Adam Trautman hasn't caught many passes, but don't fool yourself into thinking he's been slacking off.
The tight end out of Dayton entered training camp with all the hype he could manage, but just hasn't lived up to it so far. He's caught just six passes for 64 yards through five games, with a majority of that yardage coming in a Week 5 win over the Washington Football Team. So what's behind the meager numbers?
"The tight end is someone who blocks and catches, and so we have to continue to find opportunities for him, certainly in the passing game," the coach said. "And finding those situations where he’s blocking is obviously much easier."
After three games with one catch total on just two targets, Trautman found a pair of those opportunities in the second half against Washington. The biggest impact play came on a 32-yard gain. It was a two-man route with Marquez Callaway heading upfield on a clearout, with Trautman leaking across the formation through traffic before breaking upfield, wide open. Winston found him for the easy catch-and-run.
But it was a "choice" route earlier in the game that Trautman's coach pointed to as particularly impressive. The play went for 11 yards and set the Saints up in the red zone for an eventual touchdown, an area of the field they've scored touchdowns on 13 of 14 opportunities.
The play showed a lot of the reasons to be excited about Trautman's blend of size and speed. He starts outside before motioning in tight, still set slightly off the line. Defenders will be setting up based on your available route tree, and they'd be guessing that from this split you'd see a break to the flat, a quick hitch or maybe a crossing route. But if you watch right before he kicks his route upfield, he takes a quick hop right -- opening up the out or fade, and the option route he runs to perfection.
As you can see in the video above, Trautman wins clean separation at the top of his route. That's done because the defender is caught in no-man's land, trying to split the difference between the route potentially breaking inside or out. The tight end fakes outside, the defender bites. Easy pitch-and-catch for a first down.
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SO WHAT'S GONE WRONG?
Technically, nothing.
But if the issue isn't availability or a talent deficit, the obvious question becomes: Why haven't the impact plays come more often?
Trautman's been on the field for roughly 70% of the offensive snaps, a large number of which have been spent run-blocking, he explained this week.
"Obviously we’ve been very run-oriented — It’s worked out well, and that’s benefitted us," he said. "We’re a super-physical team."
Trautman estimated that he'd been blocking on 35 or so of every 50 snaps. The official number could certainly be tabulated, but simply watching the Saints play will leave you knowing the number is in that range.
In Week 4, Kamara touched the ball 26 times, and didn't catch a pass. As Trautman spelled out this week, the team clearly trusts him in the running game. He's more than happy to do it -- even if it comes at the expense of stats.
"I love to run block, so I could care less," Trautman said.
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So why all is this happening?
Well, remember back in Week 2 when the offensive line couldn't block anything up in Carolina? Remember the group that's playing without two starters in LT Terron Armstead and Erik McCoy, as well as Cesar Ruiz moving over to center? The group has improved the past few weeks, but still has had its share of issues. So what do you do to improve the protection? You can add a blocker at TE or RB.
The Saints have rolled out 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs) on 27% (76 total) of their snaps, a number good for 8th-most in the NFL. That number was 14% (46 total) over the first five games of the 2020 season, with Jared Cook, Josh Hill and Trautman working into the action. This year the group has consisted of Trautman, converted WR Juwan Johnson, QB Taysom Hill and veteran Garrett Griffins.
The Saints have often used two tight-end sets to attack, but this year it's been more about the ground game.
“That’s how we’re winning," Trautman said. "So you’re not going to go away from winning just because you want to see this or that from somebody. We’re going to do what we need to to win"
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There's also a good reason the Saints have run two tight-end systems with Cook as the receiving tight end and Hill as the blocking tight end. While a perfect tight end would be able to do both at an elite level, in most cases the skillsets required -- or at least the week-to-week focus and attention -- will need to be on one or the other. It's difficult to impact the game as both a blocker and a receiver. For the time being, it appears the Saints are content with Trautman working most on the blocking end of that dual role. But he knows that can, and likely will, change as the team gets key players back.
"I’ve been doing everything they’ve asked me to do, and you know, as the season goes on, role expands, hopefully, and all that type of stuff, and they just trust me with more things," Trautman said.
That time could be as soon as the Saints can get some healthy bodies back along their line, and in the form of depth behind Trautman. Juwan Johnson has been effective, particularly on red zone jump balls, since converting to TE from WR, but it's the other TE the Saints were planning to debut that could unlock Trautman. That's Nick Vannett, whom the Saints signed in the offseason. He's been on injured reserve since a knee injury suffered in the preseason, and would be a prime option to pick up some of the blocking assignments that currently have Trautman weighted down.
Vannett was among the group of Saints players designated to return from IR and returned to practice this week. It's unknown whether he'll be ready to go for Week 7 in Seattle. Once players are designated to return, the team has up to 21 days to add them back to the active roster.
With healthy blocking around him and quarterback Jameis Winston, Trautman's role could flourish. But until that point, expect some tough sledding, and a few more turns with the blocking sled.
However Trautman's role develops the rest of the was, his coach put it best: "He’s got pretty good football savvy and I think that goes a long way."
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