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Saints

Final Saints 53-man roster projection: Several spots up for grabs in preseason finale

Jeff Nowak
By Jeff NowakAug 24, 2024
Jeff Nowak
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The New Orleans Saints have one more preseason game's worth of information to gather before they have to trim the roster down from 90 to 53, but we're going to get a headstart.

After 22 practices and a pair of preseason games, only a handful of spots remain that could potentially be changed with Sunday's effort against the Titans. But for those players, this week's action could mean everything.

With that in mind, here's my final 53-man roster projection ahead of Tuesday's cuts with one distinct change. If there's a player either above the cut line or below it whom I feel could change things with a positive or negative performance, their names are in bold. Any player who isn't in bold can be considered, in my opinion, a lock to make the roster.

━━
QUARTERBACK (3)
- Derek Carr
- Jake Haener
- Spencer Rattler

Cuts: none

Why: This has been a fun competition to watch, and I still see Rattler as a player who could develop with starter upside down the line. That said, I'm coming out of this feeling similarly to how I went into it. I trust Jake more to be the backup this season. We'll have to see if he does anything to change that in the preseason finale.

━━
RUNNING BACK/FULLBACK (5)
- Alvin Kamara
- Jamaal Williams
- Jordan Mims
- Taysom Hill
- Adam Prentice

Early IR: Kendre Miller
Cuts: James Robinson; Jacob Kibodi

Why: The only real difference here is that I'm taking advantage of the new IR rules to save myself a spot on cutdown day. The entirety of the training camp slate has come and gone with Kendre Miller getting on the field. I don't see how you'd keep him on the active roster right now, and this will at least save me from having to cut bait entirely. Let's see where we're at after the first month of the season. To me, Jordan Mims has done enough to earn that role. It's worth noting that when you're cutting down the roster, the fullback position always feels like one where a team could do a wink-wink-nod-nod move where that player is cut and brought back a few days later once players are shifted to IR. Prentice is a lock to be the fullback on this team's roster, even if his name is among the cuts on Tuesday.

Saints sign pair of familiar names at LB, DT ahead of preseason finale

━━
TIGHT END (3)
- Juwan Johnson
- Foster Moreau
- Dallin Holker

Cuts: Michael Jacobson; Kevin Rader; Mason Fairchild

Why: I'm listing Taysom Hill with the running backs, but you could easily justify listing him here instead. If you did, that'd leave you with three tight ends and that's probably enough. I still like the upside for Dallin Holker, but his ankle sprain was poorly timed and there's a chance we just haven't seen enough of him. For now I'll keep him on here, but I could see the Saints opting to try to get him on the practice squad to start the year now that there's more concrete confidence in Juwan Johnson being fully healthy to start the season.

━━
WIDE RECEIVER (6)
- Chris Olave
- Rashid Shaheed
- Cedrick Wilson
- A.T. Perry
- Bub Means
- Stanley Morgan

Cuts: Mason Tipton; Equanimeous St. Brown; Samson Nacua; Shaq Davis; Kevin Austin Jr.

Why: If Mason Tipton can get on the field to show something in the preseason finale I could change my tune here, but it's already tough for a UDFA to make an initial roster, and even more difficult when you're trying to do so on pure practice hype. This doesn't strike me as dissimilar to Rashid Shaheed, who also started on the practice squad his rookie season. That wouldn't spell the end for him. Bub Means has come on strong and teams are always looking for reasons NOT to cut their draft picks. You could argue that A.T. Perry hasn't done enough, but I still think he makes it. I might be in the minority when it comes to Stanley Morgan, but I think he's going to be a guy that's kept around for special teams upside (not unlike Dwayne Washington in the past).

━━
OFFENSIVE LINE (9)
- LT Taliese Fuaga
- LG Lucas Patrick
- C Erik McCoy
- RG Cesar Ruiz
- RT Trevor Penning
- Oli Udoh
- Nick Saldiveri
- Kyle Hergel
- Landon Young

Cuts: Shane Lemieux; Josiah Ezirim; Jesse Davis; Tremayne Anchrum

Why: The question here is whether Nick Saldiveri begins the season on IR, but it's difficult to get a good read there. For now I'm keeping him on the initial roster and hoping he'll be able to get back as the potential backup early in the season. As of now I'm still penciling in Trevor Penning and Lucas Patrick at RT and LG, but those spots are anything but set in stone. Kyle Hergel is a guy I expect to be kept around based on his usage. It's possible that you keep Lemieux instead, and if Saldiveri does land on IR that's who I'd slot in, but for now I'm frustrated by the fact that I can't trust him at center. If he's a one-position backup, I'd rather go with the young guy who I think can develop at the NFL level.

