The New Orleans Saints still have a long way to go before we see the full form of the offense, but there's no denying the obvious: Tyler Shough looks ready for a Year 2 leap.
Head coach Kellen Moore applauded his young quarterback's growth as a leader and noted that his personality has been able to come out as he heads into his first season as the unquestioned starter. Then there's what he's shown on the practice field.
"I think it's just communicating at a really high level, control at the line of scrimmage," Moore said. "Those things are going to be important parts as you kind of evolve in a system."
Shough missed on two of his first two throws at Wednesday's open OTA session, but bounced back in a big way. He found a big gain to Ronnie Bell on a deep out, then hit Bub Means up the sideline for another 20-plus yard gain as the WR came uncovered. But his two best throws came in the second set of 7-on-7s, finding Ja'Lynn Polk in stride on a deep over route, which he caught in stride and took downfield for what would've likely been a long touchdown. Shough hit Kevin Austin Jr. with a similar layered ball on the next rep as he rolled out to his right.
We're still so early in the offseason that overreacting to pretty much anything would be a mistake, but it's hard to avoid. Shough looks a seasoned vet and looks to have found a strong balance of being aggressive while taking what's there. It's also worth noting that today's emphasis was on third downs, which meant some more aggressive decisions.
It's easy to forget, but this time last year Shough was frequently scrambling in 7-on-7s and looked indecisive. He's in control now.
SURPRISE, It's Alvin Kamara
Whether the plan was to create a little chaos this week or not, that's what Alvin Kamara did when he opted somewhat out of the blue to report to the team facility midway through the second OTA session. He said he decided to drop in earlier in the week, and arrived at about 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.. Moore admitted that he was surprised to see Kamara, who doesn't typically attend OTAs, but that he was happy for the arrival.
"I'm excited to be able to spend a little bit of time with him and just kind of see where he's at," Moore said, "but it's good to see him."
The team has been largely noncommital on Kamara's situation as he enters the final year of his deal, but it's unclear what a resolution could be. Kamara said he's yet to be approached with a reworked deal or any potential paycut, and declined to discuss that potential until it was a reality.
On the field Kamara still looked quick, though he was limited to individual drills. He worked alongside new Saints RB Travis Etienne for the first time. Both players have said they'd be excited to work in a tandem with the other.
Taking attendance
Moore said there were some players dealing with illnesses, which possibly led to a longer-than-usual absentee list from the second day of practice. The group of players I didn't see in uniform:
- P Ryan Wright
- RB Kendre Miller
- WR Chris Olave
- WR Mason Tipton
- DT Nathan Shepherd
- DE Chase Young
I did see Miller watching on from the side. He's working back from a torn ACL. There was also a trio of high draft picks looking on but largely not participating in WR Jordyn Tyson, DT Christen Miller and TE Oscar Delp. Tyson participated in stretches but nothing else, marking the third of four practices with media in attendance that he was throttled back. Moore has said the team is simply establishing a baseline for young players, and that's led to throttling down Tyson's workload. Miller is yet to participate due to an undisclosed issue.
Delp's lack of participation was new. He did pull up short on a route during last week's session, though it's unclear what is ailing him.
The Saints will continue to play it safe and ramp up player workloads, though it does seem ominous that the team's top three draft picks are all being held out of the action at this stage.
Wilson arrives
Newly signed QB Zach Wilson got into the action for the first time this week, drawing third team reps behind Shough and Spencer Rattler. Each QB got 10 total reps, split 5-5-5 between the two team sessions. Wilson had some nice moments, including a deep ball to Bryce Lance down the right sideline. He looks like he could certainly push Rattler for the backup job if given a legitimate opportunity.
Wilson completed 7-of-10 passes, though the final pass was a dropped interception (Elliott Davison).
Fans incoming
The Saints are planning to have three sets of joint practices during this year’s training camp, the first of which will be against the Jaguars prior to the preseason opener at the Caesars Superdome. The Saints intend to make that first session open to fans in Metairie, an exciting opportunity for Who Dats to get eyes on the high-intensity practices. The Saints tend to hold their joint sessions on the road to take advantage of more comfortable temperatures. The other two joint practices will come against the Rams and Cowboys ahead of the Week 2 preseason game in L.A.
The Saints will then come home before a road trip to face the Cowboys in the preseason finale. That week the Saints intend to hold a joint practice outdoors at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium.
LAGNIAPPE
The first interception of the offseason fell into the hands of Martin Emerson Jr., but it was Isaac Yiadom who made the play, breaking early on a Rattler pass targeting Lance and knocking the ball up into the air. I'll say it again, the Saints have really good depth in the secondary. ... With Young missing the day, we got to see the first guy off the bench in the edge rusher group, and it was Chris Rumph. It'll be interesting to see whether Tyree Wilson or Anfernee Jennings pushes him off that line as we go, but the early signs point to Rumph having the pole position. ... A source told me today: Don't sleep on Moliki Matavao. So you have been warned. He's a big, bruising player who won't be able to truly shine until the pads come on, but this coaching staff is very high on him.
