No one is going to jump out their seats for a 5-yard slant in a June minicamp practice, but the New Orleans Saints clearly see the value.
The team's young QBs were peppering those routes on Day 1 of minicamp, something the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert applauded. Big plays are nice and can swing games, but moving the chains at will is what wins games -- and it'll keep your defense happy, too.
"Do you want that 2, 3, 4 play drive, oh, bombs away, like we did at the beginning of the season last year?" Hebert said. "Look how we whipped the Carolina Panthers and Cowgirls, it was blitzkrieg, they were shell shocked. Now, that’s hard to do, to hit the big plays and you want to be able to do that. But you know what’s even harder on a quarterback? Can you have those sustained drives, 12 plays, 13-14 plays. Because the defense figures you’re going to make a mistake."
Listen to the full minicamp breakdown from the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
The young Saints QBs weren't perfect on a hot day out in Metairie, but they took advantage of some good design in 7-on-7 drills to move the chains in what was the first set of situational work this offseason -- at least in an open practice setting. Spencer Rattler went 10-for-16 on the day while Tyler Shough wen't 11-for-16. His first pass of the day was a quick dumpoff to Alvin Kamara, in attendance for the first time this offseason. It was a smart move and drew cheers from fans, who were in attendance at a Saints practice at the team facility for the first time since 2023.
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The lone deep pass completed was by Rattler on a deep wheel route to RB Xazavian Valladay. Shough also had a deep ball targeting Moochie Dixon that was caught, but the receiver came down just out of bounds.
The focus, for the day at least, was on moving the chains. If you can get it right, no one will complain, but you have to get it right.
“They must’ve ran 12 slant routes today. Now, if you complete and you move the chains, no one is bitching," Hebert continued, "but if you’re not completing that and you’re not winning off the ball to run a slant route, ah, we’re too conservative, what are we doing, we’ve got to push the ball down the field.”