Saints camp Day 5 takeaways: WRs show out on first day in pads

I have a rule when I put these practice notes together: If I make a big deal out of something that needs to be better, and it immediately improves, it has to be my lead note for that day. That's the case today, because I asked for the WRs to show up for the Saints offense, and they did.

It certainly wasn't perfect for the offense on the first day in pads, but following a Sunday practice where there wasn't a single reception for a wide receiver in full-team drills, QB Tyler Shough was targeting that group early and often. The first catch of the day went to Chris Olave, his first of camp, as he beat Kool-Aid McKinstry on an out. That was nice to see because there definitely seemed to be some rust with that connection.

Shough also found completions to Devaughn Vele and Jordyn Tyson, the latter of which went for about +15 on a perfectly located ball. Tyson slid to the ground on an in cut to avoid a defender, and the QB placed the ball exactly where it needed to be. That was on a set of drills where the offense started backed up on 1st and 15.

The most impressive catch of the day, though, belongs to Barion Brown, who got past Martin Emerson Jr. in coverage and made a pretty adjustment to locate the ball over his outside shoulder for what would've been a 40-plus-yard gain from Spencer Rattler. The catch came a few plays after he couldn’t haul in a similar ball.

Shough also had a good day throwing to running backs, including one play where he escaped the pocket and directed Travis Etienne to break upfield before finding him in stride for a big gain up the sideline. It was the most comfortable I've seen Shough look to this point, though he was still facing a lot more pressure than you'd like. I had Shough completing 11 of 13 passes (84.5%).

There was one deep ball late in practice where he appeared to have Brock Rechsteiner open downfield but didn't see it until too late. The ball sailed out of bounds. Again, it wasn't a perfect day, but it was a step forward and a welcome one.

TAKING ATTENDANCE

Not a ton to report from an absence standpoint. Cesar Ruiz missed a second consecutive day for personal reasons. The Saints are off on Tuesday, so a return Wednesday would feel likely.

Saints head coach Kellen Moore briefly addressed the retirement of Ja'Lynn Polk and indicated that the player had communicated with the team and the conversations began this week. He wouldn't delve into what prompted the seemingly sudden decision to retire after two NFL seasons.

Mason Tipton, Zxavian Harris and Keeshawn Silver are still yet to make their practice debuts. Tipton has been out watching practice regularly.

1V1

Today was the first day we saw 1-on-1 reps for WR/DB and OL/DL. It's always a tough decision of which to watch, but I opted to go for the skill players. It's important to remember that these drills are tilted toward the offense. I did see some nice reps in there from DBs Lorenzo Styles and Dalys Beanum. A couple guys struggled.

I'd say Bub Means was the MVP of the drill. He's not going to wow you with speed, but he's a big dude with excellent body control. If he wins leverage it's tough for any DB to win it back. Barion Brown blew past Rejzohn Wright for a deep ball. Chris Olave and Kool-Aid McKinstry seem well matched, which is ideal. Check out a cutup of a bunch of those reps in the embedded post above.

One note is we didn't actually see the rookie Tyson in this drill, which is a bummer. Head coach Kellen Moore said it was simple a matter of limiting reps. You'd love to see full participation, but I don't take for granted the fact that after a whole offseason of talk about his availability -- or lack thereof -- Tyson has been in action in each of the first five training camp practices. As long as that remains the case, I'm perfectly fine with some throttling down when it's appropriate. Just make sure you're available when the games get here.

HEAVY

One thing we expect to see this season is a lot more usage of heavy personnel. That was pretty clearly foreshadowed when the Saints signed Noah Fant in free agency and then drafted Oscar Delp in the third round. The first team rep today featured 13 personnel, with each of Juwan Johnson, Oscar Delp and Noah Fant aligned in tight outside of the left tackle.

I don't think the Saints will break it out all the time, but it's telling how often heavy personnel has been shown already. It could prove critical throughout the season If the Saints enter a game against a team that can't get off blocks in the run game, beat them over the head with power. If they have big bodies that can't cover, force them on the field and make them defend the pass. The key is to have the levers to win in different ways.

To me the most important thing that personnel has to do is block. If you can force the defense to honor the run, pretty much anything works. But if you put three tight ends on the field and the other team can stay in a sub package without issue, advantage lost.

ROTATION

We haven't seen any true position battles in camp, but we are starting to see some rotations take shape. Today we saw Quincy Riley and Isaac Yiadom swap some reps. Ike got time on the field with the 1s, Riley with the 2s. It's not a sign that Riley is at risk of losing his spot, at least not unless something changes. It's about making sure a backup and potential fill-in starter has some time on task with the 1s, because it's incredibly likely for that replacement to be needed at some point.

You'll see similar rotations for Danny Stutsman and Pete Werner, and there's a heavy rotation along the defensive line. What I will say as far as the DBs, is we've got a pretty clearly established pecking order for the top four guys:
- CB1: Kool-Aid McKinstry
- CB2: Quincy Riley
- CB3: Isaac Yiadom
- CB4: Martin Emerson Jr.

I was eager to see Emerson play in camp but there have been some clear struggle points. There's a long way left to settle in, but some young DBs down the depth chart could be pushing for more reps before too long.

KICKING UPDATE

Welcome back, readers of my daily kicking blog. Today was a Charlie Smyth day and the perfection has ended. Smyth went 5-6 on kicks ranging from a PAT out to 54 yards. His miss came from 44 and flew pretty wide to the right. Tough to say, but it was a big enough miss that I wonder if he didn't catch it clean. He ended up re-kicking from that spot and drilled it, followed by the next two kicks. A miss from 44 every now and then isn't a huge issue, but it can't become a common theme.

Here are the stats after five practices:
- Charlie Smyth: 15-16 (miss from 44L)
- Tanner Brown: 9-10 (missed PAT)

LAGNIAPPE

Chase Young is a beast, man. It can be tough to really track the trenches and follow the result of a play, but any time you just spend a few reps in a row locked in on Chase you start to understand how impossible of a task it is to deal with him 1-on-1. Kelvin Banks is having a whale of time thus far. It'll be good for him in the long run, but there was one bullrush today that had him looking like he was on ice. Also saw some nice reps from Carl Granderson and Cam Jordan. I'm choosing to view this as more positive for the defense than negative for the offense, but time will tell. ... Punter Ryan Wright welcomed his first child, a boy, during the offseason. That's why he was absent from the first two OTA sessions. He's another name on a long list of Saints players who have welcomed babies this offseason, along with Cesar Ruiz, Erik McCoy, David Edwards, Tyler Shough and Pete Werner. ... Dalys Beanum picked off a Zach Wilson pass today and took down an interception in 1V1s. He's pretty far down the depth chart, but taking the ball away is a good way to get noticed in a hurry. ... Got a chance to chat with Julian Blackmon today. I'm really excited for what this guy can do for this defense is he can just stay on the field and he's very motivated to prove that he can. Hopefully that twice surgically repaired shoulder can hold up, because I think we'll be getting the best version of Blackmon if it does.