Dennis Allen wasn't giving anything away in terms of roster plans for the upcoming season after this week's 53-man roster cutdown, and that includes the backup QB position.
Despite the standout performance in the preseason finale from Spencer Rattler, the Saints head coach made it clear that it is still very much a competitive situation between the rookie and Jake Haener, and that will continue at least for the next few weeks.
"They’re still competing, you know, and I really want that to be that way throughout the course of the season, that those guys are coming out here every day and they’re competing," Allen said. "It’s a healthy competition. I think both those guys have done well and so I’m not in any way ready to make some sort of statement or comment or declaration, anything of that nature."
At some point it will become clear which player is serving in the immediate backup role, because the other will almost certainly land in the emergency third QB slot on gamedays. That doesn't have to happen until the season-opener and Carolina Panthers arrive on Sept. 8. Allen also wouldn't declare who would be the starter at strong safety between Jordan Howden and Will Harris, though he did indicate the team has made its decision.
Still, quarterback is a bit of a different animal. There are only so many reps to go around during practices and the bulk will be taken by starting QB Derek Carr. That will leave Rattler and Haener to split the remaining reps and, at least for now, the team seems comfortable with doing that.
"We’ll just let those guys keep coming out and working and practicing and getting better," Allen said, "and here’s the deal ... both of them we’ve got to develop, and so we’ve got to find ways to get reps for these guys."
It's a bit of an unusual scenario, with the Saints devoting early Day 3 picks to QBs in back-to-back seasons and feeling like both have significant upside. There's a clear surge of fan sentiment behind Rattler, but Haener has put forth a strong camp and the team won't overlook him. If a scenario emerges where one of those players has to start games this season, the other would be in the catbird seat as the backup.
Would one player be better served by having the other kicked to the curb from a reps perspective? Possibly. For now the team clearly sees the better option to be keeping the pressure on both as they advance in their young NFL careers.
"We’ve got to find ways to get reps for these guys, whether it be on the show team or whether it be extra sessions with some of the young skill guys, things of that nature," Allen continued. "They’re going to have to continue to work to develop. I think that’s probably the most unique thing and probably the bigger challenge of all this is that we have two young guys that need work, that need to develop and there’s only so many snaps you can get throughout the course of the week, so that’ll be our challenge.”
The Saints cut down to their 53-man roster on Tuesday, but there could be additional changes when waiver claims clear on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
