Latest / AFR Saints / Saints Training Camp Preview: Biggest Storylines & Veterans on the Bubble
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- 0:23Speaker 1: dot org. Golf dot Breck dot org. Yeah, still working
- 0:26Speaker 1: through the recovery process and so you know, I don't
- 0:29Speaker 1: necessarily see him out there in the in the football elements,
- 0:32Speaker 1: but he's done awesome. John uh Yeah. Back at the
- 0:36Speaker 1: end of May, Kellen Moore didn't have much to say
- 0:39Speaker 1: about Kendre Miller. Well that change as the Saints gets
- 0:43Speaker 1: set to open up training camp Tuesday. The Saints will
- 0:47Speaker 1: hit the practice field as they get ready for year
- 0:49Speaker 1: two under Kellen Moore. I know what I'm keeping an
- 0:52Speaker 1: eye on throughout camp. Last Ross Jackson the same Louisiana
- 0:56Speaker 1: Sports dot Net and locked on Saints good enough to
- 0:58Speaker 1: hang out with us, Yo.
- 0:59Speaker 2: Man a hey Man doing great, Glad to be here.
- 1:03Speaker 1: Kendra Miller, I know It's not the most important aspect
- 1:08Speaker 1: of this team, but it's one of the most interesting
- 1:11Speaker 1: to me, considering what you have invested a former third
- 1:13Speaker 1: round pick, and it looked like Ross last year he
- 1:15Speaker 1: was emerging. He was looking like the explosive guy we
- 1:18Speaker 1: thought he could be coming out of TCU. The injury
- 1:20Speaker 1: chops him down. Now you bring in hn They re
- 1:23Speaker 1: signed Kamara, a couple of young backs as well. Is
- 1:26Speaker 1: Kendra Miller going to make this team?
- 1:29Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean that's really what this training camp is
- 1:31Speaker 2: going to be all about. Right, He's going to a
- 1:32Speaker 2: contract year here in twenty twenty six, and now he's
- 1:34Speaker 2: got to prove again that he's going to be able
- 1:36Speaker 2: to stay on the field, stay healthy, and continue to contribute.
- 1:39Speaker 2: It's interesting, I think, and as you highlighted, the biggest
- 1:43Speaker 2: question mark around Kendrick is very rarely anything about his talent.
- 1:46Speaker 2: It's always about whether or not that talent's going to
- 1:48Speaker 2: be on the football field or not. So I really
- 1:49Speaker 2: think that's what this all comes down to. I think
- 1:52Speaker 2: training camp is going to be massive for him. Head
- 1:54Speaker 2: coach Kellen Moore said last year they effectively were effectively
- 1:58Speaker 2: starting off with him with a slate now it's a
- 2:01Speaker 2: clean slate plus an ACL tear at this point, and
- 2:03Speaker 2: that's going to be something he's got to show that
- 2:05Speaker 2: he can come back from maintain that explosion, and keep
- 2:08Speaker 2: it going. I think if he's able to do that,
- 2:09Speaker 2: there's a lot of reason to keep him around. He's
- 2:11Speaker 2: an explosive rusher, he's hard to bring down. He can
- 2:14Speaker 2: contribute on special teams for you as well, and so
- 2:16Speaker 2: I think for all those reasons, he has the edge
- 2:18Speaker 2: if he's able to stay on the field throughout training camp.
- 2:21Speaker 2: But he's going to have some competition along the way,
- 2:23Speaker 2: and of course the biggest competition is going to be
- 2:24Speaker 2: his availability.
- 2:25Speaker 1: How many running backs do you think they keep Ross?
