Are the Saints wise to try Taliese Fuaga at left tackle?

— Could Lucas Patrick be in the starting mix in New Orleans?
— What players made an impression on us at Rookie Minicamp?
— What stood out the most after seeing new offensive staff in action?
— Was letting Terron Armstead go one of the Saints’ biggest mistakes?

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[Music] subscribers to new orleans. fo get access to the live taping of this show the overtime segment that comes after all of our news and Analysis and extra podcast every week and so much more make sure you sign up today it’s $9 a month but use the code noof to save 20% on your first payment and uh get locked in today new orleans. foots subscribe all right welcome back to another episode of New Orleans St football presented by PJ’s Coffee we’re coming to you from our studio on Veterans memoral Boulevard right next door to our neighbor Mt Bowers they have car dealerships all throughout the region the same thing that you get at every single one is the great customer care and the Great and the great pricing the car buying experience that you will probably enjoy because you know they do a great job selling cars so make sure you go check them out today all right we got a lot of stuff to get into on today’s show we’re going to talk about fuaga at left tackle during rookie camp and what that means and so much more make sure you stick around right after this break the New Orleans dot football show is proudly presented by PJ’s Coffee PJ’s Coffee has some of the best drinks that you can find they have locations all over the city they have pastries and everything else you need to get your day started so go check them out this Father’s Day show your Dad you appreciate his Unique Style with a brightling watch from front and& company fine jewelers make sure you’re ready for the day Father’s day is June 16th and if not maybe you just want to treat yourself smash that presentation nail that deal achieve that goal goal get yourself a brightling watch from Fring company fine jewelers Fring company Fine Jewelers 7713 Maple Street between Adams and berdette Uptown 504 8665432805 by Fire House Subs make sure you check out their location on Veterans Boulevard all right let’s get into the [Music] show it’s now time for the lead presented by friend and Company fine jewelers the official Jewelers of the New Orleans Saints friend and Company fine jewelers is your home for Father’s Day so if you are in the market for a uh bring brightling watch make sure you go and check them out get your dad that special something and while you’re there look for something for your lady they got the Florida Lee earrings and necklace that you see on the screen the earrings are priced at $1,100 and the necklace is $350 either way tell them that n have sent you all right lead topic do the Saints know their right from their left tackle Saturday we got our first chance to see real football even though it was just the rookies it was still a chance to be out there you know put our feet in the mud and see what’s happening but one thing that really stood out is that first round pick t faga was playing at left tackle when he played at right his entire time there in college so a lot of people had a lot of reactions but what do we think about tally playing at left I I’m I don’t know who should go first because I’m going to be the skeptic of the two um obviously I think it’s fine um we see it all the time we see you know the best tackles in the league pan Su has played right and left Tristan worse moved to left last year um but even Tristan wors I found this article he had to hire a team psychologist to work a sports psychologist to work with him and he said he was having breakdowns about switching he said he couldn’t sit there with the thoughts anymore he felt like he was setting himself up for failure uh it was he was in a really rough spot mentally he was really nervous he went on and he had a great season at left tackle we see guys do it all the time I just I don’t I don’t see why bother I just I don’t see why bother understand left tackle is still slightly more important than right tackle if he makes a smooth trans position to left tackle great put him at the more important position but I just figure this guy this guy is the centerpiece of this offensive line they’re rebuilding why why do it at all that that I I am a little skeptical well I mean I I think the the obvious answer is that you weren’t your best player at left tackle he’s probably going to be their best offensive linean if he can do it you get him at the position where you have the most value and he and he’s the best at it you can’t like if you if you got to go out there and you have a good guy and you can have a mid guy and you can say and you got a right-handed quarterback mhm do you want the good guy at left and the Mig guy right absolutely every single time because if the pressure is coming out car car can do something to protect himself if you got a mid guy behind him who can’t block and dereck’s getting lit up from the back every single time that’s affecting every single throw he has every single time he drops back he’s speeding himself up when he doesn’t need to speed himself up so I think if you can go out there and you can get fuaga on the left side great but here’s the thing you can start this right now and there’s what nine OTA practices of course three many c prac three rookie Camp practices so you have 15 practices to evaluate it and at the end of it if it doesn’t work just flip it back and it’s really no harm done these 15 practices like the people that just want to hate Dennis all be like oh my God you set him back right no you didn’t it’s it’s 15 practices he’s still learning the language of the offense he’s still getting to know the Playbook and he can just go back to playing right tackle at the end of it but I don’t think you should make that you know and then the second factor of this is is is Trevor Penning and I don’t think you know I the argument that I keep seeing on Twitter is like well then it’s going to be harder for Penning who gives a damn yeah like Trevor Penning if you are making any plans around Trevor Penning at this point like I think that’s the bigger mistake I I think the bigger mistake here would be