Under pressure: These Saints players have the most on the line in preseason finale

━━
DEFENSIVE END (5)
- Cam Jordan
- Carl Granderson
- Chase Young
- Payton Turner
- Isaiah Foskey

Early IR: Trajan Jeffcoat
PUP: Tanoh Kpassagnon
Cuts: Niko Lalos

Why: The Saints waived Trajan Jeffcoat with an injury designation at the last possible moment, but I still think he could be an early IR to return candidate. They could've had him on IR this whole time if they intended to have him there the whole season. Otherwise I think this is the most straightforward position. I know there's some frustration with Foskey's production, but he's out there working. As a 2nd rounder, you're only getting cut in Year 2 if there are too many red flags to ignore, or you're simply unavailable. Early returns haven't been great, but he's the 5th man on the DE depth chart and the team is going to give him time to develop. If they can stay healthy, the top three names on this list could wreck games.

━━
DEFENSIVE TACKLE (4)
- Bryan Bresee
- Nathan Shepherd
- Khalen Saunders
- Khristian Boyd

Cuts: Jack Heflin; Kendal Vickers

Why: This is another one that I wouldn't say was particularly difficult to establish. Going into I had some question as to whether they might pare down to three DTs on the active roster, but I think the strength of Boyd's camp has erased that idea. With Bresee's development I see this as one of the stronger DT groups the Saints have rolled out in a while.

━━
LINEBACKER (5)
- Demario Davis
- Pete Werner
- Willie Gay
- Anfernee Orji
- Khaleke Hudson

Cuts: Andrew Dowell; D'Marco Jackson; Monty Rice; Isaiah Stalbird; Mike Rose; Jaylan Ford

Why: Heading into this week D'Marco would've been the fifth name on my list, but his unfortunately timed injury works against him here. We'll see how significant it is, and he also might be an IR candidate to start the year. For now I'm changing course by keeping around Khaleke, a player who's shown well and can contribute on special teams. I see the other four names (including Orji) as locks.

Saints fans get first look at completed Superdome renovations today & Sunday

━━
CORNERBACK (5)
- Marshon Lattimore
- Paulson Adebo
- Alontae Taylor
- Kool-Aid McKinstry
- Rico Payton

Cuts: Shemar Jean-Charles; Rezjohn Wright; Mac McCain; Joejuan Williams

Why: Similar to linebacker, I have no question about the top four names on this list. You could make an argument for replacing Rico with any of Shamar, Rezjohn or Joejuan, the latter of whom looked really solid in Friday's practice at the Superdome. I'm just a big fan of how Rico has developed over the course of camp. I think it took a bit longer than some others to really get up to speed (he's a Division-II player), but his past few weeks have been impressive and I want to reward that if I can. You could also convince me that keeping a sixth DB would make sense, mainly because of the injury questions that still exist around Marshon Lattimore (hip) and Kool-Aid McKinstry (knee).

━━
SAFETY (5)
- Tyrann Mathieu
- Will Harris
- Jordan Howden
- Johnathan Abram
- J.T. Gray

Cuts: Ugo Amadi; Millard Bradford; Lawrence Johnson; Rod Teamer

Why: The biggest question I have here is between Ugo Amadi (whom I still see as more of a safety) and Johnathan Abram. For now I'm going with Abram because I think his presence in that room is valuable, but Amadi might be a more effective special teamer. Either way I think one makes the roster and the other is a practice squad player who gets called up as necessary.

━━
SPECIALISTS (3)
- LS Zach Wood
- P Lou Hedley
- K Blake Grupe

Cuts: Matt Hayball; Charlie Smyth*
* IPP player

Why: I've enjoyed watching the rookies kick in camp, particularly Charlie Smyth and his cannon leg, but I think experience wins out here. At the punter position I could see the Saints going with the young guy if he has a particularly good day, but with what I've seen to this point I'm still sticking with the established player. In the kicker battle the Saints also have the ability to stash Charlie and I think they'll do just that. We probably saw some evidence on Friday at the Superdome during what I went in assuming I'd see Smyth to even out the kicking reps. Instead it was Grupe, who went out with a purpose and boomed in all 7 of his kicks, the longest of which was from 54. We've also seen him hit from 61 in camp, and he had another attempt from 61 go off the left upright about halfway up, so he can hit some boomers, too, if you need him. I just think the consistency inside the 50 is where you're going to make that determination this year. Assuming Smyth clears waivers, which I have to imagine he does, he'll slot into the 17th practice squad spot that only IPP players can fill. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't have him kick at all just to make sure there's no real film out there. If that happend, it'd make Smyth an option this season if Grupe falters or suffers and injury, and we'll likely have a much more intense competition this time next year.

━━
PRACTICE SQUAD
- K Charlie Smyth*
- DB Ugo Amadi
- DB Shemar Jean-Charles
- CB Rezjohn Wright
- CB Joejuan Williams
- LB D'Marco Jackson
- LB Jaylan Ford
- LB Andre Dowell
- DT Jack Heflin
- DE Niko Lalos
- OL Shane Lemieux
- OT Josiah Ezirim
- WR Mason Tipton
- WR Samson Nacua
- TE Michael Jacobson
- RB James Robinson
- RB Jacob Kibodi

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