Taysom Hill and Jimmy Graham were big focal points during Day 12's Saints training camp practice.
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00:00 What's happening everybody John Hendricks here for Saints News Network coming at you
00:04 with another recap for Saints training camp.
00:07 Day 12 is in the books.
00:08 We'll hop into it very shortly but as always we want to thank Justin Burgess of Ben Pro
00:12 for sponsoring today's show.
00:14 If you have a business in the greater New Orleans region and need help with employee
00:18 benefits or health insurance give my guy Justin a call.
00:21 He'll take really good care of you.
00:23 504-888-8038.
00:24 Again, Justin Burgess over at Ben Pro.
00:27 Well it's Wednesday my dudes.
00:30 Lot of fun action.
00:31 Wednesday inside a little bit to start for Saints training camp and then transitioning
00:36 outside for a select group of fans that were in attendance.
00:40 I believe it was specialty guests, sweet holders and such.
00:43 So they got to see a little bit of practice.
00:45 So that's always a good thing.
00:46 And so just keep in mind that tomorrow's practice that was scheduled for the public is definitely
00:52 closed because of the heat.
00:53 They should be indoors the whole time.
00:55 And we've got tomorrow and Friday and then team walkthrough on Saturday we won't be a
01:01 part of.
01:02 And then there's a preseason game on Sunday right around the corner and we are a week
01:06 away from being in California.
01:08 Thursday is going to be the joint practices.
01:11 We leave and we'll be out there next Wednesday.
01:14 But joint practices with the Chargers on Thursday and Friday and then they got that game Sunday.
01:18 So a lot of things coming to the table very quickly for this team.
01:22 A start as always what we do to recap is we'll talk about attendance.
01:27 So not too many new things developed as far as who wasn't there.
01:31 Traquan Smith, Rasheed Shaheed have not been at practice.
01:34 They're dealing with groin injuries.
01:36 Demario Davis is dealing with a calf injury.
01:38 Kota Martin was dealing with an ankle injury.
01:41 He got waved injured today.
01:42 The team signed JP Holtz, familiar face from last year, played a lot of different roles
01:47 for the team.
01:48 Fullback, tight end, special teams.
01:51 He's back in the building because Jesse James is another one.
01:54 He's dealing with a groin.
01:55 Wasn't at practice.
01:56 Lucas Crowell's dealing with the tailbone.
01:58 He wasn't at practice.
01:59 And then Andres Peet dealing with the quad.
02:02 Now if you've missed it, we have told you there's reason for optimism that Demario Davis
02:06 has been in the facility.
02:08 Same thing with Andres Peet.
02:10 Peet was actually, I saw him in the weight room today.
02:13 So that was a good sign for him.
02:15 I saw Demario the other day.
02:16 And so steps in the right direction.
02:18 No need to panic really if these guys were not present for practices or not they were
02:23 present but present in the facility, I'd be a lot more concerned.
02:27 So interestingly enough, team put out their unofficial depth chart that we make all the
02:34 assumptions and conclusions from.
02:36 And one of the biggest takeaways I think that I had before we dive into some of these notes
02:40 are the fact that you have Trevor Penning at left tackle.
02:46 Kind of what we talked about.
02:47 Andres Peet or it's James Hurst or Andres Peet at left guard.
02:52 Kind of what we've been talking about.
02:53 I've been writing about it.
02:54 I've been talking about it.
02:55 I've been saying this for months that that was kind of the plan is that Trevor be at
03:00 left tackle, James Hurst kick inside.
03:02 Nothing against Andres Peet but I think Hurst is a guy that gives them that type of what
03:08 they need from a consistency standpoint, from an availability standpoint.
03:12 You need to protect your $100 million quarterback in Derek Carr.
03:16 You got to make sure you do those types of things.
03:18 I mean, just do the math and make it make sense.
03:21 I mean, this is a lot of money that you put into Derek Carr plus $100 million.
03:25 I mean, you got to protect this guy.
03:27 And so I think what we've seen on the depth chart kind of mirrors what we thought.
03:31 And so I don't think there's too many surprises.
03:33 Although I will say that I think Jordan Howden is a guy that's going to climb up the depth
03:37 charts a little bit.
03:38 We've talked about him getting a lot more looks in dime coverage, especially when they
03:43 did three man rush drill the other day with all DBs and linebacker on the field.
03:49 I just think he's a guy that's ascending.
03:51 He's played, got first team reps.
03:53 They're basically throwing everything they can at him just to see how he handles it.
03:57 And I think he's done a pretty good job so far.