well let’s not try anything like I think any job that anybody has like if you can look at us and you’re like well let me see if this guy can handle it like I think that’s a good thing to do before you start looking for the outside so I I think it’s fine I think you try it out you see if he can do it and if he can’t you just flip it back and it’s it’s not not the end of the world I I think the more insane thing would be just like well let’s not find out what he can do at all no I I get it and and and I was like I said I almost wanted to go second because I was just trying to be the voice of caution that like it it kind of surprised me but there is no harm whatsoever in doing this during rookie mini camp and they and Clint kubak and Dennis Allen both said we’re going to reevaluate after rookie mini camp they will probably give him several weeks on the job and they will reevaluate after that but they are going to ultimately do where he feels most comfortable they’re not going to set this guy up to fail this they you know he’s an incredibly valuable resource and he means a lot to them and everyone thought he could do it he thought he could do it on draft day uh Jim naggie the the guy who scouted him for the Senior Bowl and then had him all week said I see a left tackle in him and and like I said this is not a Dennis Allen thing it’s not a Clint kubak thing this is what teams do do all around the league like even though players admit they struggle with it um teams try it all the time and if it doesn’t work it doesn’t work I mean Andrew ped obviously comes to mind here he simply could not get over the hump could not move to right tackle and after they tried him for a while they moved him to left guard and he ended up making a successful transition there but yeah of course you try to find out and that’s what may football is all about is trying to find out I just I just I mean I guess I believe in left tackle I mean The Blind Side is an expression for a good reason you’re you’re you’re protecting the quarterback’s backside but I just think I mean we’ve been we’ve been taught so many times especially in in the Ryan Ram era of Saints football that the top pass rushers in the league go over to the other side so often too that that uh I don’t I don’t think it’s that important so I guess my my final takeaway would be if it sets him back at all if he’s uncomfortable doing it at all I think the Saints will move him back to right tackle I think they should but I absolutely do see no harm in finding out if it’s if if he’s the kind of guy who could do both than either I definitely I definitely agree with both of y’all you know muscle memory has him at right tackle but if you’re allowed to have the versatility to learn how to play left and right you’re indisposable at that point better yeah yeah look my my my thing on RAM check would be just a they had a high value left tackle the whole entire time he was here he never they might have moved him too he never had he never had a path to left tackle and then by the time they were shaky at left tackle his knee was going and you want your faster guy on the left side the other thing is is that like I think it just kind of I think it just look I I I mean there’s no doubt about it that that being better on the left side is better for a right-handed quarterback especially one that doesn’t handle pressure well already that’s already rattled by it so I think you want to do that I will say this so like if you go back like I thought I thought the knock on fuaga for me when I watched him is I like I personally thought he was right tackle only like he just doesn’t have the length he just kind of plays like Plug and Play at that spot I thought he could maybe move inside I didn’t necessarily see left but I could absolutely be wrong I don’t think enough of my opinion to sit here and be with they’re doing is is insane so if he has a chance to do it I think you got to you got to find it out so look the other part of this too that that I think has value to it he could play left tackle this year and it doesn’t mean he has to be your left tackle for the next 25 years like right I think if you next 25 years the next five years if for the next 10 years or whatever it is yeah but if you put him there you can move him back to right next year if he that’s his better position you get a different left tackle and now if that left tackle ever gets hurt you can take your right tackle and move them over to the left and cover the most important position on your offensive line if you need to he has that flexibility then I I just think that it’s that I just don’t really see a lot of downsides and I don’t think it sets some back really no at all like whatever your best five is I think you have to do the things you have to do to get those guys out there and if that is him on the left side and uh ulie Udo on the right I feel better about it if you’re telling me ulie Udo has to start my perception of it I not it changes it changes whether he’s on the left side or the right side because if you put him on the right and Derek can put his eyes on him and he sees the guy beating him you can get rid of the ball like it just changes my perception of the strength of their offensive line and if you can protect Derek on that left side I think that things are a lot better but we have no idea if he’s going to be able to do this or not yeah and you mentioned Trevor Penning and I completely agree with you you make no decisions based you don’t say now we got to put boaga on the right side because Penny’s got the left side you do not do that at all but what do you think this means for Trevor Penning do you think Trevor Penning do you expect during OTAs to see some Trevor Penny on the right side do you think this means we’re only going to see Trevor penny with the second team do you think this means Fagan Penning will trade every practice like we’ve seen in the past when guys are competing for a job what what what does this lead you to guess we’re going to see in OTAs I think I said I said this a couple weeks ago even like I I think they’re just going to cross train all those guys and just figure out how they fit in and it could be Landon young at guard it could be Landon young at tackle it could be oloto on either side it could be p at either