Senior Bowl: Saints Nuggets, Notes, Scouting and Coach Takeaways

We learned a good bit about the Saints in just a short time being at the Senior Bowl.

The Senior Bowl is in full force, as the National Team took the field for the morning practice on Tuesday. We'll learn plenty over the next several days from Mobile, to say the least. The Saints are certainly one of the teams in the spotlight here with a heavy presence, and we got to catch up with Assistant Special Teams Coach Phil Galiano and VP/Assistant General Manager Jeff Ireland after practice. Here's some early Saints nuggets, notes and some big takeaways from what we've learned and what they've said.

Senior Bowl: Saints Nuggets, Notes, Scouting and Coach Takeaways

SAINTS REPPED WELL

The Saints had a very strong showing in Mobile during the first practice. With the exception of Dennis Allen (more on that later), all coaches were out there along with Mickey Loomis, Jeff Ireland and the scouting team. It does make sense for New Orleans given the proximity of the venue, but not every team is out here or has ample representation.

PETE CARMICHAEL JR. BACK WITH SEAN PAYTON

It's certainly not a surprise, and most everyone knew it was going to happen after parting ways, but Pete Carmichael Jr. is headed to Denver to rejoin Sean Payton. It's all about who understands the way Payton runs things and he'll also have another person that he can trust on the staff. Jeff Ireland said he wasn't surprised that he was brought over, talking about that tandem being good for a long time.

OC SEARCH CLOSE TO BEING WRAPPED UP

Dennis Allen was one of the coaches who was not in attendance for the morning practice, but it would appear it's for a good reason. There's still some interviews going on for the Saints for their open offensive coordinator spot, but I was told by a league source that the team is pretty close to hiring one. New Orleans also needs a receivers coach and has an senior offensive assistant opening.

Senior Bowl: Targets to Watch for the Saints

EARLY EVALUATION PROCESS

The Senior Bowl is definitely meaningful, but for most all of the coaches it's their very first exposure to prospects. Saints coaches will interview some prospects and be here for a few days, and they'll rely on a good bit of tape from the process. The Scouting Combine is a lot more of the bread and butter for teams.

PHIL GALIANO IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Saints assistant special teams coach Phil Galiano is one of those coaches that you can always hear out on the field, and it was the same during the morning practice. He talked about the opportunity and what he can get out of being here.

Galiano said, "From a selfish standpoint, it's an advantage for me to try of be able to go make new connections, and that's what we're doing. It also gives me insight to be in meetings with these guys and get to hang around with them and help us in the draft. There's so many things that come out of it. I'm running a drill and I just see somebody down, somebody else just hops in there and takes the rep. But those things matter to me, a judgement of how guys love football and want to hop in there and do it. So I think that gives us some insight that can help or our organization going forward towards the draft."

Galiano said a lot of players have never been exposed to a pro style punt. However, despite the newness, it gives them a head start of what they're going to have to do in the future. One of the things I recall before the 2022 draft something Darren Rizzi said. He said that they've probably watched more film on players than anyone at all positions. They get excited to know players were converted from other positions that could help on special teams. There's really no mystery why the team was ranked so high this year on the Rick Gosselin special teams rankings.

Galiano was asked about Blake Grupe's rookie season, to which he said that he had an above-average year. "I think we're really excited about his future. I think if we could take two kicks back, the two short ones that he missed, then you'd be having a different conversation saying, 'You know what, he had a really, really good year'. But you can't, and he missed them, but he learned from them." 

Galiano says that his second year will be a big jump for Grupe, particularly because that he knows how to handle his body. Galiano talked about the jump from their final college year to go right to training for the combine, pro day and then rookie camp. So, Grupe will get some downtime for the first time in a while.

JEFF IRELAND GIVES PERSPECTIVE, INSIGHT

ON WHERE TEAM IS AT IN THE OFFSEASON AND DRAFT PROCESS: "Well, that's really between Mickey (Loomis) and Dennis (Allen). But, I think we're in a good position to get better obviously. We're not where we want to be. Obviously we made some coaching changes, and so there's a process that goes into that as well. I do think we have a good core, a good group of players that we can build on. From my standpoint, I'm always ready to induce young talent onto the football team. So, I'm very excited about doing that as well."

