I'm almost never going to applaud someone for scrambling in a 7-on-7 drill, but I'll change my tune this time because it meant Tyler Shough could show off what I've said for a while is his best skill.
With the initial read breaking down, the Saints rookie broke "contain" (there's no pass rush in this drill) and rolled out to his left. In a situation where most QBs would have to stop their momentum and reset, or simply pull the ball down and run, he squared his shoulders placed a ball about 25 yards down the near sideline. It was right where it needed to be and hit Cedrick Wilson Jr. in the hands, but rookie LB Danny Stutsman got his own hand in to break it up.
It'll go down in the stats as 0-for-1, but it was a clear indicator of the type of arm talent that drew the Saints to Shough in the first place. A flash of brilliance that will show you the vision of how this project could go well.
For now, though, he's in a competition with Spencer Rattler for the starting job that will be fascinating to watch throughout training camp (more on Rattler below) and the preseason slate.
As far as the throws that actually did get caught? Rattler and Shough traded off first team reps. Shough went 9-for-12 overall. Two of those balls were picture-perfect shot plays that'd have gone for long TDs, both times hitting the receiver in stride as they streaked down the left sideline. The first was to Bub Means on Shough's first rep of the day. The second went to Donovan Peoples-Jones. Neither player is what you'd call a burner, but both were both able to create separation. Shough is now 3-for-3 on deep shots so far in these open practices, including one he hit to Rashid Shaheed last week.
Shough looked to be on time with his throws, though the two incompletions were low points. The first came as he worked back to his checkdown but missed Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the flat. The worst moment was on his final throw of the day when he looked a bit late targeting Chris Tyree over the middle. I had it on the ground, but Rezjohn Wright got up and ran with the ball. Some will call it an interception. In the end the result doesn't really matter because the execution wasn't there.
There's still PLENTY of growth to be had and, as I've said often, trying to discern any concrete takes from these practices is a mistake. Still, if Shough goes out there and connects on more of these deep balls during open minicamp practices with fans in attendance the buzz will grow VERY quickly.
Related
TAKING ATTENDANCE
It was another set of *optional* organized team activities and the attendance was largely the same. Here are the 10 players I didn't see on Thursday:
- TE Taysom Hill
- S Tyrann Mathieu
- RB Alvin Kamara
- LB Isaiah Stalbird
- S J.T. Gray
- LB Demario Davis
- DT Bryan Bresee
- DT Davon Godchaux
- DT Nathan Shepherd
- DE Cam Jordan
The three new absences were Stalbird, Bresee and Jordan, all of whom were in attendance for the first session. Two players who arrived this week for the first time were DE Chase Young and LB D'Marco Jackson. The rest missed both sessions, but are expected to be in attendance for mandatory minicamp in June.
As was the case last week, TEs Foster Moreau and Dallin Holker, CB Quincy Riley and QB Jake Haener were all on hand but did not participate due to injuries.
RATTLER STEADY
It was another good day for Spencer Rattler, who went 10-12 in his 7-on-7 reps. His best throws were a well-placed ball to Juwan Johnson on a crosser that the TE took in stride and broke up field, as well as a layered ball over coverage to Rashid Shaheed downfield.
Rattler continues to look confident and get the ball out on time. He's still the steady hand in the QB conversation, but today things felt a lot closer.
That was true in part because Rattler didn't take advantage of his own shot play, which was targeting a wide-open Shaheed who had beaten his DB on the play. The ball was catchable but was left a step or two behind the receiver and that allowed UDFA Dalys Beanum to recover and make a play on the ball. With a player like Shaheed, the ONLY thing you can't do in that situation is force him to come back. He's got the type of speed that will make you right if you put it basically anywhere out in front of him, just lay it over the top and let him go get it. I'll give Rattler the benefit of the doubt since they haven't worked much together, and he wouldn't exactly be the first to underestimate just how fast Shaheed really is.
There was another potential big play to Peoples-Jones that didn't happen. It looked like a coverage bust, but the ball got checked down to TE Moliki Matavao and was broken up by Rezjohn Wright.