Tackle Spot I don’t see ping in the cards at guard now I don’t I just I I I don’t see it I will say like in the discourse as a whole about this team that that’s taking place in public I find it tremendously interesting that like the idea of moving Trevor Penning to the inside is like an easy smart thing to do but changing a guy from left to right at the same position is the most outrageous thing that that anybody could ever do I I find that kind of interesting the way that that conversation playing out but yeah I I think they’re just going to try everybody at a bunch of different positions and see how they fit and I’m okay with that because I don’t believe they have answers like so I think trying to find them like there is a process to that and you know one last point on on the flip like I think if you’re comparing this to Zack bom moving from pass rusher to linebacker off the ball linebacker you’re making the wrong comparison no you’ve seen that on Twitter I assume I mean there are a lot of panic takes on this right tackle to left tackle is a much much more com and and actually finish your point but Ryan Ram switched Ryan Ram played left tackle in college his entire college career Ryan R was a left tackle he played right tackle in the NFL jar Evans was a left tackle in college he played Right Guard in the NFL so um we we think of the Andress Peak couldn’t do it example but uh there’s there’s a lot of good examples in Saints history too you spoke on it earlier and you kind of alluded to it in this last uh answer but you talk about putting the best on the field the Saints added veteran offensive lineman Lucas Patrick in the mix over the weekend he’s a starter he has some experience so with him in the mix now who are the best five that you think will be on the field I I don’t think it’s Lucas Patrick right now I think he’s probably more of of a depth player and just kind of doing like a cursory scouting of him I think he’s probably better as a depth player but at least you have somebody with experience on the team now if something happens or if the you know the the floor falls out like set a floor at least with him um I man I I feel like we did this recently and I like my answer is probably going to change I’m trying to remember who I said but I mean I still think I think it’s fuaga one of the spots um I think Nick salivary McCoy Cesar Ruiz and probably probably Uli Udo I think is is probably the last one yeah so first of all I feel good about the signing of Lucas Patrick now I don’t know how good I feel about Lucas Patrick himself as much as I do the idea of him but it’s just a reminder and Nick did this Study last week everybody check it out on the website if you haven’t um about how offensive line play is probably a little overrated in people’s minds are on the league there there’s a lot of bad offensive play line play everywhere but the Green Bay Packers who I think everyone agrees is a pretty good team started Lucas Patrick for 15 games at Right Guard in 2020 they started him for 13 games in 2021 at Center the Bears last year started him for 15 games uh mostly at Center um so what is that 30 4 43 48 starts over the last four years I mean we keep worrying about how they lost Andress Pete and they lost James Hurst I I imagine Lucas Patrick can play at an Andress Pete James Hurst level um I imagine oi Udo can play at that level and if they can’t I imagine there’s five more luas Patrick’s out there we’ve talked about how Dalton Risner is still out there and he started for a long time last year it was Max Garcia a guy that they brought in and they plugged him in and he started some games there are experienced veterans out there so just because the Saints are going to give Penning a chance to to start on this team and they’re going to give Nick Sal of are chance to start on this team there are guys like this that could come and and and kind of stop the bleeding if needed and frankly I wouldn’t be surprised at all I I think it I think this becomes a battle at left guard between Lucas Patrick and Nick salivary I I think the battle at right tackle will be Ole Udo versus um Landon young I think the battle at left tackle probably be um well or and I’m saying more what I’m predicting the tube deep to be you know Trevor Penning and uh talosa faga working out at left tackle so they’ve got options all around n none that make you feel totally secure about this team but enough guys that could do it and this this helps a little bit this I think this helps people sleep at night a little bit I mean that look at the graphic we have up on the screen if you’re watching on YouTube that’s a a lot of snaps played in the NFL at three different positions yeah that experience is invaluable but you know going back to the rookies and Saturday at mini camp who else stood up you know we got a chance to see Rattler for the first time see him in a you know competitive sense what stood out about him I thought he looked good I mean man that man throws that man throws a good football like he it’s just a lot of velocity I mean the spiral is as tight as as any spiral you’re going to see the arm strength is is incredible I mean I think there’s probably just arm isolate everything every decision all that stuff isolated like he’s probably got a top half of the league arm I mean I think he’s I think his arm Talent is is that good I talked to someone um who said that he has one of the best arms he’s ever scouted so I mean I don’t even think that’s that’s an outrageous statement like it is it is it is an indust not hyperbole with this guy mean the reason we’ve written and talked about him so much is we are talking about one of the top recruits in the last 25 years and and not even just recruits like after his freshman year at Oklahoma he was like the highman front runner because he was so good as freshman year he’s I mean look he he’s good he he he made good decisions throughout that practice I don’t think he really pushed the ball at all there was like one throw like 15 yards down the field to close it it was kind of like like a a skinny uh skinny post that he hit it was a really nice throw to kind of close it out but he was smart he got the ball out where it needed to go his only incompletion was was probably a little bit of a misplaced Ball but it got broken