The type of offensive coordinator the Saints will bring in could switch up a different type of player that the team will look at in the draft. They want that player to schematically fit what the team is doing on offense like they do on defense, and Ireland mentioned several positions that could be impacted by it like receivers, tight end, fullback and the offensive line. Without one right now, the team is just in 'gathering information mode' and 'trimming the fat' in some cases, but the team is ready to strike and understands what kind of player each prospect is.

ON RECENT YOUNG ADDS ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE PROMPTING MORE ADDITIONS: "I think you should add young offensive linemen every year. With Trevor (Penning) and Nick (Saldiveri) in particular, I think they're really young, developing, high upside players that we're looking for. Right now, we wish we had a little bit more information on both of them. We wish we could say, 'Hey these guys, we could plug them in to start,' but I don't know that we could say that right now. What we do feel about both those players is that they should compete to start, and give us really good depth if we don't get there, but we feel like they should be able to compete to start."

ON TREVOR PENNING: Ireland reiterated that they feel really good about Penning, much like Mickey Loomis and Dennis Allen have said. 

"He's had one offseason. He's from a small school. We feel really good about Trevor. There's some things he obviously needs to work at, and he knows what those things are. I do feel like there's too good of an athlete, too strong of a player, too many things that he does well that he shouldn't develop into a good player. Now, whether that's inside or outside, right or left, those are all going to be determined by his coach. But I think we got a good plan in making sure we get the upside out of him."

Ireland said that it's not his decision on whether or not Penning could move inside, but he believes that he can.

ON STICKING TO STRICT EVALUATION PROCESS: Ireland said you 'never say never' when talking about sticking to the same evaluation process, but pointed out that being in the league for nearly 30 years and that you're constantly evolving to what the college game is giving you and how the NFL game is being played. He mentioned his 'Parcellian' things that he learned that he won't go too far from like makeup and intelligence. The size and skillsets changing ensures the team gets the best athletes on the field.

ON SCOUTING THE RIGHT GUY DESPITE NOT SEEING IT, INJURIES: "We have enough information on Marcus (Davenport). We certainly have enough information on Payton (Turner) to feel good about the athlete, but you just don't know about the durability and availability. That's the unknown in this sport. Injuries are a part of this sport. You can't predict them. Whatever injury you had in college is a different injury he's had in the pros. You can't predict those things. I wish we could. 

Ireland said that they do a lot of evaluation and analytical study on injuries, but reiterated that there's no predicting them.

ON LAST YEAR'S DRAFT: Ireland said that they liked last year's draft, but wished they got a little more information on the guys they drafted. He said that they wished they got more on Nick Saldiveri and Isaiah Foskey. They did get a really good evaluation on Jordan Howden and Bryan Bresee. He mentioned you'd obviously want to see more of Jake Haener playing. The team loved the splash Kendre Miller made in the final game and feel really good about him.

"From my perspective, going into another draft, you just wish you had a little bit more information to say, 'He is this. He is that'. There's still a little bit of information still left out there that is unknown, so we just continue to develop those guys, but we feel really good about all of them.

Ireland talked about losing Cody Rager to the Broncos, saying that he had been with him since his time with the Dolphins. He's really excited for Rager and the opportunity he has in front of him. He mentioned that the team wasn't throwing up a white towel and that they'll be just fine with the great scouts and young scouts they're elevating up. He looks forward to teaching another young guy.

JOE WOODS ON RAHEEM MORRIS

Saints News Network was able to catch up some with Joe Woods during practice. Woods told us that this was actually his first time in Mobile in 10 years. He's coached at the Senior Bowl before. He was extremely happy for Raheem Morris landing in Atlanta and wasn't surprised. Believe it or not, he, Morris and Woods go back all the way to Hofstra. Morris was his defensive backs coach (2000-2001). 

Woods recounted the amount of times he heard the 'Stay up' from the coaches during practice. Position coaches and coordinators notice plenty of the little things too, as he was quick to point out differences in the game during 1-on-1s like defensive backs not being able to hold in the NFL like they did in college. Woods is excited about the Saints next season and the work they're going to do over the next couple of months.