What Did We See And Learn At Saints Rookie Minicamp?

Notes, observations and takeaways from Saturday's Saints rookie minicamp session.

May 11, 2024; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen looks on during the / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

A total of 57 players were on-hand for rookie minicamp on Saturday, as we got our first look at the Saints during their afternoon practice session made available to the media. It's important to remember that these practices are just those and don't have contact like training camp. However, we did have some takeaways and observations from the day.

Saints Rookie Minicamp Observations

• There were three less tryout players than what was listed originally, as Cam Wire, Jakeem Grant and Cole Beck were removed.
• Several players were not spotted practicing, which included Kool-Aid McKinstry, Jaylan Ford, Nathan Latu and Josiah Ezirim. All except Ford were around, however. We also got to talk to them. Mark Evans was also not participating, but was present. Dennis Allen said Ford and Ezirim are dealing with minor injuries. NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill reported that Ford had a sports hernia surgery on April 2, and is expected to be back in a couple of weeks.
• Players on last year's rosters who were in attendance included Rezjohn Wright, Faion Hicks, Jordan Mims, Anfernee Orji, Mark Evans and Michael Jacobson. I asked Jordan Mims how this works, and the long and the short of it is some have the option based off experience in the league, and most of the players want to participate. For Mims, he wanted to show the new offensive coaching staff what he brings to the table.
• If you didn't get the roster numbers for the draft class, here they are: Taliese Fuaga (75), Kool-Aid McKinstry (34), Spencer Rattler (18), Jaylan Ford (53), Bub Means (16), Khristian Boyd (97) and Josiah Ezirim (72). Remember that these are not official numbers and could change.
• Taliese Fuaga was primarily at left tackle today. Dennis Allen said after practice that the team knows he can play right tackle, so they're trying him out at that spot to see what he can do.
• Starting Offensive Line Look (left to right): Taliese Fuaga, Kyle Hergel, Sincere Haynesworth, Nouri Nouili and Cade Beresford. Nouili left practice early, but he was okay after catching up with him afterwards.
• Spencer Rattler made some good throws on the day. There's a lot to like there, and you just hope to see more of it as things progress. While these stats may not necessarily mean much, he finished the day going 5-of-6 in 7's and 6-of-6 in team. One of the best throws came at the end of practice when he connected on an deep ball over the middle to Bub Means. The only lone negative play was a fumbled snap. It wasn't entirely clear whether that was on the center or not.
• One of the things that was easy to notice and a point of praise from this small sample size was the communication of the offensive drills. Klint Kubiak and Andrew Janocko had a very polished tempo that was smooth and efficient. It wasn't exactly like that in previous years, and that's not a shot, just an observation. One other thing was seeing how much the middle of the field was being worked for the Saints, which isn't something they were too strong at last year.
• Again, it's one day and it's also rookie minicamp, but some of the new and old coaches bring some authorative voices to the field. There's also some general connection there, especially with Coach Dubb (Keith Williams). The wide receivers group was working on catching rugby balls to start, which is something I don't recall seeing before.
• I caught up with Darren Rizzi to ask about the new kickoff rule. This is quite intriguing to say the least. During special teams drills, you would see the team working on the left and right side of the kick formations. So, in essence it was three attackers vs. three defenders with a returner. New Orleans is going to try to train every player at this spot, and we saw various combinations of blockers with linebackers, defensive backs, defensive linemen and vice versa on the cover team. For the return team, two players would be lined up at the 35-yard-line and the third player would be in the middle, but that have to be before the 30-yard-line. Naturally, you can't move until the returner fields the ball. You're going to see a variety of body types on these and the Saints are going to work on this more than they have in recent years. This element should prove to be interesting, and there could be plenty of penalties to start. Rizzi said you can't lose vision on the returner when covering.
• Joe Woods really praised the Kool-Aid McKinstry pick. Woods said their Pro Day meeting and dinner went extremely well, and reiterating how much of a luxury it is to have several strong corners in the building. He said it's only happened to him one other time in his career. Woods also was excited about the addition of Klint Kubiak. He said the Gary Kubiak actually hired him, and Klint is someone who will get the job done, never gets too high or too low. They've already put in some long nights of work as well.
• Trajan Jeffcoat isn't hard to notice. He actually had some really good reps in covering kicks.
• Saw Khristian Boyd get one quarterback pressure on the day. He was known for those at Northern Iowa, having 60 of them.
• Bub Means has a personality that you just absolutely love to see. He had the most energy of anyone that was in the locker room and you can see how much he loves to play. I'm really excited to see what he does as things move along. He caught all four of his targets today.

We'll get another look at the team for OTAs in less than two weeks, which will undoubtedly have veterans in the mix.