The New Orleans Saints' big-play offense stood out on Friday, with Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed both hauling in chunk plays throughout the third day of practice.
The biggest news, however, came on the opposite side of the ball with Marshon Lattimore leaving early with a hip flexor issue. His status will be one to watch. If he misses time, that could give rookie Kool-Aid McKinstry an opportunity to shine, getting first-team reps across from Paulson Adebo for the day's work in team drills.
Here's what all stood out on Day 3.
TAKING ATTENDANCE
As mentioned above there was an early departure for Lattimore, but the rest of the team appeared to get out of the day unscathed. Here's who wasn't seen on the field in any capacity on Friday:
- RB Kendre Miller (hamstring)
- DL Trajan Jeffcoat (elbow)
- OL Justin Herron (knee)
- OL Shane Lemieux (knee)
The open nature of practice has also offered a window into some of the rehab work going on for players on the PUP list. TE Juwan Johnson (foot) was spotted getting in work on the JUGS machine after practice, while DE Tanoh Kpassagnon (achilles) was tracing the perimeter of the field early in the day wearing what looked to be a weighted vest. LB Nephi Sewell (knee) has also been on hand getting in work with trainers.
QB WATCHING
Derek Carr continued his strong start to camp while avoiding the interception pitfall for the first time. He completed all five attempts in 7-on-7 drills with passes to Taysom Hill, Foster Moreau, Dallin Holker and Alvin Kamara.
In the first set of 11-on-11 work Carr went through his progressions and was able to find Cedrick Wilson who worked all the way across the field against McKinstry in coverage. It was a good find and a nice grab by Wilson with the rookie attached and in solid coverage. Carr also found Chris Olave in what looked to be a zone look on his next attempt. In all he went 6-8 on the day with the pair of incompletions coming with pressure in the backfield by Carl Granderson.
Jake Haener had something of a bounceback day as he worked back in with the 2s, he completed all four of his pass attempts in full team drills with the most impressive a tight-window throw to Rashid Shaheed as he went to the ground for 20-plus. The ball was punched out and recovered by Johnathan Abram as Shaheed tried to get up, but it appeared he was already down.
Spencer Rattler's day was a bit more mixed as he rotated back with the threes, with his first pass of the day (7-on-7s) getting tipped up by Shemar-Jean Charles and WR Stanley Morgan with the ball dropping into the hands of Jordan Howden for the interception. Rattler did bounce back with a nice completion to Bub Means, and both of his completions in 11s also went to Means. That connection is clearly a solid one.
Nate Peterman followed up with an interception of his own on a ball down the right sideline targeting Dallin Holker. Rezjohn Wright stepped in front for what would've likely been a pick-six. With that interception, all four Saints QBs have now thrown at least one interception in the first three days of practice. We'll look at that with a positive spin right now and say that's a good sign for a ball-hawking defense.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS
- LB Pete Werner: He just keeps making plays. LBs coach Michael Hodges came sprinting in twice today to celebrate a play by Werner, particularly after he read a screen to Alvin Kamara and blew it up. There was some question about how he'd handle the competition, but thus far he's standing out.
- DE Carl Granderson: The Saints have several pass-rushers with question marks next to their names -- Carl is not one of them. Grando had a pair of sacks today and looks like he'll continue to impress.
- DE Payton Turner: It's tough to look too far ahead with Turner because at the end of the day so much comes down to him being healthy, but he was an impact player across the line today. He blew up a Nathan Peterman rep at one point and was impressive in run pursuit as he scraped over.
- RBs James Robinson & Jordan Mims: With Kendre MIller missing due to injury, there's never been a better opportunities for the depth players to make an impact. I thought both Robinson and Mims did that today, with Robinson showing good vision and burst through the line. Mims, on the other hand, looks to be an asset as a receiver. I could see either of those two guys displacing Miller if the second year pro can't turn things around.
PLAY OF THE DAY
We're going to end up saying this a lot: Chris Olave is appointment viewing. We saw another example of that today on a deep ball down the left sideline to Olave with Alontae Taylor in coverage. Olave created separation, located a high ball and went up to grab it over Taylor, who was scrambling and didn't get his head around for the ball. It's the type of contested catch that really stood out as an area of improvement a year ago for Olave and it was certainly the highlight on Friday in Irvine.
SPECIALISTS
The only way Blake Grupe was going to get pushed for his role would be if he stumbled and lost consistency. That sure doesn't look like it's going to happen. Grupe went 7-for-7 on a day with some pretty strong left to right winds. Thus far in camp he's 15-for-15, much like last year when his consistency helped him unseat Wil Lutz.
Lou Hedley also got his turn at punter and had a solid day. He showcased a variety of kicks on a windy day, with one forcing a muff on Shaheed as he tried to navigate the catch. Hedley also had one kick from his own 45 yard line that he managed to angle out of bounds at the 2. I could see Hedley getting pushed by Hayball this camp, but the consistency Hedley showing should keep him safe.
LAGNIAPPE
With Justin Herron out again the Saints have opted to get Taliese Fuaga extra reps with the 2s. He looks solid at left tackle and is the lesser of my concerns in terms of the tackles. ... Trevor Penning had a good day in the 1-on-1 drills, but he still seems to have technique breakdowns way too often. There will be a point this offseason where you have to make a determination whether to stick with Trevor or try somebody else. We're not there yet, but he's got work to do. ... It appears that Will Harris is pretty high on the nickel corner pecking order. The Saints also opted to move McKinstry out wide rather than Taylor with Lattimore missing for most of the day, and that seems pretty telling that he's going to be focused on the slot this year, even if there's reps to be had on the outside. ... Josiah Ezirim had a solid day working at RT with the 3s while I thought Oli Udoh struggled a bit. It'll be interesting to see whether the Saints look for youth or experience at some of those depth spots along the OL.
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