Yes, we're talking about practice -- and this time, it's voluntary.
The New Orleans Saints get on the field this week for the first of three sets of organized team activities as we rumble toward the 2024 season.
There's a new offense to learn and a lot of shuffling to figure out at key spots, so let's dive in. Here are the top three things I'm looking for out at Metairie this week, with Tuesday's practice open to the media.
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1. TAKING ATTENDANCE
As always, it's important to remember that the word voluntary is attached to these OTA sessions for a reason. Would perfect attendance be great? Absolutely. Does a player's absence necessarily represent a budding issue? Absolutely not.
Glad we got that out of the way.
All that said, we'll still take attendance and get a read on the players who are there. Saints defensive end Cam Jordan indicated that attendance was expected to be about 90%, which would mean in the range of 9 members of the 90-man roster wouldn't be in attendance. That'd be on par with a typical season. Some players will opt to attend all three sessions, while others will pick 2 of 3, and so forth.
With a new offensive system, you'd expect a majority of those absences to be on defense. Dennis Allen said this week that he's had productive conversations with star cornerback Marshon Lattimore, but it's still unlikely he attends OTAs. That's been the case in past years, too, but it'll certainly become a talking point due to his name frequently emerging in trade rumors.
Some other veteran players, such as Demario Davis, have been absent from these sessions in the past. Generally speaking there are certain players you're OK being without, because it opens up opportunities for young players and UDFAs to get the lion's share of reps and those won't be available in camp. These reps will mean a lot more to a player battling on the fringe of the roster.
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There are also several players with injury issues that will keep them off the field even if they're in the building. The players we know won't be practicing are:
- DE Chase Young, neck surgery (expected to be back for training camp)
- DE Cam Jordan, ankle (still not cleared for running)
- CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, foot (targeted for return in June)
- RT Ryan Ramczyk, knee (return unclear)
Other players to watch include rookie LB Jaylan Ford and OT Josiah Ezirim, both of whom were dealing with minor injuries and absent when the media was in attendance in rookie minicamp.
Check back Tuesday evening for the full attendance breakdown.
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2. THE OL SHUFFLE
Outside of Ryan Ramczyk I'd expect this group to arrive en masse. The real question is where everyone lines up.
We saw rookie Taliese Fuaga getting work at LT during rookie minicamp, but I'd be surprised if that continues on Day 1 of OTAs. The more likely scenario is he shifts back to the right side and Trevor Penning officially kicks off what will be a pivotal offseason to prove he can handle the job at left tackle. If that's not the case and he's working with the 2s or at a different position, then the team has been smoke screening hard this offseason and aren't as keen on giving him another shot to win the job as they've been saying.
The other question is left guard. The Saints brought in veteran Lucas Patrick earlier this month and I have a feeling he'll be getting the first-team reps at that position. The other options would be another veteran in Shane Lemieux, second-year pro Nick Saldiveri or one of the handful of this year's undrafted free agents. Almost as interesting will be to see the lineup for the 2s, because establishing backups at each of the interior line spots will be important.
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These are not padded practices, so there's really only so much we can glean in terms of quality. That said, there's going to be new blocking schemes to be picked up and this is the first chance for players to make a good first impression. We'll see how that goes.
Here's my guess for how things look along the OL on Tuesday:
FIRST TEAM
- LT: Trevor Penning
- LG: Lucas Patrick
- C: Erik McCoy
- RG: Cesar Ruiz
- RT: Taliese Fuaga
SECOND TEAM
- LT: Oli Udoh
- LG: Nick Saldiveri
- C: Shane Lemieux
- RG: Kyle Hergel
- RT: Landon Young
We'll update the lineups Tuesday evening.
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3. WE'VE GOT AN OFFENSE
One player guaranteed to be in attendance will be QB Derek Carr, and this will be the first chance we get to see him taking on the Klint Kubiak scheme.
Now, let's be real: This is going to be the most basic version of the offense we see. It'll be early install and just a handful of pages of the playbook. Still, it's going to be interesting to see how smoothly things run. Nothing will be won today, but it'll certainly be nice to see some comfortability early on.
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I'm also interested to see how Kendre Miller looks as he goes into Year 2. I'd like to see confidence and, ideally, a guy who looks ready to take on the RB2 mantle. I'd also like to see Carr and rookie Spencer Rattler continue to work with the young receivers, most notably Bub Means, to see if any front-runners emerge for fringe roster contenders.
We'll check back in Tuesday evening with updates and observations. Who Dat, let's get it.