There are a lot of things worth watching at Saints training camp, but one thing is very clear: The Derek Carr to Chris Olave connection is thriving.
It's just something that jumps out in every drill, but particularly 1-on-1s. Olave ran three reps, he caught all three, and they all arrived in the same way. Carr laid the ball in to the outside shoulder in the corner of the end zone, and Olave used late hands to make a pretty catch. All three of Alontae Taylor, Paulson Adebo and Isaac Yiadom had decent coverage. It didn't matter.
We saw Chris Olave catch 72 passes and break the 1,000-yard mark as a rookie. But even with that, the improvements in his game are easy to see. I'm not sure if he leads the team in catches, the only question being if Mike Thomas is on the field enough he should be that guy, but I have no doubt he leads the team in receiving yards.
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TAKING ATTENDANCE
No major surprises here, though RB Kirk Merritt did leave practice early with a hamstring issue that's been giving him trouble over the past few weeks. DB Lonnie Johnson also left practice for a bit after banging knees on a rep, but it's not expected to be anything significant.
Here are the players who were not spotted at Thursday's practice:
- WR Tre'Quan Smith (groin)
- WR Rashid Shaheed (groin)
- S Tyrann Mathieu (rest)
- LB Demario Davis (calf)
- LG Andrus Peat (quad)
- TE Jesse James (groin)
- TE Lucas Krull (tailbone)
- DE Cam Jordan (rest)
The extended absences of Davis is the most concerning, though it there is plenty of time before the games actually matter.
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D'MARCO HOLDING UP
With Davis out, the spotlight has been on D'Marco Jackson to hold down the mike position, and the returns have been good so far. He's a big, strong tackler with good range, not unlike Demario himself. He's young and he'll make mistakes -- even as a second-year pro he's yet to make his NFL debut due to injury -- so you'd rather not be forced into starting him if you could avoid it. That said, he flashed on one impressive rep in 7-on-7s when he picked up Michael Thomas across the middle of the field and stayed plastered to force an incompletion.
We'll have to wait and see in preseason action for a fuller picture, but I like what I see so far. That said, I expect the Saints to bring in a veteran for added depth sometime soon.
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KENDRE IS POPPIN
It's impossible to watch Kendre Miller and not come away impressed. There are questions he'll have to answer in pass pro, and I don't know how much run he'll get as a rookie -- the Saints looking to bring in Kareem Hunt says a lot -- but he's quick and has good hands. He's a smooth route runner, and there's power that you can really see when the pads come on. Alvin Kamara won't play forever, and I think he profiles to take over that spot.
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ROACH IS KILLER
The Saints rebuilt their defensive interior this offseason, but it's the familiar name that I've been most impressed with so far. Roach has been a pest to the Saints' offense, and that was clear on Thursday. He had multiple run stuffs, and even got a paw on a Derek Carr pass that fell into the arms of Jerron Cage for the rare big-man INT.
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HAENER HAD A TOUGH DAY
I only point this out because it's going to happen. There were a handful of missed opportunities, and the ball batted down at the line is something he'll have to be on alert for (yes, that's a product of being short). There was another pass in team drills that missed high on a ball to James Washington and fell into the waiting arms of Smoke Monday. He had one ball that went for a touchdown but honestly should've been intercepted as it was left behind Foster Moreau. Ty Summers got a hand on it, which actually deflected it forward into Moreau's arms. All is well that ends well, but there are still some growing pains to be worked through there. I'm excited to see him work in the preseason.
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