Practice Notes and Observations From Our Final OTAs Session

Here's what all happened at Saints OTAs on Wednesday, and it was a lot.

John Hendrix

We got to see the Saints in action for the final time until mandatory minicamp next week, as the team held another round of OTAs on Wednesday. They'll wrap up in the next couple of days and then we'll be back for their three-day practice stretch, which will be the final little tuneup before training camp. Here's all of my notes and observations from practice.

ATTENDANCE

Not a ton changed from last week, although Tyrann Mathieu was one of the new absences. Dennis Allen said afterwards that it was family related. Also not spotted on Wednesday was Stanley Morgan Jr., Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alvin Kamara, Nephi Sewell, Nathan Latu, Ryan Ramczyk, Tommy Hudson, Tanoh Kpassagnon and Chase Young. Several players were spotted in the locker room following practice. Mark Evans was present but not participating, while Jaylan Ford was working of to the side, but later joined during special teams drills.

Regarding next week's mandatory minicamp, Allen expects everyone to be here, including Lattimore. Some of the absences in OTAs were personal, by choice or injury related. Again, it's voluntary. There's a chance we see Kool-Aid McKinstry next week doing walkthroughs and individual drills.

STARTING LOOKS AND MORE

Another week and another familiar look on the offensive line. From left to right, it was Taliese Fuaga, Nick Saldivieri, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz and Trevor Penning. The second unit was Justin Herron, Shane Lemieux, Lucas Patrick, Nouri Nouili and Landon Young. Dallin Holker continues to run with the first-team, and without Alvin Kamara in the mix, Jordan Mims is getting more looks there as well.

Defensively, the Saints rolled a base look today. The defensive line continued to be the same with Carl Granderson, Khalen Saunders, Kendal Vickers and Payton Turner on it, with Willie Gay Jr., Demario Davis and Pete Werner at linebacker. Alontae Taylor and Shemar Jean-Charles were on the outside with Johnathan Abram and Will Harris back at safety.

QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL

Here are the final numbers for each quarterback and what you need to know from their day.

• Derek Carr: 4-of-8 (2/4 in 7s), 2 TDs, INT
• Jake Haener: 5-of-7 (3/3 in 7s), TD
• Nathan Peterman: 1-of-2 (0/2 in 7s), INT
• Spencer Rattler: 3-of-4 (2/3 in 7s), TD

CARR'S DAY NOTES: Carr ended up throwing his first pick during OTAs, which was tipped at the line of scrimmage during team. The consensus wasn't entirely sure on who got it, but based on the positioning, it would have likely been Khalen Saunders or Kendal Vickers. The pass ended up making it into the end zone, with Alontae Taylor making an excellent play on the ball to pop it up to Demario Davis for a red zone takeaway. Prior to that in 7-on-7, he threw a dart to Chris Olave on an over route deep on the left side for a touchdown against Shemar Jean-Charles. That duo needs to keep it up.

Alontae Taylor had a nice pass breakup on a slant route intended to Cedrick Wilson Jr. to begin team drills. He hit his next pass to Taysom Hill in the flats after he came in motion for a second straight play and then the third was attacking the middle of the field to A.T. Perry, but it was dropped. The final throw was the hookup to Olave. In the first team session, his first pass was broken up by Demario Davis on a short pass over the middle to Jamaal Williams. He came back on the third play to hit Chris Olave on a post route for a touchdown working against Alontae Taylor. The route was crisp, to say the least.

For the final period in red zone, that's where the interception happened with Demario Davis. On that play, Isaiah Foskey brought the pressure and would have likely got the sack on the play. However, they continue to play it out. Carr made up for it on the next play by finding Michael Jacobson in the back of the end zone against Alontae Taylor.

HAENER'S DAY: Haener's first pass was a nice hookup over the middle to A.T. Perry on the dig route with J.T. Gray being the closest defender. He connected on the next play to Juwan Johnson on an intermediate pass over the middle with Faion Hicks being closest. The defense was fooled on the play after shifts from Zander Horvath, Michael Jacobson and Kendre Miller. Dennis Allen called the defense together after that play to coach them up. Haener finished 7s with a short connection in the flats to Jordan Mims.

In team, Haener hit Foster Moreau in the flats for a short gain to start and the took a high snap on the second play for a keeper. His next play was a pass that ended up getting broken up and nearly intercepted. Unfortunately, our vantage point did not give us who it was intended for an who made the play. For red zone, Haener's first pass from the 10-yard-line had no one there with Trajan Jeffcoat supplying the pressure. He'd rebound on the next play from the 6-yard-line after connecting with Juwan Johnson in the back of the end zone working against Millard Braford.

PETERMAN'S DAY: At first, he was ahead of Rattler on the reps but behind Haener. That's worth pointing out, but he also didn't get any work in red zone. He came in for the final rep of 7s and was picked off by Rico Payton on a pass intended for Equanimeous St. Brown. It was way off the mark and quite an easy interception for the rookie. His lone completion was in the flats to Jacob Kibodi.

