It was a short day for the New Orleans Saints as they were out of pads for practice day No. 11 of training camp. The team focused on more situational work including a lot of plus-territory focus.
The offense remains a “work in progress” head coach Kellen Moore said after practice. But one player still found a way to shine on that side of the ball.
Bryce Lance Continues Surging
If it feels as if all three rookie wide receivers have had their moments in camp, the feeling is warranted. Barion Brown was the first on the scene with his dynamic movement ability and down-field potential, followed by first-round pick Jordyn Tyson, who has been getting more involved over the course of camp with a larger alignment plan developing for him all over the offense.
While he’s been a consistent target across all three quarterbacks’ charting, Bryce Lance is now starting to show his explosive playmaking potential.
Quarterback Spencer Rattler connected with Lance on a deep ball down the left sideline for a touchdown while Lance had two defenders shrouding him. The throw was perfectly placed to his back shoulder, allowing him to make a play on it and Lance didn’t forfeit the opportunity. He reeled it in between safety Jordan Howden and linebacker Isaiah Stalbird for a touchdown.
Even more impressive was that Lance had a deep pass in the same area ripped away from him by veteran cornerback Isaac Yiadom a series before. That showed Lance’s ability to adjust and his short-term memory.
Another Defensively Impressive Day
The defense held starting quarterback Tyler Shough to a 2/7 day passing with the two completions coming with his first pair of passing attempts on the day. While the unit didn’t come up with an interception in the practice, they kept the ball out of the hands of the receivers and continued to put pressure on the opposing quarterbacks.
The defense blanked the offense in the red zone until the very final passing attempt of the day, a touchdown strike from quarterback Zach Wilson to wide receiver Jalen Moreno-Cropper.
No Need For Alarms Yet
It’s important to remember that offenses during training camp aren’t game-planning to attack their own defense. They are putting in plays that they work on in the meeting room then line up and run during camp practices regardless of what defense they’re seeing in front of them.
Meanwhile, the defense gets to see the offensive alignment and then check or adjust into an advantageous coverage.
It’s an important piece of context around the way the offense has looked so far and a convincing reason why it’s not yet worth pushing the panic button on the Saints’ offense. Although Moore did say that he would like to see more consistency from the offense.
Should the Saints get a chance to go into more unscripted/call-it environments in their joint practices (which still don’t include game-planning), perhaps more opportunities can open up for the offense to produce.
Starters Will Be Limited In First Preseason Game
Moore confirmed that the starters won’t see much action, if any at all, during the opening preseason game. With the team holding joint practices against each of their preseason opponents, that isn’t much of a surprise.
The starters will see a lot of work in those joint practices, leaving the preseason games as an opportunity for the development of young talent as well as the opportunity for players to put up good tape for further opportunities in New Orleans or elsewhere.
Shough Summary
Shough’s 2/7 day included passing attempts to many of his top targets in wide receivers Chris Olave and Jordyn Tyson along with tight end Juwan Johnson. One of his best throws of the day was a completion to tight end Moliki Matavao, which left the pass-catcher with space to run after the catch.
Rattler Summary
Not unlike Shough, Rattler went 3/6 on the day with the touchdown pass to Lance being the highlight of his day. He continues to hold strong as the backup quarterback, never yet allowing veteran quarterback Zach Wilson to crack second-team reps.
Wilson Summary
Wilson had the highest completion percentage on the day going 6/8, including his touchdown to Moreno-Cropper. It was one of his better days from an efficiency standpoint without a doubt. He had a really nice throw down the right sideline as well to wide receiver Bub Means, who couldn’t reel it in.
Lagniappe
- No kicking during day 11 after stepping up the pressure of the competition on day 10.
- Kick returners included: WRs Ronnie Bell, Trey Palmer, Lance, Moreno-Cropper and Brown. RBs Ty Chandler and CJ Donaldson along with defensive backs Jayden Price and Lorenzo Styles Jr.
- Per source, Olave reached the day’s top speed at 21 MPH. Presumably did so on a deep ball from Shough that fell just out of his reach.