- 2:29Speaker 2: I think they could probably keep four. You know, look,
- 2:32Speaker 2: this is a team that no longer utilizes a fullback,
- 2:36Speaker 2: much to Hester's dismay there, but you know it's it's
- 2:42Speaker 2: but because of that, it does give them the opportunity
- 2:44Speaker 2: to be able to keep somebody around. And in the
- 2:47Speaker 2: past maybe that spot was kind of taken up by
- 2:50Speaker 2: Taysom Hill right last year when he returned back to
- 2:53Speaker 2: the lineup and he was able to contribute to the
- 2:55Speaker 2: run game. You don't have that here. Going into twenty
- 2:57Speaker 2: twenty six, and while Tyler Shutt can run, you probably
- 3:01Speaker 2: want to protect him as best as possible. And so
- 3:03Speaker 2: I would imagine that keeping Travis h Chan junior, keeping
- 3:06Speaker 2: Alvin Kamara means that there could be a spot for
- 3:08Speaker 2: two more running backs here.
- 3:11Speaker 1: Okay, I want to stay on the offensive side. We know,
- 3:15Speaker 1: look a year ago at this point Russ, we didn't
- 3:17Speaker 1: know the quarterback was going to be. It was a
- 3:19Speaker 1: Rattler Shuck battle and that ate up all of camp.
- 3:21Speaker 1: I guess Hainer in there as well. But now we
- 3:23Speaker 1: know it's Tyler Shuck's team. But the backup quarterback is unsettled,
- 3:27Speaker 1: and you've got Rattler returning. But they went and added
- 3:29Speaker 1: a young veteran and Zach Wilson. What should we know
- 3:33Speaker 1: about that competition or is it a competition?
- 3:37Speaker 2: Yeah? I think you got a little bit of a
- 3:38Speaker 2: competition there. I think the thing that's super interesting about
- 3:41Speaker 2: it is what are you looking for and what's going
- 3:43Speaker 2: to be most valuable for the development of Tyler Shuck
- 3:46Speaker 2: and what can you get out of those two players?
- 3:48Speaker 2: Is going to be able to check those boxes? I
- 3:50Speaker 2: do think, of course the quarterback too, spot is about
- 3:53Speaker 2: who's the guy that could step in and start for
- 3:55Speaker 2: you if you needed to, or who's the guy that
- 3:57Speaker 2: can go in at even the end of a game
- 4:00Speaker 2: and just is the best at handoffs right while you're
- 4:02Speaker 2: trying to run the clock out, whatever it might be. There's,
- 4:04Speaker 2: you know, those pieces of it. But I also think
- 4:06Speaker 2: that the other big thing here that you're looking for
- 4:08Speaker 2: is who's going to be the guy that Tyler Schuck
- 4:10Speaker 2: goes to on the sideline and has conversations with along
- 4:13Speaker 2: with the offensive coordator Dougnas Smeyer and head coach Kellen
- 4:16Speaker 2: Moore and says, Okay, what did you see? Because that's
- 4:19Speaker 2: what a lot of the you know, you think about
- 4:20Speaker 2: the Chase Daniels of the world, the Mark Brunell's of
- 4:23Speaker 2: the world, the Teddy Bridgewaters of the world. Those guys
- 4:25Speaker 2: that were great backup quarterbacks for New Worlds while Drew
- 4:27Speaker 2: Brees was around. Those were guys that he could go
- 4:30Speaker 2: off to the sideline with and have a conversation with.
- 4:32Speaker 2: And so who's going to be that player? And so
- 4:35Speaker 2: the value of what you're trying to weigh here is
- 4:37Speaker 2: the institutional knowledge, which is where Spencer Raller kind of
- 4:40Speaker 2: has a little bit of the advantage there being that
- 4:42Speaker 2: he started multiple games in this system with head coach
- 4:45Speaker 2: Kellen Moore just last year. Or is the overall NFL
- 4:49Speaker 2: experience of a guy like Zach Wilson more valuable. So
- 4:52Speaker 2: it'll be interesting to see exactly what it is that
- 4:53Speaker 2: they find most valuable out of those two things, in
- 4:55Speaker 2: addition to the on field performance, which of course will
- 4:58Speaker 2: factor in. But I do think that the above the
- 5:00Speaker 2: shoulders ness of those two guys is going to be
- 5:01Speaker 2: a big deciding back ross.