RATTLER'S DAY: Rattler hit his first two passes with a nice connection to Mason Tipton on the dig route for an intermediate gain and then Kendre Miller in the flats for a short connection. His next pass was a nice throw deep down the right sideline to a wide open Kyle Sheets, but he ended up dropping it. In red zone, he didn't get off any throws.

His lone throw in team was a touchdown to Cedrick Wilson Jr. in the back of the end zone off play action with Millard Bradford being the closest defender. It was a nice throw by Rattler and a good hookup. The Saints were working from the 12, 10, 5 and 2-yard line for their four reps in the red zone. Under Rattler there, the first two plays were runs, which Trajan Jeffcoat had tackles for loss (more on him later) and then he had a keeper up the middle facing pressure from Jeffcoat and Isaiah Foskey. The final play saw him keep again after pressure from Jack Heflin and Khristian Boyd.

THE TAYSOM TRAIN

Folks. I don't know how else to put this, but the Taysom Hill element to this Saints offense has major potential. Today we saw him being used as a halfback more and more. He had three plays where he was the running back and took tosses to the left and right. Adam Prentice was a lead blocker on one of them and Dallin Holker. He was even a singleback on one of the reps. New Orleans is using a lot of motion involving Hill, including that speed motion that will surely confuse some defenses. This could get really fun really fast.

PUT HIM ON THE RADAR

Trajan Jeffcoat was one of the most noticeable players on the field during team drills. In red zone drills, he was responsible for a couple of pressures and tackles for loss. He put together three consecutive impact plays. He was getting work with the second-team and could be someone to keep an eye on as we get closer into things. With Tanoh Kpassagnon out of the mix, someone else could emerge.

TOUGH KICKING DAY

Charlie Smyth had a very tough outing on Wednesday. He ended going 4-of-7, with his third kick being somewhat questionable. He was wide left on the extra point, then made three, wide right narrowly from a right hash kick, missed the next one wide left from the left hash and then made his final boot. It was definitely the opposite of last week, and the wind was in and out of the picture in some kicks, but he'll learn from this. One thing to praise here during kickoff drills was how Blake Grupe, who didn't kick today, was quick to help Smyth and coach him up on kickoffs.

QUICK NOTES AND HITS

• Chris Olave was in a red non-contact jersey on Wednesday when entering 7-on-7, as he tweaked his shoulder a few weeks ago during workouts. This didn't limit him on the field, however.
• Allen says Chase Young has been at the facility every day and has been in meetings. “I see a guy that’s motivated and going to have a great year,” he said. The Saints should have a better idea where he’s at in a week or two, but as we were told last week, things are progressing well.
• Jermaine Jackson and Bub Means were getting some extra reps in with Nathan Peterman following practice. I'm reminded of how big this was for rookies last year like A.T. Perry working with Jameis Winston. Just having intentional time there is good to see.
• “I could care less what the expectations are outside this building," Allen said following a question regarding what national media and analysts are saying about the Saints and their chances this season.
• Allen on Spencer Rattler: “I’m encouraged by what I see out of him, but there’s certainly improvement to be had.”
• Lou Hedley had another impressive day, as he worked on punts that pinned opponents inside the 5-yard-line. His hang times: 4.75, 4.66, 4.78, 4.69, 4.57, 4.41, 4.43, 4.78, 4.50, 4.50, 4.77 and 4.47. Individual shoutouts to Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Lawrence Johnson for downing two punts that would have put the opposition in less than ideal field position. Ugo Amadi, Jordan Mims, Jamaal Williams and Jordan Howden all got work as the personal protector today.
• Defensive backs were working on a pop-up tip drill today, and it feels like the first time I've seen it or really have noticed it. The defensive backs tandem would field a pass near the sideline and the goal was to tip it up to the other one for a pick. There were some solid reps out there.
• Another defensive back drill consisted of then doing a three-to-five step drop back and then breaking on the ball. Marcus Robertson and Joe Woods are certainly putting in some different elements early on.
• The new kickoff rule is going to be pretty exciting to watch unfold. We saw a variety of returners in action, with Taysom Hill and Rashid Shaheed being the main ones. This element of getting a running start while fielding the ball could generate a lot of extra fun. Other returners included James Robinson, Alontae Taylor, Jermaine Jackson, Kendre Miller, Jamaal Williams, Kyle Sheets and Mason Tipton.
• A couple of defensive players who stood out today that we didn't really highlight would be Carl Granderson, Payton Turner, Anfernee Orji, Khaleke Hudson and D'Marco Jackson. Each one of them made at least one good individual play with Granderson have a couple of good stops. Overall, the defense shined a little bit more than the offense today.

Get caught up on OTAs with our Second And Saints show.