After a week in Mobile at the Senior Bowl, we give you some top offensive standouts and how the Saints could operate moving forward.
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00:00 about the senior bowl and let's kind of talk about what maybe some of your impressions were. I mean,
00:05 look, there's a ton of prospects to be excited about. I know I put a whole bunch of them out
00:10 that I was really interested in watching and a lot of them actually did come to the table and
00:15 did some good things. But, you know, let's just start offensively. Your thoughts and maybe some
00:21 of the players that you really liked seeing this week. Yeah, I'll start at the offensive line. We
00:27 were talking about how big of a need that might be for them, right? This tackle class here in Mobile
00:32 was awesome. Felicia Fuaga, yeah. Felicia Fuaga out of Oregon State was just a roadblock. He never
00:39 moved. He never got moved. I didn't see him lose. He was awesome all week. Just an absolute mauler.
00:45 He's a guy that could be there at 14 for them. That would be a solid first round investment.
00:50 He looks ready. Yeah. But then because of how good this tackle class is, if you don't go tackle in
00:56 the first round, you could go to a guy like Patrick Paul out of University of Houston, who is also
01:01 excellent. Six foot seven, 332 pounds. But even at six foot seven, no one ever got under him. He
01:07 sinks really well, anchors really well. He's got that, like, you know, just the tree trunk. I'm
01:12 going to stick my roots in and you're not going to get me off my spot. But he's got the athleticism
01:16 too. So if we're talking about bringing in for the Saints and offensive coordinator, like a Clint
01:20 Kubiak, you're probably bringing in a little bit of the wide zone offense, the Shanahan offense.
01:26 And so you're going to run a lot of those outside zone runs. You're going to need a mobile
01:29 offensive line. So now you're looking for guys that are going to be really good pass protectors,
01:34 but you're looking for the guys that are going to be able to move in the run game. And both those
01:38 guys, um, Talisa, if I got to Oregon state, as well as Patrick Paul out of Houston and a couple
01:43 other guys, uh, Kingsley, Suamita, yeah, out of BYU. Um, and a couple others that were out there,
01:49 they all fit the bill. I mean, this was a really solid class and we know how much the Saints love
01:54 their senior bowl guys. This is a really solid class of senior bowl guys to choose from at a
01:58 major position and need for them going into 2024. Yeah, I know the FUA goes on my list. I think he's
02:04 on everybody's list, like to be fair. So I think it's one of the, it's hard. Like if you didn't
02:08 see what you liked on them in college, then it just reinforced what you saw at the senior bowl
02:13 to a couple of wide receivers. I like, I like Roman Wilson out of Michigan. I like Xavier
02:18 Legette out of South Carolina. Um, you know, I, I think those two, those are two on my radar.
02:23 Of course, do they draft a wide receiver? Yeah, they could potentially, I don't think it's within
02:28 the top 50 perspective, but it's going to be interesting to see, because I think what we
02:32 talked about, you know, you got a lobby, you're going to have Shahid and then obviously at Perry
02:37 is a big part. If they were to get a runner in for, I feel pretty good about that core,
02:40 but you're always going to look at adding onto it. I've had Jaquan Jackson from Tulane. He had
02:45 a good week too. I think that he's some of the guys. And so you look at them, um, you look at
02:50 all the wide receiver prospects, you look at it, it's going to be a transition tight ends. You know,
02:56 they had a couple of that shine on it. And it's one of those things where I think some of these
02:59 guys, the bread and butter is really going to be, you got to learn that special teams role in some
03:03 aspects, not just be one dimensional player. And I remember, cause we talked about Phil Gagliano,
03:08 we didn't really mention too much, but I remember last year in the draft process,
03:12 it was Darren Rizzy talking. He said, these guys watched the most film of anybody. And I believe
03:17 that, right? Because you're always looking for special teams. Anybody that's had special teams
03:21 backgrounds or has, you know, played a different position. Like they played linebacker in school,
03:26 or they played running back or played safety, whatever. Those are the type of things that set
03:30 them apart differently to be able to succeed in the NFL. Sometimes when you get the right coaching,
03:36 which, Oh, by the way, they finished second on the Rick Gosselin special teams rankings,
03:40 which is no small feat considering you had an undrafted rookie kicker, a rookie punter,
03:44 and you had, of course, Rashid Jaheed, but their coverage unit has been good.
03:47 I know people don't like the blue headly stuff, but they get exactly what they want from him.