up by the defender I mean I thought he looked great I I really do I mean it’s rookie Camp against you know a lot of guys that are are going to be you know doing something other than than going to the league uh but I mean he he looked good out there and you know I don’t know that you can really take anything from the positives necessarily from Rookie camp on a on a quarterback but I think you can take stuff from the negatives and there really weren’t a whole lot of negatives so I think that was a really good first debut for us uh with him um he’s small we’re gonna okay talk about that real quick he’s small like he’s he looks small like he does not like frail he’s not he’s muscular yeah he’s he’s he’s short though he does he he looks he looks short out there not like you know there’s other guys that look shorter out there than him but like he he’s definitely not like you know he looks he looks his listed height I just put it that way um we’re going to find out what kind of timing and anticipation he has I mean it doesn’t M your arm strength doesn’t matter unless you use it properly but just initial Impressions from scouting him on tape and watching him now once in person on the practice field describe the difference between his strong arm and jamus Winston’s strong arm because jamus Winston flicked his wrist and it went 70 yards down the field we haven’t seen spener Spencer Rattler do that in Saints Camp we’ve seen him do that in games and stuff like that but I think immediately people are like okay strong arm but what are you going to do with it but like similar different what what’s your impression of of of arm strength or or arm Talent as it comes to those two guys yeah I mean I think they have I think it’s similar I mean you know strong arm a strong arm and jamus had one of the better still has one of the better arms in the NFL I say this cautiously and respectfully yeah and we’ve seen one practice but like looking at the college tape watching jamus you know I’m not I’m not going to die on this take like I’m just saying it I’m not going to die on this take but I think the short field accuracy is maybe a little bit better with Rattler just coming out of the gates like immediately and that was jus’ biggest area like you know but we got to see a lot more I think we saw see under pressure under real pressure not throwing against you know there were people out on that field that are going to be at the lumber yard next week like it’s just kind of the way it’s kind of the way it is some of them are going to be selling Insurance like that’s just kind of it’s just the truth of the the situation some will be in Canada you know what I mean like I mean a lot of them aren’t going to be 90% of the guys we saw out there aren’t NFL football players so it’s incredibly hard to kind of Judge that you can probably throw with a lot of confidence over the middle when when you have really no worry about the guy being able to make a play but I do think in the college tape like you saw lot of that that was one of the things that I really kind of liked about him was that shorter area of the field stuff so but yeah I mean look jamus is has shown that he can stick in the league he’s been a starter he’s achieved a lot like Rattler has a lot to do to even we’re talking about a number one pick versus a fifth round pick so right I mean there’s a lot a lot that Rattler has to do to get on his level to have the career that JY has had but I do think that maybe that short area stuff I think there’s a chance for Spencer to be maybe a little bit better right well I mean that was sort of James Winston’s fatal flaw I mean there’s no secret in saying that doesn’t mean it’s something he could never correct if he would have had more time to work the way Shawn pyton was working with him before he tore his ACL but that is something that undermined jamus Winston um was working in the middle of the field uh I talked to uh for the story I did on Spencer Rattler a couple weeks ago I talked to his longtime throwing coach he’s been working with him since he was 12 years old and and I was asking um about what makes him special as a quarterback and the thing he highlighted first and foremost was his touch and he said just wait till you can see the way he can drop a ball over Defender with touch uh layering the ball when it needs to be layered throwing with real soft touch um he can make all the throws but you see him lay the ball up with touch that’s the thing so I’m curious to watch that I I’m curious to watch I don’t know that we’ve seen deep ball and touch I mean that’s something Drew Brees did at his Peak and and even then he was maximizing his arm strength so I’m I’m really curious to see if that plays out on the practice field this summer yep going back to one of the topics we had last week talking about the quarterbacks and you know how they rank up Jared G he actually just got a fouryear extension of $212 million so 170 million guaranteed yeah he’s in another what’s 212 divided by four real quick 54 53 so burrow is at 55 gof 53 million uh Herbert 52.5 Lamar Jackson 52 million Jaylen Herz at 51 million you know listeners of the show know that I like I’m a I’m Pro goof I’m not pro goof at the second highest paid quarterback in the NFL look we did this thing who who’s the best value at quarterback and I think we all picked golf but but one of the asteris we had on his name was this it’s like we talk about Derek Carr all the time you can like Derek Carr you can dislike Derek Carr but even if you rank Derek Carr where we ranked him 18th 20th 22nd what wherever he is in that range getting 30 to $33 million a year means you’re the 18th 20th best quarterback right now um if you’re in the top 10 you’re at 50 if you’re 12th or whatever Kurt Cousins is you’re 45 million um so it’s I mean quarterbacks cost a lot of money man that’s that that’s that win the Super bowl of bus money right there that’s what that is any uh any other observations from uh rookie mini camp we we were watching Spencer Rattler a lot obviously uh fuaga as much as we could obviously they’re not rushing they’re not wearing pads who else stood out to you I mean Jaylen Ford was out with the uh with the sports hernia surgery so didn’t really get a look at him um I thought Bob memes looked pretty good