I'm glad you
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  Speaker 1: brought up Tyson and Travis Aitken and Look, they invested
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  Speaker 1: a lot in this offense. David Edwards at guard to
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  Speaker 1: do what you said, to help solidify that line. They
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  Speaker 1: drafted three receivers. I mean, they've given him weapons. They
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  Speaker 1: were 28th in the NFL in scoring last year, 23rd
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  Speaker 1: in total offense. I don't need a prediction of yards
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  Speaker 1: per game, but is this the top half of the
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  Speaker 1: NFL offense? Is it something that could bump on being like,
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  Speaker 1: a top 10 offense? Are they still in the 20s? Like,
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  Speaker 1: peak with all they've added. Like, where do you think
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  Speaker 1: they fall? Like, what's reasonable?
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 2: And you and I both know that regarding explosiveness on
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  Speaker 2: offense and upgrading points per game and time of possession
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  Speaker 2: to keep other people off the field, it'll also come
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  Speaker 2: down to, like it does with most teams, you got
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  Speaker 2: to score, but you got to get stops.
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  Speaker 3: And that's for another conversation we'll have.
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  Speaker 2: But I, listen, I was so bummed when Tyson got
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  Speaker 2: hurt because I said, man, I can't wait to see
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  Speaker 2: how vertical they get, and when they're running mesh and
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  Speaker 2: play the horizontal game that they really have always been
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  Speaker 2: good at. I can't wait to see how they challenge
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  Speaker 2: secondaries and the back end on a regular basis with Shook.
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  Speaker 2: And Kellen's not going to be afraid to push the
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  Speaker 2: ball down the field because they weren't the best deep
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  Speaker 2: ball-throwing team. I imagine he has the expectations like you
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  Speaker 2: and I do. They can't finish down there. And in
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  Speaker 2: a division that's winnable, put it this way, if they're
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  Speaker 2: sitting in the middle of the pack, that would be–
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  Speaker 2: not just the middle pack in their conference, I'm talking
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  Speaker 2: about the middle pack in the NFL, which their ability
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  Speaker 2: is there.
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  Speaker 3: They've got versatile. When Kamara's good and ready to go,
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  Speaker 3: they've got depth there.
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  Speaker 2: They've tried to fix the interior so they can let
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  Speaker 2: the quarterback set his feet. They've got a head coach
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  Speaker 2: that's got a call place where you can go score,
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  Speaker 2: but you don't want to be USC where you scored
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  Speaker 2: a bunch and give up a bunch in the past.
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  Speaker 2: So they've got to solidify it on defense. I expect
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  Speaker 2: them to be a middle-of-the-pack offense team. I'm starting out
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  Speaker 2: right now. Now, two years from now, we're talking about 2026.
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  Speaker 2: I expect them to be far better because you're going
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  Speaker 2: to have full season continuity, you would hope, for health-wise
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  Speaker 2: with the quarterback. You've gotten better and more physical to
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  Speaker 2: protect it. And when Tyson, whenever that is, gets healthy
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  Speaker 2: and you've got your full arsenal, they've got some guys
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  Speaker 2: that can flat-ass go get it. And again, a play caller,
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  Speaker 2: when you've got two touchdowns up, he's going to try
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  Speaker 2: to go score two more.
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  Speaker 3: So I would fully expect them.
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  Speaker 2: To score, you know, I don't know what the number's
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  Speaker 2: going to be, but there is no way in my
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  Speaker 2: mind if they're 85% healthy that we're talking at the
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  Speaker 2: end of this season and you're telling me that they're
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  Speaker 2: the 24th or 25th best offense in this league. I
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  Speaker 2: don't know what that's going to lead to, but I
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  Speaker 2: know when you've got a quarterback, perimeter playmakers, and an
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  Speaker 2: offensive line that's going to be better, and a quarterback who,
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  Speaker 2: for the most part, throwing the ball protects, it just
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  Speaker 2: can't give up short fields to other teams.
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  Speaker 3: I would fully expect that this can compete.
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  Speaker 2: Atlanta's pretty good offensively when it talks about their perimeter people.
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  Speaker 3: We know Baker's going to compete, Bryce Young.
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  Speaker 2: All of them are all looking to upgrade as well.
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  Speaker 2: I would expect that the New Orleans Saints, especially with
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  Speaker 2: the play caller and a head coach that's got guts,
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  Speaker 2: I would expect them to jump eight to ten notches
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  Speaker 2: offensively this year when it comes to ranking.
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  Speaker 1: The highest scoring team in the division last year was Tampa.
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  Speaker 1: They were 18th at 22 points a game.
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  Speaker 3: Winnable division still.
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  Speaker 1: So that's where I want to wrap. So, Bucs, Panthers
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  Speaker 1: won the division last year with a losing record on
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  Speaker 1: a tiebreaker. So Panthers, Falcons, Bucs, Saints, if you're handicapping
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  Speaker 1: this division, I don't mean from like a Vegas handicap, but.
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  Speaker 3: It's like, what do you see? This is one of those,
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  Speaker 3: and you cannot say this about every division.