- 5:03Speaker 1: Can they keep them both considering the emergency quarterback on
- 5:06Speaker 1: game day?
- 5:07Speaker 2: Yeah, that certainly maximizes things you can even get. You know,
- 5:09Speaker 2: you could potentially even get one of those guys with
- 5:11Speaker 2: the practice squad potentially. But the hunter Deckers factor kind
- 5:15Speaker 2: of has an impact there. I imagine Kellen Moore and
- 5:17Speaker 2: the Saints really like Hunter Deckers, like what, you know,
- 5:20Speaker 2: the development piece that he is, and so how he
- 5:23Speaker 2: factors in as well, turns that from a two person
- 5:26Speaker 2: conversation to a three person conversation in terms of keeping
- 5:29Speaker 2: that third quarterback either on the active roster or on
- 5:31Speaker 2: the practice squad, But certainly a round that they can
- 5:33Speaker 2: go with that emergency third quarterback with at Ross Jackson.
- 5:37Speaker 1: Nola is where you can get him. You can always
- 5:38Speaker 1: read him for free at Louisiana Sports do on net,
- 5:40Speaker 1: listen or watch for free locked on Saints one. On defense,
- 5:44Speaker 1: I don't get a few maybe that you're you're keeping
- 5:46Speaker 1: an eye on. I'm fascinated by this linebacker rotation because
- 5:49Speaker 1: they keep adding young guys there, and the vivor has
- 5:52Speaker 1: already seen to Mario Davis out and it makes me think,
- 5:55Speaker 1: Ross that when you look at the contract, this could
- 5:57Speaker 1: be Pete Werner's last year in New Orleans. Are you
- 6:00Speaker 1: seeing the same thing in this camp that this feels
- 6:02Speaker 1: really like an important month for Pete Warner?
- 6:06Speaker 2: Yeah? I think so. I think it's important for him,
- 6:08Speaker 2: and I also think that there's the chance that it
- 6:11Speaker 2: doesn't have a lot to do with what he does.
- 6:14Speaker 2: It might really be all about what Danny Stutsman does.
- 6:17Speaker 2: The stat that always keeps jumping out to me about
- 6:19Speaker 2: Danny Stutsman in particular, and we're talking about kind of
- 6:22Speaker 2: like keeping this linebacker room interest and he's a player
- 6:25Speaker 2: that certainly does that. He took just over two hundred
- 6:28Speaker 2: snaps last year, had fifty three tackles. He had tackles
- 6:30Speaker 2: on twenty six percent of his defensive snaps, which is
- 6:33Speaker 2: an insane frequency that you know, you go from two
- 6:37Speaker 2: hundred snaps to six hundred steps, you're probably not, you know,
- 6:40Speaker 2: sustaining that rate of playmaking. But you add on top
- 6:44Speaker 2: of that a five point four percent misstackle rate. Just
- 6:46Speaker 2: really reliable as a guy that can come in and
- 6:49Speaker 2: make plays, and he made those plays at just beyond
- 6:52Speaker 2: and behind the line of scrimmage throughout the season last
- 6:55Speaker 2: year when he got his opportunities. And so depending on
- 6:57Speaker 2: what his performance is, the battle might be a little
- 7:00Speaker 2: one sided, right because it might not become about what
- 7:02Speaker 2: it is that Pete Warner does over the course of
- 7:04Speaker 2: the training camp month, but what does Danny Sutzman do.