looked you know who I really liked uh and we’ll see how he looks against the the pros and sometimes you get that that piness from guys that you know know the Playbook know it’s a new playbook so I got to take that part out but like know how to play in the NFL and all that stuff like they come out there they’re a little bit more confident but I thought Michael Jacobson looked pretty good out there he he’s a converted basketball player he was on the practice squad all last year developed metal um I I thought he looked if if you told me to pick a tight end out of the group and I think there was like three or four of them out there including D Hulker who everyone’s excited about if I knew nothing about any of them and I’m just watching blank and again like it’s so unfair to judge people right now even in OTA a mini camp because like people that flash are usually people that know how to be pros and then you get these like udfas and stuff that kind of everything kind of slows down and clicks at some point in AUST and it’s like oh like that’s that’s the guy that’s going to make the team so I’m not staking a claim on anyone right now but if you told me to pick a tight end out of that group like I’m taking Jacobson Far and Away like I thought he looked that much better than everybody else out there opport opportunity is absolutely there I mean he’s he’s he’s almost penil into the roster right now they’re not adding anyone I mean I guess him versus D Hulker could be a a battle for like a third or fourth de end position it’s funny though I mean this is the one thing I’ve known I’ve been guilty of for however many years I’ve been doing this uh and I do it anyway when you go out there and you watch them in shorts and no one’s tackling anyone and no one’s hitting anyone the the pass catchers and sometimes the cornerbacks are what stands out to you and um the Charlotte receiver Jaylen Jones we both remarked that we liked a couple of things he did but you’re just it’s hard to rate offensive lineman or front seven defenders in practices like this I liked the uh uh linebacker Isaiah major that they got from Florida A&M on a few plays but I also think the middle linebackers look better when they’re not in pads and then and then when they’re actually trying to run against them and Tackle people uh is when you really get to see how much field they get to cover but um I agree on bub means um there wasn’t a ton we didn’t get to see KOA mckinstry as expected we might not see him at all until July maybe he’ll make a little Cameo appearance during mini camp we didn’t get to see enough of the punter or the kicker to say if we think they’re going to push um so not a ton more um only signed one guy which I think is kind of uh which was which was the veteran offensive lineman um that we just talked about um I think there’s probably more coming yeah I wonder if they’ll be more cuz usually they do end up with three guys out out of a weekend like this um I know you said he kind of got corrected a few times but I I thought the the running back Michael uh Chris Ike moved better than a lot of mik I what’s his name Mike no you got it but that’s what they kept calling it Mike gee yeah I I I think he moved better than a lot of the people out there like if you if you were just looking for for an athlete like you looked like someone that that was just a little bit it was like oh who’s he like it’s that’s usually my my test during these things it’s just kind of like oh who’s he like who makes me notice he made me notice a few times but if he was messing stuff up but I don’t know maybe he moved well enough that it’s like we’ll see what he’s got but he was somebody that that did stand out to me a little bit yeah I really like BB means and then his interactions with his new wide receiver coach and you know to get our reactions on the wide receiver coach and the new offensive coordinator stick around because we’re going to hit a quick break and then when we get back we’ll talk about the new coaches and then we’ll hit our Martin’s question of the day catch you next total maintenance has set the standard for professional Air Conditioning Heating and electric services for for more than four decades total maintenance is skilled and experienced in the installation replacement and service of air conditioners veraces heat pumps duck lless models air quality products duck cleaning and sealing and so much more total maintenance protects their residential and Commercial clients from disruption no matter the time of day or night when you call Total maintenance for service expect quality workmanship and Superior results visit n-ac 33000 if you’re in New Orleans or 22548 1000 for Baton Rouge are you tired of renting and ready to own your dream home contact Jefferson Financial Federal Credit Union your trusted source for Home Loans our competitive rates and flexible terms can help make your home ownership dreams a reality if you’re a first-time home buyer or looking to refinance our experienced lenders are here to help our online application process allows you to apply on your schedule it’s quick easy and convenient visit us online at jeffersonfinancial.org to learn more federally insured by ncua Equal Housing lender Martin Wine and Spirits is home to a selection of handpicked Barrel select Bourbon whiskies and much much more they are familyowned and operated since 1946 and specialize in wine spirits gourmet food gift baskets catering and tasting events they have many locations so they’re never too far away you can check them out in mety New Orleans mandaville and Baton Rouge or if it’s more convenient you can always shop online whether you’re a wine novice or a season collector you’ll enjoy the Martin wine and spirit experience welcome back to our studio on Veterans Memorial Boulevard it’s now time for our next segment presented by hardh high ponchatula strawberry whiskey along at Rick rookie mini camp we got a chance to see the new offensive coaching staff for the first time and we got a chance to talk to Clint kubak after practice what are your first thoughts on that Clint is a man of uh a man of few words you know I I don’t think he’s he’s someone that’s necessarily going to open up the playbook for anybody but I you know I like the stuff that he did say I like you know