What we’re experiencing right now is unprecedented with the NFL, probably against its better judgment, desperately trying to play out the remainder of its 2021 schedule amid another COVID surge. It’s hard to say who’s been hit hardest by the outbreak, though the Saints have been affected more than most. Decimated by the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant, the shorthanded Saints are down to their fourth-string quarterback with fourth-round rookie Ian Book in line to make his first NFL debut Monday night against Miami.
Already playing without starter Jameis Winston (lost to a torn ACL in Week 8), New Orleans was dealt another blow Thursday with Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian both landing in the league’s COVID protocol. Even with an extra day to prepare, Hill and Siemian are unlikely to be cleared in time for Monday’s 8:15 PM ET kickoff, leaving emergency quarterback Alvin Kamara as the team’s de facto QB2.
That’s no typo. The Pro Bowl running back, who completed his only career pass for a 13-yard gain in 2019 (he threw to Josh Hill out of the wildcat formation), currently finds himself second on New Orleans’ quarterback depth chart. That’s how bleak it’s gotten for the Saints, who enter Week 16 needing a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
The Saints don’t have a QB on their practice squad and Winston, Hill, Siemian and Book were the only quarterbacks they brought to training camp this summer. That leaves Book as their lone in-house option. The most likely scenario, assuming Hill and Siemian are both out, is New Orleans going out and signing another QB to back up Book. But if worse comes to worst, Kamara could be called on to run the wildcat if Book gets hurt. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
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