He may not have been able to seal a victory for the New Orleans Saints in the team’s preseason opener, but second-year quarterback Hunter Dekkers impressed in his first-ever NFL action.
Going 8/15 for 69 passing yards may not jump off of the stat sheet.
But marching down the field in the closing minutes of the game operating an offense he rarely gets to lead, throwing to players he rarely gets to work with in a two minute scenario he never gets to practice most certainly does.
“He doesn’t get to practice that stuff,” quarterback Zach Wilson said of Dekkers’ performance. “The two-minute drill, like he does not in practice, get to go through any of those reps. It’s harder for him than anybody. Because the starters get it, maybe the backup guys take a couple, but he just sits there and watches. So it’s on him to be able to learn it.”
Dekkers led the team’s second-longest drive of the game, moving 69 yards downfield on 11 plays all the way down the Jacksonville two-yard line.
He was also one connection shy of a game-winning touchdown pass.
For a player that rarely gets time to practice and build chemistry with his teammates, the lefty quarterback showed why it is that the Saints have continued to invest in him and took no time getting him back in the roster following his stint in the UFL.
What Dekkers’s NFL future looks like is hard to project from this vantage point, but he’s showing the mental acquitty necessary to stick around in quarterback rooms for some time.
