The Saints will be getting back to action for another round of OTAs on Tuesday, as we're one more week closer to football returning. New Orleans will have one more round next week followed by a mandatory minicamp from June 11-13. The first session brought us plenty of notes and observations, and we only anticipate getting more insight on the team when we see them next. Here's some of the things we are looking for in Week 2.
ATTENDANCE CHANGES
While we weren't expecting full attendance in the first place, twelve Saints were not spotted on the practice field last week. In addition to the absences, three were not participating (Nathan Peterman, Mark Evans and Tommy Hudson) and Oli Udoh was working off to the side. The biggest names we're waiting to see show up, which again this is strictly voluntary, would be Alvin Kamara and Marshon Lattimore. Some players may also be missing that were there from the first session we observed.
GENERAL IMPROVEMENT
The flow of practice showed organization and time on task. There's plenty of players who can look good in practice, and there's not much to gauge when it comes to the linemen due to the lack of pads and contact. However, the general things can be seen like physique at that spot. Most notably, a lot of the offensive linemen looked slimmer and trimmer, and that could be by design with the new Klint Kubiak offense.
In particular, we're interested in seeing how someone like Spencer Rattler does week over week. His first session was a bit mixed, having challenges with throws and tempo getting to the line. Jake Haener looked sharp and was involved in the three best plays of the day, so can he repeat that? Derek Carr also made it a point to come over to Chris Olave on a missed connection and take accountability for it. From now until the preseason, this is the time to make mistakes, and how everyone learns from it is what absolutely matters.
POSITION SWAPS
It was a Blake Grupe and Lou Hedley showing for the Saints special teams, which was hardly a surprise, but we'll obviously keep an eye on if this changes any with Charlie Smyth and Matt Hayball. If there's any changes within the offensive line, that would be another focal point, particularly who lines up on the left side and at right tackle. We also only saw base defense from the Saints, so paying attention to whether or not we get a glimpse of who might be put into the slot. It's certainly not going to set things in stone, but is another piece of information.
MORE OF THE KUBIAK OFFENSE
Klint Kubiak, Andrew Janocko and Keith Williams have made the most notable impacts to Saints practices early on, and it's refreshing to see the changes on offense. We didn't go in last week expecting to see so much motion and play action, but we did. You can already tell how much Kubiak and Janocko mesh and have impacted things, and we only look forward to seeing more of it. Training camp can't get here soon enough. As for Williams, he certainly has a way with bonding with the receivers, and he absolutely looks like a tremendous get for New Orleans.
