On the final day of Saints minicamp Dennis Allen said something that should be of high interest for any young defensive player.
What he's looking for most is consistency. He needs to know what to expect from play-to-play. There can't be swings from high to low in terms of performance. When the coaches know what to expect, it's easier to trust young players on the field.
"I think that's what all players should and are striving to do is become more consistent,” Allen said.
One of Allen's other comments will be of high interest to one young defensive back in particular: Alontae Taylor. The second-round pick out of Tennessee will have to earn whatever role he has on the defense in his rookie season, though he's fully expected to be an impact player on special teams one way or the other.
But Taylor was singled out by Allen as being a player who is "farther ahead" in his development than might've been expected when the button was pushed on draft day. It's difficult to know exactly how a player works without being around them while it's happening. There might be positive work ethic reports from his former coaches and quality answers from the player himself, but everyone is making a sales pitch in those instances. Until the rubber meets the road, you never know for sure.
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Football character, intelligence and the like, these are things you can't really know until the work starts.
"That’s where I’ve been impressed with him," Allen said.
And Taylor himself would agree that he's happy with where he's at with a dozen full practices under his belt between OTAs and minicamp. And he's not an easy grader on himself, he says. It's a fun DB room to be in, and he relishes every opportunity to go up against the team's high-profile pass-catchers like rookie Chris Olave, newcomer Jarvis Landry and even Michael Thomas when he makes his debut. The rookies have been chirping back and forth throughout practice, and they were chatting in the weight room about Olave's highlight reel catch over Taylor and J.T. Gray during Wednesday's practice.
"I’m a competitor," Taylor said, "so I never back down from anybody. I don’t care how long you’ve been in the league, where you’ve been at. And it’s just going to make me better.”
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It's the type of attitude that litters a defensive back room loaded with talent, which Taylor now makes that much stronger. It's the type of attitude that new addition Tyrann Mathieu has in droves. Mathieu sits right in front of Taylor in meetings, and the pair has already joked and talked a lot early on in their run as teammates.
And when I asked him what area he thinks he needs to improve on the most, he gave an answer that shows he's taken his head coach's words to heart -- considering it came a day before Allen's comments noted above.
"You can never get tired of working on technique. So just continue working on technique and getting more consistent with that," Taylor said. "But I don’t think I’m in a bad place right now going into the break and then coming back for training camp, so that’ll be something I’ll work on during the break.”
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There's a long way to go, but the rookie and his head coach are speaking the same language.