the one answer I really like the most and I saw it kind of get played as like a non-answer like on social media a little bit but I thought the answer that that was best to me was asked him like what he wanted the identity of the offense to be and he said he’s going to let the players decide it I I really like that it’s not that he’s not going to try to force a philosophy on anyone he’s going to take the information he has and then kind of try to construct the plan around it and make sure he’s playing the strength of his roster and everything he said he doesn’t know what the identity can be yet cuz he hasn’t he hasn’t seen it yet so I thought that was something that was that was good from him um you know I thought the coaches had a lot of energy uh janoko the quarterback’s coach was was out playing defense and stuff and just kind of watching how he was interacting with the quarterbacks I thought was kind of fascinating the way they ran the practice was completely different than anything we we’ve seen before uh because they’ve just been doing the same exact thing for like 15 years and it’s the offensive lineman are here the running backs are here the tight ends are here they’re going to go through the the routes going this direction from here and then they’re going to move up to here and it’s just kind of like you knew exactly what they were going to do how they were going to do it how they were going to stretch where they were going to be lined up and then you go out there and it’s like whoa like this is different and you know that was just kind of cool like it was just kind of cool to have a different energy to it uh the wide receivers coach has an incredible amount of energy very vocal yeah um um so those are kind of the the few things that uh stood out to me Derrick Foster was really vocal to the running backs coach that’s why I heard 29 getting corrected a lot um yeah agre look one of the big things that came up um was shortening the play calls I still heard like they play call I mean we’re hearing West Coast we’re hearing identifying where the ex is going to go we’re hearing identifying where the halfback is going to go but I thought it was interesting that so many people including Dennis Allen including your conversation with Michael Jacobs had said it’s shorter than it used to be what’s interesting about about the long play calls is they a Long play call is hard on the quarterback and easy on everyone else a Long play call means you’re telling everybody what they’re doing on the play and the quarterback needs to master it um but um you know if if you can do a short play call and you’re asking everyone to understand the offense and maybe uh get what what was they were saying you know you can do things quicker you can move quicker we’ve heard that so many times we’ve heard get rid of the ball quickly we’ve heard um uh you know pass it quick quick passing game and you think that’s going to benefit Derek Carr and and now we’re adding terminology to yet another thing that could just make make things more fluid and functional do you I mean how much do you make of the talk of that in the first weekend excuse me well the first thing like just just as far as like the play call goes excuse me so yeah I mean like a Payton one would be like gun Flex right stack Dragon smoke kill turbo sucker right and like I was hearing stuff that was just like dolphin 19 whiz like so some of them had like were a little bit longer but some of them were just like they were calling a formation and a concept and you kind of had to know where to go based off of that so some of them are are still like a little bit wordy but like the pton stuff was kind of like yeah spell it out for every and the thing that would do is like so it would put a lot of stress on the quarterback but then if you’re a wide receiver you can go out there and okay I know the formation and I know what I’m supposed to do you don’t really have to like know as much because it’s on the quarterback to kind of say it all but like if you’re trying to get in and out of the Huddle and everything that stuff can be complicated and if you have a quarterback who basically built the offense for 10 15 years it’s kind of easy to do that but then if you’re someone just kind of coming into this and it’s just like whoa would you say I got to say all that like why like destroy some younger quarterbacks it destroyed some younger quarterbacks so it’s tough so I I like I like that this is a little bit a little bit easier um and and I think it’s going to be a little bit easier on the offense and and you know one of the things Jacobson said I went to him because he’s the only hold over from last year to this year he just said like for me it means I like I have to know the Playbook better like I can’t go out there and I can’t just like BS my way through anything because if they call a concept or if they call one route I got to know what I’m doing off of that as opposed to like just kind of having everything laid out for me to where I can just go out in the Huddle hear it and okay this is a formation here’s the route this is what I got to do yeah it’s really interesting um my favorite thing that kubak said because we spent about six seven minutes with him trying to trying to get him to open up about his offense and and he he would try to misdirect and he tried to be this isn’t about me he said that a few times this this is going to be about the players it’s not going to be about me um but I kind of set him up because I kind of knew what I thought I was going to hear um where I said you know everybody says you know this is part of the kubak his own father and and Mike Shanahan principles of the offense and I said um that are obviously based on the Run game and the play action passing game and I mean are those core principles uh that you still believe in even though everyone has adapted it into their own thing so much and he said absolutely I he said that’s the foundation of everything we do he goes and he said and if we’re going to have a good play action Run game we’re gonna have to have a good run game and so it’s our job to teach the Run game and it’s just we’ve heard Dennis Allen say that four or five times about why he wanted this to be their offense and Clin kubak unapologetically said yes