The Saints are scheduled to take the field for mandatory minicamp beginning June 15-17th, but the Cajun Cannon is already deep into writing notes for the upcoming season.
WWL’s Bobby Hebert is anxious to be back at Black & Gold practices and has already picked out an undrafted gem who he thinks has a real chance at earning a roster spot.
“My initial dark horse is Shaq Smith. A linebacker that looks the part, 6ft2, 245 pounds,” Hebert said hosting WWL’s Sports Talk.
“He played at Maryland the last two years. But, spent the first two seasons of his college career at Clemson. Smith had 10 starts at Maryland, and played 28 games as a reserve linebacker at Clemson when he was a redshirt freshman and sophomore. So, he knows big time football, he just wanted more of an opportunity, that’s why he transferred from Clemson to Maryland.”
Smith appeared in just one game his senior season, but played 11 as a junior in 2019 racking up 24 tackles, 4 pass breakups, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack.
Currently the Saints also have Demario Davis, Zach Baun, Kaden Elliss, Marcus Willoughby, Andrew Dowell, Quentin Poling, Chase Hansen, Wynton McManis and 2nd round draft pick Pete Werner in the mix at linebacker.