03:59 We'll see.
04:00 Time will tell.
04:01 But on to practice.
04:02 So we covered the injuries and attendance.
04:04 It'd be tough to say that any of those players that have been missing are going to see any
04:08 action on Sunday.
04:10 Dennis Allen said that he is going to play the starters in preseason, at least for the
04:14 first game.
04:15 We don't know how long.
04:16 We don't know what that's going to look like.
04:18 I think it's one or two series maybe at most.
04:21 And then we'll see a lot of James Winston, Taysom Hill maybe, and then plenty of Jake
04:26 Haener because we've been talking this guy up a lot.
04:29 He's really good in practice, very comfortable.
04:32 I'm really excited to see him and see what he is going to be able to do in a real game
04:36 situation.
04:37 But this is the type of thing where we're just a few days away from that happening.
04:42 And I think it's going to get a lot of questions answered.
04:46 And look, what happens is once training camp-- before training camp, there's a lot of limited
04:51 eyes.
04:52 But now the game shifts.
04:54 It's going to be on the NFL network if you didn't know.
04:55 So the game is actually broadcast locally here on WVU, Fox 8.
05:00 And so you'll get Joel Myers, John Stinchcomb, and Aaron Summers on the call.
05:06 That's supposed to be a feed when you tune into NFL network because it's going to be
05:09 one of those broadcast games.
05:11 So what I'm saying is that once you see it, you're going to be able to kind of, I guess,
05:15 formulate your own opinions or you see what you see in film and such.
05:20 And once that All-22 comes out, then it's kind of fair game for everybody.
05:23 But not that it's a bad thing, but you're going to see the tail of the tape.
05:28 And you're going to see what we kind of see on things and make evaluations and stuff.
05:32 But it's been a good camp so far.
05:34 It's been a pretty lively, a lot of team, a lot of run stuff, run type of plays and
05:40 stuff, run stuffs.
05:41 We'll get into those in a minute too.
05:43 But really active day for Taysom Hill, Jimmy Graham.
05:46 Jimmy Graham caught all six of his targets.
05:48 Taysom Hill at one point was targeted four straight times.
05:51 He caught a lot of balls today, seven on seven and team.
05:54 Look, this is one of those things where I think people were waiting to see, OK, Jimmy,
05:59 he's back.
06:00 We went from this can't be serious to really how much does he have left in the tank to,
06:04 man, we're starting to see a little bit of vintage Jimmy.
06:06 And then today was like, OK, Jimmy can probably handle a little bit of a target sharing load.
06:11 So I'm really anxious to see how he does.
06:15 Hooking up with a lot of different ones, whether it was Carr or Winston, that's obviously a
06:20 good thing to see.
06:22 And so I think that when it comes down to it, and also with Hainer late, that was another
06:27 one that he hooked up with.
06:29 So all of the quarterbacks getting familiar.
06:30 I don't know if I'd say he's just going to be a red zone target.
06:34 I think that remains to be seen.
06:36 But I think he's somebody that can play still at a pretty good level.
06:39 I won't say he's going to be a Travis Kelsey.
06:41 I don't know.
06:42 But I think this tight end room, and we've talked about this too before, has the potential
06:46 to be one of the better rooms out there.
06:49 Because you've got, it's unknown, because Foster Morrow, Jawan Johnson, Taysom Hill,
06:55 Jimmy Graham.
06:56 I mean, this is a really unique room.
06:58 And Jawan is coming off a good year.
07:00 He's a converted wide receiver.
07:01 Foster Morrow is probably the only true tight end, where he does a lot of the dirty work.
07:06 Not that Jawan doesn't, or Jimmy doesn't, or Taysom can't.
07:09 But when you look at traditional, they don't really have a lot of traditional players there
07:14 at that tight end position.
07:16 So it's going to be interesting to see.
07:17 But a very, very active day for Taysom Hill and Jimmy Graham in the receiving department.
07:22 So good things to see.
07:24 I'll tell you that one of the things I feel encouraged about is the run defense, run support.
07:30 One of the observations, I thought this team early on looked like they might be a better
07:35 outside running team.
07:36 You know, whether it's stretches, tosses, whatever the case.
07:39 And we've seen a lot more of that in training camp.
07:41 And I still think that's true when you've got Alvin and Jamal and Williams in there
07:45 and stuff.
07:46 But you know, just interior wise, I think a lot of people are probably overlooking this
07:52 unit.
07:53 I mean, the guys behind Cam Jordan, I mean, Colin Saunders said this today, the guys behind
07:58 Cam Jordan, who are they?