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  Speaker 2: You just can't. And most of them you can't. Matter
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  Speaker 2: of fact, if I go out West, there's no way
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  Speaker 2: the Raiders are going to win the division, even though
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  Speaker 2: they've gotten better. I mean, we can go, the Cleveland
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  Speaker 2: Browns are not winning the division. They're just not. The
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  Speaker 2: Jets are not winning the division. so we can go
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  Speaker 2: around most of these you know during in the conference
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  Speaker 2: and most of these divisions and say last to first
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  Speaker 2: for this division you literally can take the team who
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  Speaker 2: finished at the end and they can be staring at
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  Speaker 2: the division championship when this is over there i mean
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  Speaker 2: you look at there's a weakness or a glaring one
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  Speaker 2: on every team did we look at tampa I like
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  Speaker 2: Baker Mayfield's competitiveness and how good they are, but, you know,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: a little long in the tooth of wide receiver in
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  Speaker 2: some cases, how happy is Baker going to be?
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  Speaker 3: You look at Carolina, still trying to see them take
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  Speaker 3: another level.
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  Speaker 2: Well coached, but there's nothing that tells you with them
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  Speaker 2: that they're a dominant team and they're two or three
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  Speaker 2: injuries away from coming back to the pack. Atlanta, man,
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  Speaker 2: you got the, you know, from pits and you got
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  Speaker 2: as good a running back as there is in a
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  Speaker 2: league and Drake London, they can score from the parking lot.
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  Speaker 3: The question is, Who's going to do it? Quarterback.
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  Speaker 2: They're still scrambling around. Tua's not there just by accident
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  Speaker 2: in the injury situation, the durability. You may very well
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  Speaker 2: see the third string quarterback in Atlanta play a handful
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  Speaker 2: of games this year. So listen, I'm not sitting on
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: here to brown nose the New Orleans Saints, but you've
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  Speaker 2: got to be optimistic in this division because there's no
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  Speaker 2: dominant team where you go in and say it's theirs
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  Speaker 2: and then everybody else is fitting in scrambling for a
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  Speaker 2: playoff spot or to stay afloat. No.
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  Speaker 3: Carolina has gotten better. Bryce Young has gotten better.
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  Speaker 2: Atlanta's got some monsters, but how good is the quarterback
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  Speaker 2: and how healthy is the quarterback? Tampa Bay's got some
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  Speaker 2: veteran grit and a competitive, a hell of a competitive
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  Speaker 2: guy and keeping Vita on that team is a smart move,
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  Speaker 2: but it's winnable. There's no way this team in November, mid-November,
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  Speaker 2: meaning the Saints is out of this. And there's no
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  Speaker 2: way when we get to December, we're saying the Saints
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  Speaker 2: are done. Now, if they were playing in a different division, maybe,
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  Speaker 2: But the door is more than cracked. It's open to
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: go take advantage of it because you look at the
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: other teams in some key positions, there's some things that
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  Speaker 2: have to be done with three of the other teams
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  Speaker 2: in the division.
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  Speaker 3: There's not one dominant. Yep, there's the winner in this division.
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  Speaker 2: I give the Saints a fighting chance and a really
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  Speaker 2: good chance, especially if they can get healthy on the
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  Speaker 2: perimeter and get some stops. But you're not dealing with
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  Speaker 2: having to stop Lamar Jackson every week.
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  Speaker 3: There's a lot of question marks in the division.
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  Speaker 2: Saints have theirs as well, but the Saints did a
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  Speaker 2: hell of a job of upgrading it, positions that were
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: much needed this offseason.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: He is Sean Salisbury at Sean Unfiltered. Y'all give him
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: a follow on X. Make sure you go subscribe to
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Unpaved on YouTube. Sean, show's back coming up Monday.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: Is that right?
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: I saw on Twitter.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: Be back on Monday. Yes, sir. Awesome.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Y'all check it out. One o'clock every single weekday. He
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: is Sean Salisbury. Thank you, sir.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: Matty, thank you. Always appreciate it, brother.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, man. We're looking forward to doing this each week.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Sean is with us every Tuesday. Thank you for being
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: with us. We are brought to you by Arco Power Systems. Arco.com, Arco.com, A-R-C-C-O, Arco.com.
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  Speaker 1: Arco.com. Arco.com. I love what Sean said there because I
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  Speaker 1: don't think Saints fans are delusional. You tell me if
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: you disagree. Like, I don't think anyone's delusional. Somebody's delusional.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: But most people are not delusional in thinking this is
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: a team that's a contender. But what I love that
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: he said there is you're going to be playing meaningful
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: games in November, which the Saints have not done in
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: half a decade. So if you tell me this team
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: is playing meaningful games in November, sign me up. Because
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: a 1-7 start last year, that sucks. Because you're out
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: of it. You've got nothing to play for except the future.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: You tell me, come November, this team is playing meaningful
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: games to try to win a bad division. Not be
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: a contender. But can you get to 9-8, win a
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: bad division, host a playoff game? If the Saints achieve
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: that in year two under Kellen Moore, then I'm like,
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: all right, Katie, bar the door. Nail the draft free agency.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Let's see if you go make a push in the
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: NFC in 2027. But you've got to take that step
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: this year. It's good to hear someone from an outside
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: perspective looking in who knows what he's looking at. look
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: and go, yeah, that is a very rational, reasonable, plausible path.