Saints Notes, Observations and Takeaways From Tuesday's OTAs

Here's what went down at Tuesday's OTAs for the Saints, which brought us plenty of highlights, notes and observations.

Tyrann Mathieu at Saints OTAs - May 28, 2024 / John Hendrix - Hendrix Media

We had another round of Saints OTAs on Tuesday, which gave us a real taste of what training camp is usually like down in South Louisiana. We're back with another round of notes and observations from practice, and be sure to check out our previous entry from last week. Here's what you need to know from our second look at New Orleans.

ATTENDANCE

Among those to return to practice for the Saints included Nathan Peterman, Jamaal Williams, Jaylan Ford and Tommy Hudson. Ford and Oli Udoh were working off to the side, and Mark Evans was not participating. Cam Jordan, Bryan Bresee, and Jordan Howden also did not participate in team drills. Rico Payton left early, but appeared to be okay.

Those who were not spotted at Tuesday's practice included Stanley Morgan Jr., Rashid Shaheed, Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alvin Kamara, Nephi Sewell, J.T. Gray, Nathan Latu, Ryan Ramczyk, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Nathan Shepherd and Chase Young. We did see Sewell out there in street clothes, however. Shaheed's absence is an illness, while Shepherd's is family-related. Kpassagnon is out due to a torn Achilles.

STARTING LOOKS AND MORE

No huge changes on the offensive line for the Saints this go-round other than Nick Saldiveri took all of the first-team reps at left guard. The line was (left to right) Taliese Fuaga, Nick Saldiveri, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz and Trevor Penning. The backup look was Justin Herron, Shane Lemieux, Lucas Patrick, Kyle Hergel and Landon Young.

Defensively, the Saints did show us a nickel package today, however most of the same players were in place. The line was the same as last week with Carl Granderson, Khalen Saunders, Kendal Vickers and Payton Turner, with Pete Werner and Demario Davis at linebacker, Alontae Taylor in the slot, Shemar Jean-Charles and Rezjohn Wright at corner and Johnathan Abram and Tyrann Mathieu at safety.

QUARTERBACK BREAKDOWN

Between 7's and team, Derek Carr finished 8-of-8 on the day, going 4-of-4 in each frame. Jake Haener went 4-of-7 (2-of-4 in 7's) and Spencer Rattler went 3-of-8 (1-of-3 in 7's) with two picks. Carr had a really pretty deep pass on a wheel route to Taysom Hill with Pete Werner in coverage and then also had a big connection to a wide open Equanimeous St. Brown in team.

CARR PERFECT ON THE DAY:

Carr hit a short pass over the middle to Taysom Hill to start, an intermediate gain on an angle route to Jamaal Williams, short left to the sideline with Juwan Johnson and then had the big wheel route connection deep to Taysom Hill. In the first set of team drills, he connected off play action to Jamaal Williams for a short gain in the middle. In the final set, Carr hit A.T. Perry for a nice hookup on a dig route after he came in motion, a short pass over the middle to Juwan Johnson and then the wide open hookup to St. Brown. On that hookup to St. Brown, it is worth pointing out that Carl Granderson had the pressure that could have likely been a sack.

RATTLER'S TOUGH OUTING:

Rattler's first pass in 7's was a pick by Millard Bradford, who got him twice on the day. It was a nice pass breakup over the deep middle of the field by Lawrence Johnson that set it up. His third pass was broken up by Faion Hicks on a short crosser over the middle intended for Kyle Sheets. In team, his first pass was again picked off by Bradford on a deep ball attempt to Bub Means. The ball hung up a little bit and Rezjohn Wright was in coverage as well.

SPECIAL TEAMS ROULETTE

We got to see Charlie Smyth and Matt Hayball in action today, and neither disappointed. Smyth hit all five of his kicks, which went from extra point to the 44-yard range. There's a strong appreciate for how much velocity he gets on his kicks, making it seem effortless. It was defeinitely a good confidence builder for Smyth.

As for Hayball, we've obviously highlighted the fact there would be a punter competition, and today was a good first showing for the undrafted rookie. His hang times were (starting out of the end zone working up to positive 44-yard territory): 4.16, 4.54, 4.78, 4.85, 3.84, 5.03, 5.28, 3.97, 4.79, 4.25, 4.27, 4.6 and 4.97. The knucklers/helicopters at the end were really strong boots, but one landed in the end zone and the other could not be fielded in time by the gunner. If you didn't know, he's also a lefty and he and Lou Hedley had the wind with them too.

We make it a point to tell you the gunners and jammers, and players that were involved in that grouping today were Alontae Taylor, Faion Hicks, Millard Bradford, A.T. Perry, Bub Means, Shemar Jean-Charles, Rezjohn Wright, Will Harris, Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Equanimeous St. Brown. Taysom Hill got work as the personal protector along with Johnathan Abram and Ugo Amadi. The main look was Equanimeous St. Brown and Cedrick Wilson at gunner with a protection unit of Will Harris, Khaleke Hudson, Pete Werner, D'Marco Jackson, Zach Wood, Isaiah Foskey, Monty Rice, Adam Prentice and Abram as the protector.

QUICK NOTES AND HITS

• Rookie Notes: A few players flashed out there today, which included Khristian Boyd, Kyler Baugh, Isaiah Stallbird, Lawrence Johnson and Millard Bradford. As we noted, Bradford had the two picks on Rattler today, which came in 7's and team. Johnson had two pass breakups on the day, both going up against Bub Means. Boyd had a couple of tackles for loss, Stallbird had one TFL and Baugh had a nice quarterback pressure.
• Some individual players who made some good plays today: Khaleke Hudson had a pass brekaup on a Haener pass intended for Dallin Holker. Faion Hicks had two breakups on a Rattler pass intended for Kyle Sheets on a short crosser over the middle and also a Haener pass late in team working against Bub Means.
• We saw a lot more of the intermediate passing game and attacking the middle of the field today on the offensive side during drills. There was more motion used today that should bring some excitement to the table. All positions were involved and it continues to be a huge staple of the new Saints offense under Klint Kubiak.
• A few incorporations to this practice included working on leverage block for special teams with release, fake punt situations with mainly Taysom Hill, late-game clock draining runs in the red zone and taking a safety late in the game with the punt team.
• Linebackers coach Michael Hodges took exception to one particular play involving Trevor Penning, and he was the loudest voice on the field after what went down. It came on a flip out play to Jordan Mims.
• Dallin Holker continues to run with the first-team, which is a pretty good sign for him early on. We also saw Mason Tipton get some work in with the one's with some speed motion.
• Pete Werner got picked on in coverage a bit today. He was targeted on four of the first five passes for Carr.
• Jake Haener was sporting a glove on his non-throwing hand today. He had one less pass due to a quarterback scramble after the pocket collapsed. He had a really nice throw on a wheel route to Jordan Mims in 7's where he fit it into a tight window with really good coverage by Willie Gay Jr.
• We don't see a ton of real blocking in OTAs, but one particular rep stood out between Nick Saldiveri and Carl Granderson. He got a nice block on the team's leading sack artist from last season. He's actually bulked up some this offseason and is playing around 330 pounds.
• Taysom Hill in the backfield is starting to be a pretty exciting thing to see unfold. There was a play in team where he was the running back in shotgun and took the run left for a nice little gain. On that play, we also saw two players go in motion, with Juwan Johnson and Dallin Holker.