The New Orleans Saints have a pair of practices under their belt at their 2024 training camp, so it's only fitting that we completely overreact to all that information.
There's still a lot to learn about a lot of things, but we were ready to make some predictions on the latest episode of Inside Black & Gold. Check out the full episode in the player below. Can't see the embed? Click here.
So what are those 5 things I think I think? Check out the list below.
1. The Olave-Shaheed pairing is getting slept on, big-time
The Saints aren't getting a lot of national hype at many positions, some more reasonable than others. But an area that really seems to be getting slept on is Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed as one of the NFL's elite duos. We've seen signs of that already at camp.
Will either be a top 10 guy? That's tough to say. I imagine Olave will be close, and Shaheed will continue to develop his game. In the 2023 season Shaheed's 15.6 yards per catch ranked No. 14 in the NFL. It'll be tough for him to be quite that efficient with more volume, but his ability to stretch the field makes decisions VERY difficult for a defense. Teams will want to roll coverage to Olave, but can you do that consistently if you try to also sit a free safety over Shaheed? I see a scenario where teams have to play it safe over the top and Olave eats underneath.
Olave will be the true No. 1 for the first time in his career, and I expect Shaheed to push 1,000 yards as well. This time next year I think we'll be having a MUCH different conversation about that group.
2. Willie Gay is going to be on the field, a lot
This is a good example of a Day 2 overreaction, mainly because to this point in team drills the Saints have run exclusively out of base personnel (three linebackers). That said, I don't think that's purely coincidence. I anticipate this team will look to attach more heavy personnel to their defensive gameplan to take advantage of Gay's athleticism.
We'll have to wait until we see more nickel looks to create much of an opinion on whether Gay might push Werner for that role, but we can confidently say that coaches will find a way to get Gay on the field early and often, and it'll depend on how well he can hold up in coverage.
3. Alvin Kamara is committed. Saints should do right by him.
There are a lot of ways this training camp session could've gone as it pertains to Alvin Kamara. He's made the choice to show up and do the work as he pursues a new contract.
In my opinion and whether they were planning to before or not, I feel like that's something that should be rewarded. All you have to do is look over to the Cowboys to see what the opposite precedent can do. Zeke Elliott held out for a deal, he got paid big. Last year it was Zack Martin holding out. He got paid big. This year it's CeeDee Lamb. He's almost certainly going to land a massive deal. They set the precedent that holding out works, and it's tough to put that genie back in the bottle.
What the Saints have the opportunity to do is demonstrate that doing things the right way gets you rewarded. It might make things more complicated in the short term, but the next time an awkward contract scenario comes up -- you'll be able to point back to this one.
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4. The screen game is back, baby
One thing that looks to be clear over the first few days of watching this offense -- the screen game is coming back. The lack of screens and misdirection-type plays was one of the most inexplicably frustrating part of the Pete Carmichael offense. Last year it seemed like you didn't run enough to begin with, then when you did and they didn't pan out, you went away from them completely.
I expect Klint Kubiak's offense to be much more intentional in how it creates and attacks mismatches. One on play of Day 1 we saw Alvin Kamara and Adam Prentice line up flanking Derek Carr in the shotgun, only for AK to motion out wide to run a bubble screen. It was a lot of window dressing to create a very simple
5. There's a different attitude around this team, you can sense it.
Call it urgency. Call it swagger. Call it a chip on their shoulder ... there's a different energy around this team heading into the 2024 season, and it's not just the added boost that comes from clear skies, 80-degree temperatures and virtually no humidity.
This is a team that feels like it's being slept on and, whether they'll use the word or not, disrespected by the projections put out. The question is whether they're right in feeling that way. I'd tend to believe they are and that they should feel like this is still their NFC South to win.
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What needs to happen is that this energy continues to build, that the accountability remains and that this team stays committed to the process in ways that it didn't last year. It sure sounds like the offensive overhaul this offseason has gone a long way in that.
The long as short of it all? I feel a lot differently about this team after the first few days of camp than I did heading out here.
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