Saints OTAs: Observations and Notes

Observations and notes from the second open Saints OTA practice to the media.

John Hendrix | Jun 2, 2022

The Saints had their second OTA session that was open to the media on Thursday, and it certainly gave us plenty to talk about. Here's a rundown of how practice went with our observations and notes.

ATTENDANCE: Again, these sessions are strictly voluntary, but the first to pass along is those who returned to practice who were not here last week. That group included Landon Young, Kentavius Street, Andrus Peat, Jarvis Landry, and Adam Trautman.

As far as those missing, the team was without 15 players. The group included Taysom Hill, Deonte Harty, Michael Thomas, Mark Ingram, Bradley Roby, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Marshon Lattimore, P.J. Williams, Tyrann Mathieu, Alvin Kamara, Demario Davis, James Hurst, Marcus Davenport, Albert Huggins, and Payton Turner. Mathieu was here last week.

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PRACTICE NOTES/OBSERVATIONS: There was a little bit different vibe to this week's session as opposed to the previous one. The team worked on a good bit of special teams drills that included blocked punts individual drills, formations, kickoffs and kickoff returns, and punt work. We got to see a 7-on-7 session, safety drills with the offense, and then 11-on-11 drills. New Orleans closed things out with field goal practice with John Parker Romo.

Landon Young was back at practice, as we just mentioned, and he got a good bunch of the starting reps at right tackle. Andrus Peat was back as well, working at his familiar left guard spot. Trevor Penning was at left tackle, while Cesar Ruiz and Erik McCoy were at their normal spots.
Marcus Maye participated some in walkthroughs, which is a big step forward. The only player who was spotted that did not practice was Rashid Shaheed.
Josh Andrews ended up being the secondary option at center. It's something we don't pay a ton of attention to, but the team had Forrest Lamp working there last week in addition to him.
Sticking with the offensive line, Jerald Hawkins worked as the second left tackle, while Ethan Greenidge was the second left guard.
Devine Ozigbo got starting reps at running back with no Alvin Kamara or Mark Ingram in the mix. Dennis Allen said after practice that it was important for anyone to be here at OTAs to get work in when asked about Ozigbo getting more work and how it could help him out.
Punt return work included Chris Olave, Easop Winston Jr., Marquez Callaway, and Jarvis Landry. Rashid Shaheed was around the group, but as stated earlier was not participating.
Daniel Sorensen and Justin Evans were the primary guys to work on punts as the upback (punt protector). It's not going to make a ton of headlines, but we look at everything with observations.
11-on-11 drills saw just Andy Dalton and Ian Book at quarterback. The defense had the better day there, and in particular Andrew Dowell had a good pass breakup on Kirk Merritt over the middle, while Nephi Sewell had a breakup of his own and near interception against Kahale Warring. Ian Book was the quarterback for both. Offensively, one of the best plays came on a wheel route to Devine Ozigbo, who got behind Eric Wilson for a big sideline hookup. There were several plays in which the pocket collapsed and forced the quarterbacks to scramble. They realistically would have been a sack or coverage sack.
Daniel Whelan handled punt duties again today, and again, it's hard not to point out how pretty of a spiral he gets on every kick.
In 7-on-7 drills, Jameis Winston got the bulk of the reps, finishing with eight total. Dalton and Book got two each.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY: Plenty of things to take away from today. We'll start with Dylan Mabin, who had a nice pass breakup on Chris Olave from Jameis Winston.

Jarvis Landry didn't disappoint in one of his reps. Landry was being held up by Vincent Gray, but still managed to make a one-handed catch on a short route. That's the type of things you'd expect from the veteran. The play produced a little spirited conversation after the play, but Landry came out on top. He also had a later catch on a slant in 7-on-7, and made a good cut inside on Jordan Miller.

Bryce Thompson had an interception on Jameis Winston on an intended deep ball to Kawaan Baker in the end zone. He made a nice catch to secure the pick.

Kaden Elliss had a good pass breakup on Juwan Johnson on a pass from Andy Dalton. It ended up hitting him in the helmet on a fade route deep near the end zone. Elliss was in a great position to make the play, and that's an encouraging sign for him.

J.T. Gray had an outstanding individual play in 11-on-11 drills. He broke up a deep sideline Andy Dalton pass near the sideline with one hand, and ended up tipping it to himself for the pick.

GUNNER WORK: It's hard not to preface everything with, 'it's still early,' but some of the roster camp battles will come down to special teams. J.T. Gray will need a new partner in crime going into this season, and some of the players to get some work at gunner today included Tre'Quan Smith, Kevin White, Kawaan Baker, Dai'Jean Dixon, Kirk Merritt, Alontae Taylor, Paulson Adebo, Bryce Thompson, Vincent Gray, and DaMarcus Fields.

STANDOUT PLAYER: Jarvis Landry was hard not to mention here, but Bryce Thompson is someone who had a good day. He was converted to safety last year, and having a nice camp until he got hurt in the final preseason game. He had the interception on Winston, some good coverage in 7-on-7, and had several good reps on special teams.

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