Speaker 1: Welcome in to the New Orleans Saints Podcast, presently by Seatcake.
Speaker 1: You'll hear from players, coaches, broadcasters, and writers that cover
Speaker 1: the NFL on a daily basis. The New Orleans Saints
Speaker 1: Podcast starts right now. Here's your host, Aaron Summers.
Speaker 2: Welcome into the New Orleans Saints Podcast. Aaron Summers here
Speaker 2: to break down the NFL draft picks. The draft brought
Speaker 2: twenty new players to the Saints, between the draft and
Speaker 2: undrafted free agents, starting with an offensive tackle from Texas
Speaker 2: Kelvin Banks junior at number nine.
Speaker 3: Oh great, I mean it was awesome, kind of like
Speaker 3: like everybody always say a dream come true, just not
Speaker 3: knowing where you're gonna go, so being anxious and then
Speaker 3: want you to fill your phone vibrating. You answered the
Speaker 3: phone and you hear the GM and head coach talking
Speaker 3: to you is kind of a soberer moment.
Speaker 4: So it was very exciting for me.
Speaker 2: Today we're going to dive a little deeper on the
Speaker 2: offensive players drafted, talk to some analysts and even some
Speaker 2: college coaches to find out who we're getting here in
Speaker 2: New Orleans. Locked On Saints' host Ross Jackson joined me
Speaker 2: on our Saints twenty twenty five Draft recap show and
Speaker 2: had this to share about the Saints first round pick.
Speaker 5: Not a lot of people are going to be excited
Speaker 5: about the offensive lineman, but you know all the things
Speaker 5: that people do get excited about, the big runs, the
Speaker 5: breakaway plays, the big passes downfield. Those guys are the
Speaker 5: people that make that happen. If they don't hold up
Speaker 5: in front of that quarterback, in front of that running back,
Speaker 5: then those big plays don't get an opportunity to take place.
Speaker 5: So I think that's one of the things that you
Speaker 5: get from them, and you get an excellent leader as well.
Speaker 5: When it comes to him in the locker room, his
Speaker 5: teammate Vernon Broughton spoke a bit about that. We'll talk
Speaker 5: about him a little bit later, but I think that
Speaker 5: what Calvin Banks gives you with somebody that's going to
Speaker 5: be able to contribute most immediately versus a run blocker
Speaker 5: has some development to do as a pass blocker, but
Speaker 5: I think has every tool set he needs to get there.
Speaker 2: You can watch the full show on the Gulf Coast
Speaker 2: Sports and Entertainment Network or at New Orleans Saints dot
Speaker 2: Com or our Saints YouTube channel. Get more insight from
Speaker 2: Ross on all of our draft picks, the undrafted, free agents,
Speaker 2: and what's ahead for the Saints. It was the Saints'
Speaker 2: second pick, number forty overall, Louisville quarterback Tyler Shuck that
Speaker 2: made the most noise. Maybe because of his age or
Speaker 2: previous injuries, or maybe because you just wanted the Saints
Speaker 2: to draft someone else. However, there is one former NFL
Speaker 2: player now analyst who absolutely loves this pick, and that
Speaker 2: is Lewis Ridick. Riddick joined me to share why. Lewis,
Speaker 2: thank you so much for joining me on the New
Speaker 2: Orleans Saints podcast. It has been a busy weekend. We
Speaker 2: finally made it through the draft, which I always am
Speaker 2: happy about because I hate all the speculation. I which
Speaker 2: want to know what it's going to look like. And
Speaker 2: for Saints fans, second round, fortieth pick overall is quarterback
Speaker 2: Tyler Shuck out of Louisville. Mixture reviews by the fan base,
Speaker 2: but I know it's somebody you've been high on.
Speaker 6: Why, well, this starts going all the way back to
Speaker 6: the ball. I got to see Louisville play twice. We
Speaker 6: called two of their games for ESPN. Got to see
Speaker 6: him play at home against SMU got to see him
Speaker 6: play on the road at Clemson, So it starts there.
Speaker 6: Jeff and Brian Brom, the head coach and offensive coordinator
Speaker 6: quarterback coach at at Louisville, or good friends of mine.
Speaker 6: I've known Jeff since the year, since two thousand. We
Speaker 6: both played a little fun fact in the XFL together
Speaker 6: back in the old Orlando Rage days, back in in
Speaker 6: the two thousand seasons. So I've known him a long time.
Speaker 6: And Jeff and Brian there are two better quarterback teachers
Speaker 6: in college football period. Jeff Brom should be a head
Speaker 6: coach in the NFL. He's that damn good. And so
Speaker 6: I knew that. When I started watching Louisvill's tape to
Speaker 6: prepare for those games, I was.
Speaker 7: Like, who the hell is this Tyler shub kid? And
Speaker 7: how is he? How did I not know about him
Speaker 7: before this?
Speaker 6: Well, obviously, you know his journey has been a little unconventional,
Speaker 6: having transferred twice, had some injuries, and you know, he
Speaker 6: hasn't really been able to take off, and he hasn't
Speaker 6: been in an offense like this. And so when I
Speaker 6: watched the tape, I went down and I asked Jeff,
Speaker 6: I said, look, he said, as.
Speaker 7: Good as I think he is. I was like, holy shit,
Speaker 7: this guy can play. And he's like, oh, he's damn good.