Those are minor criticisms, no one is going to be perfect at this stage. My bigger criticism is one that goes back to last year, and it's the frequency with which I see the young QB miss high, particularly when he's throwing over the middle of the field. You can get away with it, but it's setting up the receiver for disaster. It's particularly notable because on this day it was a ball targeting Chris Olave on an in cut, and he's the last player I want to see getting set up for big hits over the middle of the field. My general rule is that if the receiver has to leave his feet to catch a ball thrown inside the numbers, the QB missed badly.
Improving the touch on those throws is one of the things I'm most interested to see from Rattler throughout camp. To his credit, as noted above, he put a similar ball on target to Shaheed later in the day. It's just something that needs to get ironed out, because if it's happening in practice it'll definitely happen in a game.
Related
NEW OL DRILLS BUT NO SHUFFLE
It's not exactly news, but there was no change on the alignment of the OL. For the second week in a row it broke down as:
- LT: Kelvin Banks Jr.
- LG: Trevor Penning
- C: Erik McCoy
- RG: Cesar Ruiz
- RT: Taliese Fuaga
This is what I expected, but it's still telling that the team feels comfortable with this plan -- at least for now. Moore was very complimentary of how Penning and Fuaga have attacked their position switches. We'll have to see how that translates, moreso for Penning, when the pads come on. Moore said he's optimistic that his physicality will fit very well in the new role.
As far as the work, the offensive line was primarily doing individual drills before a walkthrough late in the practice. What we saw was a bit different, with each player connected to the wall by a belt and bungee cord. It added a bit of resistance as they got out of their sets, and mostly seemed focus on working on center of gravity and balance. Any time you turn over the coaching staff you'll see new drills in the mix, and this was certainly an example of that.
JUWAN'S FOCUS
I thought it was interesting today that while a good chunk of the roster went to work on special teams, Juwan Johnson stayed off to the side and worked on an agility drill with TEs coach Chase Haslett. It's a small thing, but I think that's a good example of star treatment, and I don't say that in a negative way.
The Saints paid Juwan Johnson this offseason for a reason. They want him to be a focal point of this offense. That role is more important than special teams work. You can only say that about a handful of players on this roster and he's one of them. I've been predicting a breakout season for Juwan for a while now, I think he'll have the opportunity for that this season, if nothing else.
CORNER TIME
As was expected, Alontae Taylor appears primed to fill the nickel role in Brandon Staley's defense -- which his scheme refers to as the star (with some different responsibilities).
He'll most likely play on the outside in base and kick inside on nickel reps. So far we've seen Isaac Yiadom lining up on the right when Alontae shifts inside, with Kool-Aid McKinstry on the left.
I think the Saints would be OK with that alignment if it came down to it. The question will be what happens when rookie Quincy Riley gets into the action.
BUILDING BLOCKS
When asked about Devin Neal today, Kellen Moore was quick to point to his understanding of the blocking scheme as a major selling point. That's a part of the game that typically takes young players a while to pick up and is what keeps them off the field. Neal has shown well in that regard, albeit in walkthroughs, and winning coaches over in that part of the game will be vital to him winning a role in his rookie season.
All that said I think this is the best I've seen Kendre Miller look in his young career. He's healthy, appears to have slimmed down a bit and is moving very well. We'll have to see how that translates when the pads come on.
UP-TEMPO
As noted last week, it could just be the compressed schedule of OTAs, but the high tempo that things were happening at this practice was notable. It was inside again, this time due to actual bad weather, but there was no walking from station to station.
In that past you'd see work getting done on a particular drill, then the horn would blow and the next would start -- but not with any particular urgency. In this case you had players running from spot to spot. Moore points to Pro Performance director Ted Rath often in terms of how practice is operating, so he's the hand operating a lot of this behind the scenes. We'll have to see how that energy fares once the heat gets more involved.
PAINTBALL PRIDE
The Saints always run team-building exercises at this point in the offseason, and this year it was a paintball outing. We're told the silver team won, though Justin Reid is protesting that there was cheating involved (Cesar Ruiz denied it).
Something worth noting is that Kellen Moore participated, though he'll admit he is not good at paintball. Building a strong locker room culture will be important to Moore finding success. So far it seems like he's pushing the right buttons.