Saints Mailbag: Offense Talk, Cam Jordan's Partner in Crime, Derek Carr

The latest installment of Saints mailbag questions centers around the offense and Derek Carr.

We'll get one final look at the Saints next week during their three-day mandatory minicamp, and then it'll be relatively quiet until training camp gets here. Before we get there, we'll tackle our latest installment of mailbag questions. We received plenty this time around, so if you don't see yours here, then expect it on the next edition. As always, thanks for your submissions. Let's dive in.

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SAINTS MAILBAG

Who's the starting offensive line, and who could threaten for a spot?

Who's your starting o-line right now? And who could jump into contention with a great camp?

— Alfredo (@NOLA_Fredo) June 9, 2023

Until we see otherwise, the familiar starting lineup would be James Hurst, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and Ryan Ramczyk. However, it is widely believed and expected that Trevor Penning will make a big push for the left tackle spot. Now, a veteran like Hurst could go inside at left guard if that does happen, or even be a jumbo presence if they do want to roll with Peat. Players like Calvin Throckmorton, Lewis Kidd, and Landon Young are the primary depth guys right now. 

When we get into training camp, I'd like to see more of Storm Norton and Mark Evans II, but I fully expect someone like Nick Saldiveri to push Throckmorton and Kidd as an absolute worst-case scenario. If there's one area that would be most concerning on offense, it would be the line for me. They can be so dominate when they are at full strength, but we only get to see that for so long unfortunately.

It'll be interesting to see how many linemen the team has on the final roster, but you can fully expect them to have a few that just missed the cut to come back on the practice squad.

Who starts opposite of Cam Jordan?

Who’s looking to start opposite of Cam?

— WhoDatJag (@Jagilarr) June 9, 2023

Nothing should change here, it's Carl Granderson. He took a major leap last season and essentially cut into Marcus Davenport's snaps with the way he was playing. Even if the team brings in a free agent, it still has to be Granderson as the favorite. New Orleans should continue to have a rotational approach with their defensive line, which means we should see plenty of Tanoh Kpassagnon as well. Payton Turner is facing a pivotal training camp, while the excitement is there for Isaiah Foskey. 

Will Jameis Winston challenge Derek Carr?

The real question is if jameis Winston is looking really good how much of a threat would he really be to Derek Carr cuz I really don't think his talents is that much better than jameis Winston

— Vernell Thomas (@kuntrybumkinz) June 9, 2023

There is no quarterback controversy this season. The job is Derek Carr's. Now, I've floated the idea before that if Winston has a great training camp and preseason after being fully healthy, then a quarterback-needy team might try to field calls to New Orleans for him to land a potential starting gig. Of course, that's assuming Jake Haener comes along quickly, and the team would also need another option there that's not Taysom Hill.

With Winston here and the way Haener is catching on, the Saints have one of the better quarterback rooms in the league. The Carr chemistry with Pete Carmichael and the offense is coming along well, thus far. They like what Carr brings to the table and his ability to be calm under pressure, and things you won't always see like making checks at the line of scrimmage pre-snap will be big for him. He's said and done the right things early on, and as long as that translates onto the field, everything is good.

Will the offense change any?

How much of Carmaicheal system will last frok last year going into what Carrs familiar system in LV was and how doesn Gruden coming in affect our scheme now vs last year's?

— Its Cashed (@itscashedd) June 9, 2023

The Jon Gruden visit was just to pick his brain on how best to utilize Carr and to learn more about him. Gruden is not on the Saints staff, and there's nothing to suggest that that will change. Things are going strong between Pete Carmichael and Derek Carr. One of the things Carr joked about the other week was just some of the subtleties that's different here, like expecting the play to be called in his helmet when Carmichael wants to tell him face-to-face. They are expected to let Carr make a lot of the decisions here in-game, similar to what Drew Brees did. 

Carr mentioned that the verbiage is the main thing he's getting used to right now, and then also working on the chemistry with the receivers and tight ends. He knows the strengths of the players he's working with, and has studied film on them from even when Brees was here. The main things that we would hope are better in the Saints offense this season would be third-down and red zone execution, but there's plenty of other things. We'll have to wait and see how things ultimately play out, but I'd be way more optimistic going into this year.