- 7:07Speaker 2: And so I think it's equally important for both of
- 7:10Speaker 2: those players. And then the Kate Nellis piece of it
- 7:13Speaker 2: is super interesting too, because he has the ability to
- 7:15Speaker 2: rust the passer. He has all of these incentives built
- 7:18Speaker 2: into his contracts to start at five sacks and continue
- 7:20Speaker 2: to progress from there. And so when he is down
- 7:24Speaker 2: at the line of scrimmage, for instance, as opposed to
- 7:26Speaker 2: drop back and coverage, is there an opportunity maybe to
- 7:28Speaker 2: have two linebackers on the field with him as opposed
- 7:30Speaker 2: to one linebacker and those coverage downs, and so that
- 7:33Speaker 2: becomes really interesting piece to it as well. When they
- 7:35Speaker 2: decide to treat kay Nellis like an edge rusher, how
- 7:38Speaker 2: that may be maximize his opportunities for both Pee Warner
- 7:40Speaker 2: and Danny Subs.
- 7:41Speaker 1: You also were right to point out lay last season
- 7:43Speaker 1: at the opportunities that a guy like Isaiah Staalberg got.
- 7:46Speaker 1: And there's also Jalen Ford. Are those guys that potentially
- 7:50Speaker 1: make this team out I'm just thinking numbers.
- 7:52Speaker 2: They are a linebacker, yeah, I mean, look, they've got
- 7:55Speaker 2: six linebackers. Keeping five is on the active roster isn't
- 8:00Speaker 2: out of the ordinary, right, because you want a couple
- 8:02Speaker 2: of guys that are also going to be able to
- 8:03Speaker 2: contribute on special teams. You'd probably like to not have
- 8:06Speaker 2: Cad Nellis running down the field on kick coverage, right,
- 8:08Speaker 2: You'd like to keep him reserved what you're doing defensively,
- 8:12Speaker 2: and so having guys like Isaiah Stalbert as well as
- 8:14Speaker 2: Dalen Ford that can both provide your depth at the
- 8:17Speaker 2: position but also get after, you know, returners and cover
- 8:21Speaker 2: in the punt game cover, in the kick game, Isaiah Stalberg,
- 8:25Speaker 2: rushing even rushing punters in some cases, there's a lot
- 8:28Speaker 2: of you know, opportunities to be able to keep those
- 8:30Speaker 2: guys involved there. And so the only person that ends
- 8:32Speaker 2: up being the odd man out at the position is
- 8:34Speaker 2: Jackson Jackson Sermon, who the same signed late this offseason.
- 8:38Speaker 2: He's the son of Stints linebacker coach Peter Servon. But
- 8:41Speaker 2: he also has a quick way and quick path to
- 8:44Speaker 2: the practice squad as a potential, you know, additional body there,
- 8:47Speaker 2: a guy that could get elevated throughout the season and
- 8:49Speaker 2: things like that. And so, really like the Faints have
- 8:51Speaker 2: six linebackers and it's it's unless they continue to add
- 8:55Speaker 2: more options, it would not be surprising at all to
- 8:57Speaker 2: see all six of them involved in the overall roster,
- 9:01Speaker 2: which includes the active roster and the practice spot going
- 9:03Speaker 2: into twenty twenty six.
- 9:04Speaker 1: Ross, what are position battles or players are you keeping
- 9:08Speaker 1: an eye on when they have the practice field tomorrow?
- 9:11Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, the number one number that I'm looking for
- 9:15Speaker 2: when I get out on the practice field is going
- 9:16Speaker 2: to be number zero. Where's Jordan Tyson and how much
- 9:20Speaker 2: is he doing? Are the Saints finally letting him go
- 9:24Speaker 2: out there and you know, be a part of team
- 9:28Speaker 2: drills and be involved in all these other things. Or
- 9:29Speaker 2: do we continue to see a little bit of a
- 9:31Speaker 2: ramp up because he wasn't involved in all season practices.
- 9:34Speaker 2: A little bit of a ramp up wouldn't be massively surprising.