08:00 Like they just, not many people know, they're not household names.
08:03 Nobody knows who Carl Granderson is.
08:05 Nobody knows who Peyton Turner is.
08:06 Nobody knows Colin Saunders or Kyle Phillips or Nathan Shepard or Jack Heflin or Prince
08:13 Emily or Jaron Cage, those types of guys.
08:18 They're just not a well-known, when you look at it, it's like, oh, Bill, Vaughn Miller,
08:23 I know him, or Rams, Aaron Donald.
08:25 I mean, it's Saints, it's kind of like Cam Jordan, and then that's about it.
08:29 But he called them like the dancing pandas and stuff.
08:32 And it's just kind of, they're playing with his chip on the shoulder.
08:34 And he pointed out something, it's like, well, in Washington, they got a bunch of first round
08:37 picks.
08:38 So the ceiling's kind of high for them where, you know, they're expected to produce.
08:41 And so for this unit, he's really taking to young guys like Jaron Cage and being a mentor
08:46 and just kind of helped develop that line.
08:48 So I'm really interested to see, but I think they've been pretty good in the run defense
08:51 interior.
08:52 It's not just like a Colin Saunders, it's Malcolm Roach, I think is playing at a high
08:56 level.
08:57 Nathan Shepard's doing some pass rush, making some run stops.
09:01 And Dennis Allen even said after practice that he believes this is a lot more athletic
09:05 group.
09:06 And I would tend to agree.
09:07 Like Colin Saunders, even though he was listed, we said it the other week, 324, he's playing
09:11 in 315, 318 range.
09:13 The dude is moving.
09:15 Like you just, it's very, like you just look at this guy and say, there's no way a big
09:19 man like that can move.
09:21 Yeah, he can.
09:22 So I'm really excited about that.
09:25 As far as it goes, Blake Gilligan punted today, I think he had some pretty ones, but what
09:29 I would say in special teams is Will Lutz, 9-9 today.
09:32 They put them in three game-winning situations.
09:34 So what they did is they simulated where it's end of game, 115 on the clock, they're down
09:40 two, they need a field goal at least.
09:42 And so all three quarterbacks were able to pilot a drive to put Lutz in field goal range.
09:48 He hit from 45, from 49 and 47.
09:51 So he made all nine of his kicks today.
09:54 I wish, I think it's 41 of 44.
09:59 He's only missed three times.
10:00 I have the exact numbers up on Saints News, but I think it's 41 of 44 right now is where
10:06 he's at.
10:07 And so, look, I've seen a lot from Will Lutz.
10:09 I think that he's battled back extremely well.
10:12 Those types of things that I've seen over the past couple of practices, especially him
10:16 making eight for eight for today, but 17 and 17 in past two, I don't really need to see
10:20 much more from him in the preseason.
10:22 Interesting enough, talked to Blake Gilligan today.
10:25 Both of them were dealing with some injuries, right?
10:28 I mean, and I'm not saying they powered through them, right?
10:31 But some of the things that hinder these kickers and we don't always see or don't always know
10:35 about, but they're working back a lot of confidence there.
10:38 So I'm excited.
10:39 I think still, if I was to put a roster together today, it's gotta be Lutz, it's gotta be Gilligan.
10:45 I'm very interested to see what Lou Headley does in the preseason.
10:48 I'm interested to see what Blake Grupi is gonna do.
10:50 You know, we've got to ask Dennis if he plans on how that's gonna unfold.
10:54 Is it gonna be rotation for kickers or do you feel confident what you've seen in Lutz
10:58 to say, let's just have Grupi handle all the stuff?
11:02 Same thing with, you know, Lou Headley and Blake Gilligan in that situation.
11:06 But you know, look, I feel encouraged about where this run defense is at right now.
11:11 I think that was obviously a pain point last year, huge pain point if you saw the games.
11:15 I just don't think it's been the same since they've lost Malcolm Brown in the middle.
11:19 So I think that it's slowly tailed off, slowly gotten worse.
11:25 And so now it's, I don't want to say it's liability, but they just got to get better
11:28 at it.
11:29 So, but as far as that goes, I mean, you know, overall, I don't know if I'd say it was a
11:35 super crazy action day.
11:37 Again, I liked some of the things I saw from Winston in the less than game situation.
11:42 Again, Taysom Hill, Jimmy Graham, big time, Jake Haener, I think handled it pretty well.
11:47 Shaq Davis was a frequent target of his, thought he'd look pretty good too.
