Everything we see during a pre-season game has to be taken with a grain of salt. The coaches are not game planning to win, they are setting things up to test particular players in certain situations. This is part of what makes it so hard to get a firm grasp on how well a guy is doing based on his preseason performance. That isn’t to say that it is a meaningless time; actually it’s exactly the opposite for everyone but about 30 guys on the roster (give or take). The preseason tends to build on itself, and it’s guys like Khiry Robinson who last year showed up big in each game, who can force the hand of the coaches. Staying with that line of thought I am going to first go over which players made a positive impression on me after watching the game a couple of times. I will also say who I think had some problems and my general impression of the game.
The Good:
• Khiry has the kind of burst and ‘make you miss ability’ that could make him an elite back, especially when combined with his power and spirited running style.
• Ingram is finally showing a degree of decisiveness, and more importantly consistency that will make him a key contributor.
• Tim Lelito gave a lot of evidence as to why the Saints staff is so high on him. He wasn’t perfect, but he was very, very effective for most of his snaps.
• I liked what I saw from P-Rob, nothing great, but consistently pretty good.
• Marcel Jones gives the Saints better depth inside than we may have assumed the Saints had.
• He played about three and a half snaps (I’m exaggerating), but Colston looked healthy and that is very good news.
• Akiem Hicks eats people. No really, I think he could. The guy is going to absolutely ruin people’s days all year and I love it.
• Josh ‘Jonah’ Hill showed a little of why Payton seems to like him. Just a side note to Payton though… he looks much better catching the ball than running reverses. I’m just sayin’.
• Humber is going to make the linebacker depth chart very interesting… he actually can cover quite well. That is good, because Lofton is often atrocious (although like Harper it’s more like he has flashes of ‘terrible’ amid mostly acceptable performances)
• He didn’t show up a whole lot, but I saw flashes from Fortt and considering he is going to be more of a developmental guy that is very good. I can see what the coaches like in him.
• My obsession (read: fanboy) with Brandin Cooks looks more sane by the day. I’m not going to go on a twelve page soliloquy about his many amazing attributes. However; he showed his excellent hands, crisp routes, surprising strength and toughness, and most importantly to me, the ability to draw constant attention from defenders. The Rams made it quite clear they were NOT going to let him go off and create his own personal highlight reel, but in the Saints real offense his ability to draw attention will create opportunities. He is perfect for the ‘pick your poison’ style of offense Payton loves to run where he will as we love to say ‘ formation you to death’.
• If there is one guy who absolutely stood out to me all game that I didn’t expect it was Trevin Wade. He was almost literally everywhere. If there was a defensive play made on special teams, a QB pressure, a tackle behind the line, or a pass break-up the guy seemed to be somewhere in the vicinity. I’m not going to call him our #2 corner or anything brash like that, but Wade is going to make this team and he will make plays for us, mark my words.
• Tyrunn Walker and Glenn Foster are exactly what they should be; quality depth at defensive end/tackle that allows Rob Ryan to Rotate guys without a significant (read debilitating) drop off. The Seattle Seahawks utilized a constant rotation of pass-rushers to great effect last year and the Saints should be able to do them one better if these two can stay healthy.
The Bad:
• I am tempted to just write special teams here. Blocking on the punts was mediocre, on the one good shot Cooks got at it a block in the back negated a decent gain and that was the best one (he actually got blocked by his own teammate on the first one). The Saints did no better when it came to covering kicks as they frequently missed arm tackles and took bad angles, combine that with their inability to get off blocks and I was left sorely disappointed in the unit.
• Strief and Armstead are solid and Terron has Pro-Bowl potential, but behind those guys we have two Twinkies and a cheese doodle (that’s a really stupid way for me to say they ate Bryce Harris’s lunch). I believe Jones can play tackle too, at least on the right side, but as of right now if Terron goes down we are DOOMED!!
• Pierre Warren is going to make this team because he fits in perfectly with the Saints long standing tradition of ncmf’s. He made some good plays and so did Ball in special teams, but that drop is borderline inexcusable when you are fighting for a roster spot.
• SJB is exactly as advertised: great measurables, can stay with guys, needs a lot of work learning how to be a corner.
• Lofton and Hawthorne are still liabilities in coverage.
• The Saints defense still seems to struggle diagnosing misdirection plays sometimes and can get hit for big cut-back runs. When these guys guess wrong it ends badly (some of that came from not having our starting unit fully out there, but still, c’mon guys).
• I saw Shayne Graham go to the locker room early and I didn’t catch if he came back or why it happened…competition over?
Toon:
Nick gets his own section because I have some explaining to do on my analysis of his performance. I gave him a B+ which is probably the highest anyone else who watched this game will give him. Why did I give him a good grade? Because after watching the game the second time I noticed that he was not being used in his preferred manor (as a deep threat and ‘chunk’ play guy where he excels). He was being used as a possession receiver and a ‘quick out’ guy, which is far from being a strength of his. The only reason I didn’t give him an A was the BIB penalty he got (block in the back) which wasn’t egregious, but didn’t help and wasn’t necessary, and the strip which I half credit the defender on…but you gotta hold on to that.
For some reason I see a lot of people compare him to Colston and call him the ‘heir apparent’. I assume that is due to his size, but he is nothing like Colston in either style or substance. Colston is a former TE who was converted to WR and has been used to the physical requirements of playing the middle of the field his whole career. Toon is a rare blend of size and speed who specializes in making big plays down the field. Stylistically speaking they are entirely different players and should be judged on their own merits alone (and for the record there will never be another Colston, he is one of a kind).
What Toon did well in this game was run crisp and well-times routes and have sure hands allowing him to consistently move the chains (something he didn’t do well at all last year). I believe that Payton put him in more Stills role intentionally to see if he could produce in an area that is not necessarily his forte, after all the Saints offense is very multiple and demands diversity of skills. He caught every pass thrown to him, kept his positioning, blocked well, and actually helped set up the Cooks touchdown by running his route. This wasn’t a star performance, but what it was, was something to build on that is far more valuable than burning number 5 and 6 corners in pre-season. He showed signs of skill and an understanding of the offense…we haven’t seen that from him yet. The jury is still out, but I liked what I saw from him.
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