- 9:37Speaker 2: And of course, you know there's reporting days and then
- 9:40Speaker 2: there's also the actual practice day, and so we'll see
- 9:42Speaker 2: how quickly he's able to get involved. But that'll be
- 9:44Speaker 2: number one. The other thing that I'm super interested in
- 9:47Speaker 2: is the competition or really just how everything unfolds in
- 9:52Speaker 2: the interior defensive line. Devon Gotchaw, Brian Brazier, guys that
- 9:56Speaker 2: sit at the top of the depth chart, but what
- 9:58Speaker 2: happens behind those guys. Christian Miller drafted in the second
- 10:02Speaker 2: round this year. He started to get involved towards the
- 10:05Speaker 2: end of mandatory mini camp. Now he has his opportunity
- 10:07Speaker 2: to be out on the field here, his trading camp
- 10:09Speaker 2: get started, Verner brought and making his return from injury.
- 10:12Speaker 2: All that, It's going to be very interesting to me
- 10:14Speaker 2: to see how that position group plays out. And then
- 10:16Speaker 2: of course the kicker competition. The things had the worst
- 10:18Speaker 2: field goal percentage in the NFL last year, even after
- 10:20Speaker 2: getting a boost when they switched over from Blake Groupye
- 10:23Speaker 2: over to Charlie Smith. Now they've got Charlie Smith and
- 10:25Speaker 2: Tanner Brown, who was twenty five of twenty eight last
- 10:28Speaker 2: year in the UFL and was four four in the postseason,
- 10:30Speaker 2: including three kicks that he made from sixty yards or more.
- 10:33Speaker 2: There's a real competition to be had there now when
- 10:35Speaker 2: it comes to kicker. And I know that's not the
- 10:37Speaker 2: sexiest position in the world, but it could be the
- 10:39Speaker 2: difference between wins and losses for this team next year.
- 10:41Speaker 1: Sure, a couple of quick follow ups. I don't know
- 10:45Speaker 1: if you've put pen to paper on this yet, but
- 10:47Speaker 1: you typically ross to go to camp and there's there's
- 10:49Speaker 1: like a certain number of guys that are going to
- 10:52Speaker 1: have a spot in no matter one. Like we know
- 10:54Speaker 1: Shuck and I mean obviously your tackles and Edwards. I mean,
- 10:58Speaker 1: you go down the list on both sides, aspon as
- 11:00Speaker 1: you can tell how many roster spots are actually up
- 11:03Speaker 1: for grabs, like of the fifty three, how many, how
- 11:06Speaker 1: many are locked in? How many are for grabs.
- 11:08Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a really, really good, good observation and good
- 11:11Speaker 2: insight because it's interesting. There aren't many I would I'd
- 11:16Speaker 2: be hard for used to put a number on it
- 11:17Speaker 2: right now, just off the top of my head. But
- 11:18Speaker 2: the fact matter is that you're probably looking at ten
- 11:20Speaker 2: or less right like, there's not a lot of roster
- 11:22Speaker 2: spots that are specifically open because there's not a lot
- 11:25Speaker 2: of you think about the starters on either side of
- 11:27Speaker 2: the football, there's not a lot of moves to be
- 11:29Speaker 2: made there and not a lot of jostling to be
- 11:31Speaker 2: made there. That's twenty two down. You already have your
- 11:33Speaker 2: most of your specialists in the buildings. You're at least
- 11:36Speaker 2: at twenty four or twenty five, and then beyond that
- 11:38Speaker 2: you kind of know how the depth builds out. For instance,
- 11:41Speaker 2: at you know, wide receiver, maybe you'll see a little
- 11:44Speaker 2: bit more jostling, but you also have three draft picks there,
- 11:47Speaker 2: and you kind of expect all three of the draft
- 11:48Speaker 2: picks to make the roster, and so that maybe leaves
- 11:51Speaker 2: one spot open potentially at wide receiver. And so for
- 11:55Speaker 2: the most part, I mean, you're looking at all these
- 11:57Speaker 2: all these positions across the board. For New Orleans, the
- 12:00Speaker 2: starter and kind of the primary backup, a primary set
- 12:03Speaker 2: of backups almost all set, and then the rest of
- 12:06Speaker 2: the positions that might be kind of you know that
- 12:09Speaker 2: you can compete for, might be I don't want to
- 12:11Speaker 2: call them open, but attainable. I guess you're looking at
- 12:14Speaker 2: like the bottom of the cornerback round, the bottom of
- 12:16Speaker 2: the safety room, the bottom of the wide receiver room,
- 12:18Speaker 2: some jostling at the bottom of the offensive line, and
- 12:20Speaker 2: that's kind of where you're looking at all of this
- 12:23Speaker 2: to happen. So not a ton, not a lot available
- 12:26Speaker 2: for players that are looking to make an active roster
- 12:28Speaker 2: here in New Orleans, and so it's going to be
- 12:29Speaker 2: big for them in terms of putting some tape up
- 12:31Speaker 2: during preseason because they're auditioning for thirty one other teams
- 12:34Speaker 2: as well, and then of course opportunities on the practice squad.