03:52 There's minimal returns. I think that obviously works for them in that style. It's different
03:57 approach. But again, some of these guys at the senior bowl, you look at them, the guy like
04:02 DeMarco Jackson, he was a guy that you look at and he makes his impact and he starts to blossom a
04:08 little bit more. Sometimes these players aren't just day one, open them out of the can and they're
04:13 just ready to go. You have to develop them. You have to get good coaching. I think that's the
04:17 most important thing. That's why I like when people talk about Jaden Daniels to the saints,
04:20 I'm like, no guys, he's not going to fit the bill. Even if Carmichael was running,
04:24 they would ruin him. It's just like, I get the pipe dream and stuff, but it's just realistic.
04:29 It just doesn't work out for some of these guys, but any other people on your offensive side? And
04:34 then of course, obviously comment on anything else that you had seen. Saints wise prototypes,
04:38 whatever. Yeah. I'll let me go to a tight end real quick because look, we were pretty sure
04:43 Jimmy Graham's done. I mean, just based on his social media posts and stuff like that. Yeah.
04:48 At the very least, I felt like he was at least saying goodbye to the new Orleans saints. We'll
04:52 see what happens all throughout that in terms of maybe a potential retirement that could come or
04:57 whatever, but he's going canoeing. Like he's doing some type of like, yeah. If you didn't
05:03 see cam Jordan's thing, go check it out. I'm sorry. Not to interrupt, but I was like, yeah,
05:06 that's crazy. It's incredible. The stuff that he's doing, like he's living his life and it's
05:10 awesome. He absolutely deserves it. Uh, he's the guy that should have been on the field for the new
05:14 Orleans saints a ton more last year. So maybe you'll learn that lesson. You get into 2024 and
05:19 you go, okay, so now who's the big red zone body now, Juwan Johnson showed up as particularly
05:24 toward the end of the season. They're big time when he really started to be healthy and catch
05:29 his rhythm toward the end of the year with Derek Carr. But one guy that I really like here in
05:33 mobile was Penn state tight end, Theo Johnson, uh, six foot six, 257 pounds at one point was moving
05:39 17.85 miles per hour out on the field, which like I'm gonna get out the way. Yeah. I'm gonna get
05:46 out the way, you know? Yeah. I don't want nothing to do with that. And he moves so well too. He's
05:53 actually a really solid route runner. He ran this pivot route that put, you know, Rutgers defender
05:58 on skates at one point and all that here at the senior bowl, you saw some of his ability to be
06:02 able to do that as well. Uh, he's just one of those guys that kind of feels a little bit like
06:06 an anomaly, but he's not going to be one of the top tight ends with the kid from Georgia, uh,
06:11 drawing so much attention there. So he could be one of those guys that if the saints do find a
06:14 way to get into the third, fourth round that they could grab, bring him in and then he could sit
06:19 back and kind of develop a little bit more as a pass catcher, as opposed to thinking back to years
06:24 past where you bring in an Adam Troutman, you needed him to develop, but you also needed him
06:28 on the field. You won't run into that conundrum this year when you've got Jawan Johnson, you've
06:32 got false, you've got taste some Hill. You can let the, uh, John Theo, uh, uh, Jack's actually,
06:37 uh, develop over time, which would be pretty big for him. So he's a guy that I really liked.
06:43 And then I'll say a running back Cody Schrader as well, uh, out of Missouri. Again, if you're
06:48 bringing in a Clint Kubiak, you need that outside zone capable player. Cody Schrader can do that
06:55 with his eyes closed, like five foot nine, like 205 pounds, 215 pounds, small compact kind of
07:02 Mark Ingram ish in terms of body in terms of body build. Uh, but if you need him to be able to read
07:08 and pick one of three holes, it's time to either bounce, bang, or, or bend. He can do all that
07:13 extremely well. It makes it look super easy. He was a guy that I really enjoyed watching.
07:16 I'd only caught about just over 20 passes during his time throughout his collegiate career,
07:21 but we saw him catching passes very comfortably here in mobile as well.
07:24 Yeah. And I think it's interesting you bring it up. Cause I think when you look at the
07:28 Saints backfield too, you know, they, they felt good about what Kendra Miller was able to do
07:33 at the end of the year, obviously that was disappointing because he wasn't able to see
07:36 the field, but I think it gives them a good balance. You know, Alvin, if they can get the
07:40 right OC, I think the sky's the limit because I think they they're using Camaro the right way.