we’re going to be a team that runs the and runs play action off our running game and that might be a basic fundamentals of football but guess what we haven’t seen it around here in a long time so if they get that right and and and they brought in assistants who worked for Mike Shanahan and uh uh Gary kubak uh to run it I mean they are unapologetically trying to go with the base principles of an offense that has has worked in different formats for a long time yeah I I know a NFL Playbook is only a fraction of a college Playbook but do you think because of the transfer portal and players just having to move around to different systems year to year that they’ll be able to retain this information quicker I don’t know or is it still like it’s a very fair question um it’s a really fair question and it really depends how much you put on guys I mean um it it is a really interesting concept how much you put on the quarterback and and how much you don’t I mean it’s not something we had to think about covering the Saints for a long time because they had Drew Brees for a long time and even when they replaced Drew Brees they replaced him with Veterans for a long time we haven’t seen the Saints sort of you know how do you make CJ stra work as a rookie how much do you simplify for him how much do you put on other people or whatever but yeah we haven’t seen an offense work without Drew Brees as the quarterback so figuring out figuring out the right balance and how much you’re asking players to do it it it’s it’s probably the balance that coaches like this have to always figure out and it probably often depends how much you think you can put on the plate of the players that you have on your roster M Saints just signed a defensive tackle named Kendall Vickers looks like he’s more a of a like a three Tech DT um trying to get some info on him right now uh came in with the Raiders spent his first three seasons there last year was with uh Buffalo look like he actually uh actually undrafted with the Steelers in 2018 went to Canada before he finally hit in the NFL with the Raiders 20 through 2 22 Yeah so they got a just kind of seems like a dep guy probably a little bit more but yeah more of a DT that that’s kind of a need I think for the team I don’t know that he’s someone that that you put at the top of the depth chart but kind of somebody that uh can come in compete and just make sure they’re they’re getting their uh getting their best competition mostly practice squad the last couple years but play played some real snaps with the Raiders I mean this is kind of in line with the other veteran signings they they’ve been doing uh recently um not a headliner but an experienced guy that um they must have uh had high grades on from previous stints on their ready list yep continuing to add death to that line Mike uh I wanted to bring this up earlier Antoine Winfield the safety for the bucks he signed a 4-year 84.1 million contract extension so he’s going to be around for a while um what does that mean like for the market in terms of having to pay I mean yeah I saw somebody spin that and saying hey look the safety Market is back I I don’t know he might be an exception we’ve seen a lot of safeties not get paid this offseason but he’s a special player I mean look did he end up getting fallen into the second round uh of the draft I think if I remember right because there’s a little bit of a safety stigma and he’s been one of the best players from that entire draft class so um he he’s sort of been an exception and and this bad new bad news for the Saints because him combined with uh the linebacker play they had there although they uh they no longer have Devon white there um really made things hard on the the Saints running backs and the Saints short area passing game um and and that’s a guy they’re going to have to contend with for a while but I I don’t know that this all of a sudden means all safeties are going to get paid yeah he was a second rounder pick 45 in 2020 all right now it’s time for the Martins question of the day Martins is home to a wide selection of handpicked Barrel select Bourbon whiskies and more Martins so much more than just wine who that from Greece asks with the benefit of hindsight was letting teron arms go the saints’s biggest mistake in the post Drew Brees eror it’s an interesting question I mean I think in the short term you could kind of make a little bit of that argument because it led to him leaving and then you end up drafting uh kind of based on on need so it led you into that a little bit but on the flip side uh armet has only played you know he he played 13 games his first year in Miami only 10 last year so you’re you’re still in that you’d be paying somebody that that’s a little bit iffy healthwise given where they’re at but I think that you can make the argument for it just given that it’s their biggest need and they they made a pick to try to replace him that could end up you know to this point is G him nothing so I it’s it’s it’s it’s a complicated question yeah um but I think it’s definitely something someone could definitely make an argument that it’s it’s been one of the more damaging things that has happened to this team because if you keep Armstead you probably back stop him with like James Hurst um James Hurst is retiring you’d probably go out and get like a cheaper player to kind of replace him you’re probably still in the market for uh fuaga but I think you probably feel a lot better about your team if you’re getting something out of that draft pick uh from that from that class or maybe they just don’t make that trade at all so it’s it’s something that prevents uh what I think ended up becoming a bigger mistake that’s really funny because I think I settled on as my answer to the question well the answer to my question is not drafting Pat Mahomes which is kind of cheap every team should have drafted Mahomes but we know how close they really came uh and they ended up with Maran lore which is probably their best player acquisition of of the last however many years or one one of the top ones so um but still not not drafting Patrick Mahomes when when one little trade up would would have got it done but I I I was thinking that the Penning trade is a real candidate for this and when you tie those together if you