- 12:37Speaker 1: Last thing, I wanted to ask one follow up on
- 12:39Speaker 1: the interior of the defensive line, and you brought up
- 12:42Speaker 1: got veterans like Gotchaw and Brazil, and then you've got
- 12:46Speaker 1: run and brought and coming off injury, you'd bring in
- 12:48Speaker 1: Christian Miller. They got enough spots for all these guys.
- 12:51Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I don't think that they do it's gonna
- 12:53Speaker 2: be very interested to see how this area of the
- 12:57Speaker 2: roster plays out. You know, Godshaw's coming in as a
- 13:00Speaker 2: guy that helped this team on at least develop itself
- 13:04Speaker 2: as a run defense on a personal basis, and was
- 13:07Speaker 2: able to help contribute in the early downs first and second.
- 13:09Speaker 2: But this he ends up getting pushed by one of
- 13:11Speaker 2: these young guys that could be an early down player,
- 13:13Speaker 2: meaning that they're really good against the run, but then
- 13:16Speaker 2: also adds value as a third down pass rusher on
- 13:19Speaker 2: the interior as well in a way that he maybe doesn't.
- 13:21Speaker 2: I mean, this is a guy that doesn't practice on
- 13:23Speaker 2: third down day, for instance, and usually has a limited
- 13:26Speaker 2: day during those days. So do you start to look
- 13:28Speaker 2: at that as the saint says like, Okay, yeah, I
- 13:31Speaker 2: have this player that's really really good in these first
- 13:33Speaker 2: and second downs, but I also have this player that's
- 13:35Speaker 2: really really good first second, and third down. So do
- 13:37Speaker 2: I want to invest more of a roster spot in
- 13:40Speaker 2: that player instead? And so there'll be some interesting kind
- 13:42Speaker 2: of negotiations to be had of all what the interior
- 13:46Speaker 2: defensive line looks like, which now extends out to sort
- 13:48Speaker 2: of those three four defensive ends, not just the nose
- 13:51Speaker 2: tackles to see exactly how the formation of that room
- 13:54Speaker 2: is going to look. I think that's going to be
- 13:55Speaker 2: one of the more harder, like hardest to predict rooms
- 14:00Speaker 2: in Theiana or in the for the roster construction purposes
- 14:04Speaker 2: will beast going into camp. And then obviously we'll get
- 14:06Speaker 2: some more clarity as camp goes on.
- 14:08Speaker 1: You will get the most comprehensive practice reports anywhere. Absolutely
- 14:11Speaker 1: free at Louisiana Sports on that I know because I
- 14:13Speaker 1: added a lot of them with no no, but do
- 14:17Speaker 1: not apologize please, and of course always free at Louisiana
- 14:20Speaker 1: Sports on that, and then locked on Saints. He's at
- 14:23Speaker 1: Ross Jackson, Nola. Thanks dude, we appreciate it.
- 14:26Speaker 2: Thank you. Man back at you. Take care, say safe,
- 14:28Speaker 2: talk too soon