11:52 And look, I think that's kind of really where you stand out is that you see some things
11:56 working in the pass game.
11:58 I'll say this too, two hookups today, one from Winston and one from Derek Carr, but
12:03 Chris Alave.
12:04 Look, I know we've talked a lot about Marshawn Lattimore and I wrote about Chris Alave too
12:07 being in that category.
12:09 But when you look at top for training camp, those have got to be, if Lattimore is not
12:14 in your number one, Alave might be there in number one, but they both have got to be in
12:19 your top three.
12:20 And I wouldn't even say top five, top three of who stood out at training camp.
12:23 I think they've looked excellent.
12:25 Alave looks even better.
12:26 I think he can have a really dominant type of season, remains to be seen because a lot
12:31 of people are saying, well, what's Mike going to do?
12:34 And I think it's more like maybe he's that 60 to 70 catch guy, a little bit less than
12:38 800 yards, having a bunch of touchdowns.
12:40 Alave is going to be your yards guy and your targets and receptions guy, and maybe have
12:45 five or six touchdowns.
12:46 I mean, we don't know how it's going to play out.
12:49 It obviously is going to be indicative of what the matchup is, who's available, what
12:56 the offense looks like, what the defense looks like, situated.
12:58 There's just too many variables there, but I do feel confident about Alave's ability.
13:03 I feel very confident that Mike Thomas is trending in the right direction to get where
13:08 he needs to go.
13:09 A little concerned about Rasheed Shaheed because that's twice now he's having to deal with
13:13 his groin injury.
13:14 From all the reports, everything we've heard, he's going to be ready week one, but that
13:18 groin, there's no guarantee it doesn't come back at some point in the season.
13:23 And those groin injuries are tough.
13:24 And so again, four, five, and six on the receiver depth chart, we talked about it.
13:30 It's Traquan Smith, Keith Kirkwood probably in there.
13:34 As of right now, I think it's a toss up between A.T.
13:37 Perry and James Washington.
13:39 I'd probably go with the rookie, but again, it just depends on how this unfolds and if
13:44 Traquan can get back in a good bit of time.
13:46 But look, we're going to know soon enough.
13:50 The competition has been awesome to see.
13:53 We're just a couple of practices away.
13:55 Friday's practice is going to be in the Dome, so they get to experience that new turf a
13:59 little bit and we get to see some of the renovations and such up close and personal.
14:03 And so again, it's an exciting time for Saints football.
14:08 Probably the most optimistic I've felt in a couple of years.
14:10 I've said that plenty of times, but good practice overall.
14:14 Nothing crazy as far as the injury front.
14:17 We'll see if this team, and last thing we'll talk about, we'll see if Anthony Barr's a
14:21 real person, a real transaction that'll materialize, I guess.
14:28 Kareem Hunt, interesting that people heard it.
14:31 And look, I just saw that Marlon Mack was out for the year, ruptured Achilles.
14:37 That's now another appealing place that Kareem Hunt might look.
14:39 I know they got James Conner, but they're going to need a number two or number three,
14:44 somebody on that.
14:45 And so I get it.
14:46 Colts is an appealing option.
14:49 This is a guy that used to be a starter for a team.
14:52 Big part of the Browns' offense, big part of the Chiefs' offense.
14:55 I don't blame him.
14:56 I get it.
14:57 I understand.
14:58 But as far as Barr goes, look, I think it's something that maybe can materialize.
15:01 He's got some other visits going.
15:03 But as always, we're going to see.
15:05 We'll find out really soon.
15:06 This team's always in the market for players, right?
15:09 And so hopefully, fingers crossed, they don't have a lot of injuries to deal with from now
15:15 until next week.
15:17 But they're part of the game, so we'll see.
15:19 And we'll talk more about what we're looking for and all that stuff.
15:22 Much more on Saints News Network, saints.media, or si.com/nfl/saints.
15:27 Also check out our video section.
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15:33 We also got podcast stuff.
15:36 Also, if you're going to the game on Sunday, you haven't got a ticket, be sure to use my
15:41 code Hendrix, H-E-N-D-R-I-X, on SeatGeek to get $20 off of your first order with SeatGeek.
15:48 Great chance to score some good tickets.
15:51 Preseason game, you know it's not going to have as much craziness as what a regular season
15:55 game will, like that season opening against the Titans.
15:58 John Hendrix signing out.
15:59 Again, thank you to Justin Burgess of Ben Pro for producing today's show.
16:03 Appreciate you guys.
16:04 As always, thanks so much.