07:46 I don't think that Jamal Williams is being used the right way, but Jamal can be their power back.
07:50 Kendra is kind of their both do it all type and, and Camaro can too. It's just,
07:54 they got to find a running scheme. That's going to fit and cater to them. It's just too many times.
07:58 Are you just like, why did they run that play? Why did they do that? So running back, obviously,
08:03 you know, they're going to add one at least, you know, whether it's a drafted process,
08:07 undrafted process, maybe free agency, they've got to look at that aspect too.
08:11 Tight end. I like a tight end too. You know, again, cause what I like about this coaching
08:16 staff, again, most people are saying, oh, well they got rid of the big ones, but I like the fact
08:21 keeping Clancy Barone. He's one of the most intelligent guys you'll talk to. He is a guy
08:26 that I think you can get the most from a development perspective, you know, but they
08:30 didn't change too many things besides, you know, letting the senior offensive assistant go. And
08:34 then obviously, uh, you know, with the wide receiver moving on from Cody Burns, which I
08:38 understand that in some aspects that they wanted something a little bit more, you know, somebody
08:43 with a little bit more experience for what they're trying to do, but Cody's extremely smart. He's
08:46 going to land on his feet. But again, you look at the offensive side of this football for the
08:50 Saints, they're just going to have to figure that out. And, and I think that, you know, you look at
08:54 this draft philosophy for the team, they always build within the trenches. So people are going
08:59 to throw all sorts of different things. I think they're going to look at the trenches for that
09:03 14th overall pick, never say never. But again, I think that's what makes the most sense. And in 45,
09:08 depending on how, which again, you look at it, you have to get through free agency first. That's
09:13 why I always tell people with my guys are like pump the brakes homes, because you gotta get through
09:17 your free agency and figure out what you got, because I think that sets you up for here's what
09:21 I need in, you know, in the draft, because you look at last year, they had Malcolm Roach on as
09:27 the only defensive tackle on the roster. At one point, they go out and get Colin Saunders, Nathan
09:31 Shepard, then they draft Razi. I mean, there's a method to the madness that some people just
09:36 don't always see. Yep. A hundred percent, a hundred percent. And, and even still, I mean,
09:40 like the, the opportunity to double up at different positions and everything will be there
09:44 and all, but you're right. I mean, look, we don't even know the 13 teams that are actually going to
09:48 pick ahead of the new Orleans Saints. And we don't actually know if it's going to be 13 teams picking
09:51 ahead of the new Orleans Saints. Like we have no idea. Yeah. We have no idea what's going to
09:58 happen when it comes to the NFL draft, but certainly like looking at it from this point and
10:03 looking at it out here, the thing that's good is that if you're exploring all the scenarios,
10:07 what you're learning is even if the Saints went into the draft with this roster, even with the
10:13 small amount of capital that they have or are set to have, depending upon the, the commensatory
10:18 selections and how that all works out, there are players at those positions to help them address
10:24 some of those holes. Will it be with NFL experience? No. Will it be with, you know, proven
10:28 experience at the, against you or even on your team before it? No, that's why free agency is so
10:33 valuable. You get the guys with the NFL experience, but the good thing about this year's draft is
10:38 where the Saints are in need presently, even at this point, the draft has the talent appropriate
10:45 to supplement those needs. Yeah. And you talked about compensatory picks. It's three projected
10:53 fifth rounders. So it's, it's shy to, uh, no, sorry, David on your Mata, Kate Nellis and Marcus
10:58 Davenport to account for the formula. But I, last I saw is three fifth rounders and look, you don't
11:03 have to feel bad about it. And look, 80 Perry's a six round pick at Jordan Howden. That's the one
11:06 you got on the day three pick. I mean, I think if you look at it and you got your scouting, I think
11:10 that's where you can get the bread and butter. I can't believe 80 Perry was still a six round pick.
11:14 I just don't understand that how he felt. We were looking at each other. Like is he ever coming off
11:19 of the board? Like what's going on? Yeah. I remember I talked to Cody Burns, like in between
11:26 the draft and he, we were just talking about the position and he had his eyes set on somebody else
11:30 at one point. But then we were talking, I was like, you know, 80 still on the board. I'm surprised he
11:34 felt he's like, really? And so I don't know, not that I had influenced that pick, but you know,
11:38 again, it was just funny to have that conversation and just be like, Oh, they took 80 Perry. What a
11:42 shock. And so, but a lot to figure out, but yeah.