resign ton Armstead as you said maybe you don’t draft Trevor Penning um when you combine those two together I think it’s I think it’s the S to this question um what I was going to say though is how many how many more games do you think they win the last two years if they’ get armstead’s 23 games over the last years they went seven and 10 9 and eight did they win the division both years did they get one more win yeah I think their offensive line play was probably the worst part of the team in both years yeah they might have won a game they might have won another game or like maybe maybe the group’s better overall look there’s there’s there’s a a cascading effect too with arm said and that he’s a great teacher like people go out to Duke mini weather’s camp and like tron’s one of the guys that that goes around and is kind of like a camp counselor so to speak like an extension of that that coaching so maybe just other players are better because he’s around too so yeah I think they probably they probably could win another game somewhere along the lines um the touch on to touch on your point I just got to say it man like every time every time now this mom s comes up it comes with the retelling of the story and the retelling of the story that is that the saints went there on a stealth plane that was untrackable on the cover of night that nobody knew they were out there and then like it was like well that’s why Atlanta you know they they did their thing with drafting the quarterback and it was so quiet and I’m sure Terry font did learn from it but it wasn’t because of this like super silent operation Shawn Payton took pictures that were on social media from their campus that led people like me and Mike to make calls to say hey is he out there working out Mahomes and then people said yes he is and then it gets reported it was a loud thing and they stopped like you took a picture like the picture is why every everybody knew it wasn’t it wasn’t like it leaked out like no there was photographic evidence like that the staff was on their campus and that’s how we all knew that he was working him out yeah you just did that you did your job you weren’t like the feds or nothing like that had him I mean the the the picture did the job I didn’t do anything like and look the Saints drafted uh quarterback two years earlier it was Garett Grayson but I mean like they made no secret that they were in the business of scouting quarterbacks every year they were scouting Jared G they were working out I mean they were working out with first round prospects all the time maybe nobody thought they were going to actually pull the trigger um because Drew Brees was still about 37 years old but yeah like like they weren’t going to get him with secrecy um I just hate how they how it’s G told that it was like this like stealth operation it’s like no it wasn’t no it wasn’t yeah um but uh I did have other candidates for this the thing about the only counterargument I would say to teron is I think teron would have made you a game better each the last two years and you might have won the division each of last honestly Tron might have made them good enough to get that one more win and win the division each of the last two years I don’t know if I can say that about Trey Hendrickson maybe you can make the same argument with Tre hend T yeah because the defensive osition has become has faded in the last couple years and he would have made it a lot better but and Trey Hendrickson’s still a fairly young player so I’d feel better about their future too which almost makes him a candidate ahead of teron but I’m thinking a little bit more about how this roster has just got a lot older I I don’t know how much having Toronto Armstead on this team would make me feel better about where they are now and where they’re going um so I I lean more towards how much they paid to get those two first round picks a couple years ago and using one of them on Penning or using the the two first rounders on Marcus Davenport and having him not work out um when instead you could have had two different players that are maybe building blocks for this team I think missing on first Dr picks and doubling up your resources to you know trade you know a first and a second for a guy or two first for a guy and having them not hit is is what is what has hurt this team the most I think I don’t even know what they would have done with that that 19th pick like it part of me like feels like they might have ended up like drafting Kenny picket there or something well no here’s what I think they would have so there’s two different things first of all they had the 18th pick so let’s say they never make a trade at all they have the 18th pick so maybe they would have taken Penning anyway but I think they would have traded up for olve anyway it might have been a little more expensive but I mean olve is the guy they obviously wanted they moved up from 16 to 11 to get a la I think they would have moved up from 18 to 11 to get a la and I’m just saying don’t have that be your only first round pick and then the next year have the 10th pick in the draft that ended up being being Jaylen Carter or whatever I’m just I don’t like that they spent so much money to get two first round picks that year and one of them was Penning like and the thing is again they they did that ahead of time so it was just they just wanted the picks so I it’s almost like a financial decision I almost don’t like they might have still made the same the same trade I I have no idea what they were actually targeting at at 19 I I don’t I don’t know if it was Penning I don’t know if it was someone else I I don’t know if it was just hey one of these players is going to be there and we don’t care who it is like we’re making two picks this year so they still might have made the same exact trade beforehand because like I I don’t know I can’t say for sure that it wasn’t Penning specific but it might have been it might have been yeah well for our live viewers we appreciate y’all for being in here and stick around for overtime and if if you’re not subscribed yet what are you doing because Wednesday night we’ll be back right here only on new warless foot to give live reaction to the schedule release stick around for overtime if not catch you next time [Music]