Speaker 7: He's big, he's fast, he is smart, he's mature. The teammates,
Speaker 7: the team loves him.
Speaker 6: He can execute whatever discipline you want, whether it's from
Speaker 6: under center, whether it's in the pistol, whether it's in
Speaker 6: the gun, whether it's zone read, whether it's RPO, whether
Speaker 6: it's you know, boots keepers, pushed the ball down the
Speaker 6: field on you know, big shots down the field, timing round.
Speaker 7: He can do it all. And I'm going, yeah, that's
Speaker 7: what I've been seeing.
Speaker 6: And he goes, yeah, he's just not a household name,
Speaker 6: I said, but you just watch, just just watch as
Speaker 6: he goes. And in that game, he was lights out.
Speaker 6: In the SMU game, they lost the game. I mean,
Speaker 6: Louisville's defense really struggled the first three quarters of the season.
Speaker 6: And then we saw him again down to Clemson and
Speaker 6: they won that game and Clemson had everything to play for,
Speaker 6: and he was again lights out. Just watch his game
Speaker 6: up in Notre Dame earlier in the season. He had
Speaker 6: one of the best He had the best throw of
Speaker 6: the year, the throat to Jacory Brooks, like the eighteen
Speaker 6: yard touchdown pass back of the end zone where he's
Speaker 6: rolling left and basically he doesn't even throw a three.
Speaker 6: It's like a side arm throw, almost underhand and gets
Speaker 6: smashed in the face. He throws like that all year long.
Speaker 6: And so I'm sitting there going, you know, as the
Speaker 6: season goes on. If Tyler Shuck had played for Alabama
Speaker 6: or Clemson or USC or some other school like that
Speaker 6: that was known for, you know, putting out big time quarterbacks,
Speaker 6: or was on TV every single week in the primetime game,
Speaker 6: there wouldn't be this talks around again.
Speaker 7: As far as his age is concerned. Cares that he's
Speaker 7: twenty five?
Speaker 6: Who cares that he came out in the draft with
Speaker 6: Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields.
Speaker 7: Who cares?
Speaker 6: As a matter of fact, at twenty five? Many teams
Speaker 6: in the NFL and New Orleans isn't the only one.
Speaker 6: I can promise you that, as I've talked to plenty,
Speaker 6: isn't the only one who looked at that as a positive.
Speaker 7: He's got a stable home life, he's married.
Speaker 6: He's a guy who you know is gonna do all
Speaker 6: the things off the field the right way. You know
Speaker 6: that on the field, as far as his football character
Speaker 6: is concerned, he is super smart, he is super athletic.
Speaker 6: He's a guy who's been through a lot of adversity
Speaker 6: already with the freak injuries that he's had, which I
Speaker 6: can assure you NFL medical department said that does not
Speaker 6: make him put him in some high risk category. The
Speaker 6: nature of the injuries that he has suffered, it does
Speaker 6: not put him in that. So for people thinking, all
Speaker 6: of a sudden, the first time he gets touched he's
Speaker 6: just gonna turn the dust, it's kind of like, get
Speaker 6: a grip here, He's gonna be just fine. They were
Speaker 6: freak injuries for him. And then when you just get
Speaker 6: to the on the field exploits, just watch him play.
Speaker 6: He can do everything in the pro game that Kellen
Speaker 6: Moore is gonna ask him to do. And quite honestly,
Speaker 6: Kellen's a perfect coach for him because it's gonna be
Speaker 6: like a collaboration of things, a combination of what he
Speaker 6: did well at Louisville, some of the stuff maybe that
Speaker 6: he did at Texas Tech and.
Speaker 7: The air raid. He can do it all.
Speaker 6: And as long as the offensive line, running game and
Speaker 6: the receivers are healthy.
Speaker 7: Tyler Shuck's gonna have a hell of a career. He's
Speaker 7: gonna have a hell of career.
Speaker 6: So I think overall, we need to like stop looking
Speaker 6: at the things that that comprise who this young man
Speaker 6: is in such a negative way. His age doesn't mean
Speaker 6: anything at all. Bo Knicks was older also, but they
Speaker 6: then people say the same thing about bow Knicks when
Speaker 6: he came out of Oregon. Who wants this twice transferred
Speaker 6: older guy who was Johnny checked down and mister high
Speaker 6: completion percentage at Oregon, ran in and played in an offense.
Speaker 7: It doesn't even really translate the NFL. You know who
Speaker 7: wanted him. Sean Payton wanted him.
Speaker 6: Sean Payton had him raided as one of the best
Speaker 6: quarterbacks in the draft behind Jade and Daniels.
Speaker 7: How'd that turn out?
Speaker 6: Now, there's a lot of people sitting there going, you know,
Speaker 6: with with the racers trying to go, oh, you know
Speaker 6: what I had, I had bowenext rated really high? Oh bullshit,
Speaker 6: No you didn't. So And I know there's a lot
Speaker 6: of quarterback gurus, whisperers whatever you want to call him.
Speaker 7: Who really like Tyler Shuck.
Speaker 6: The draft complex that we kind of like operate in
Speaker 6: the media world, the fan world. They kind of like
Speaker 6: follow these typical stereo, these stereotypical methods of evaluating players,
Speaker 6: and if they don't check these certain boxes, then they think, well,
Speaker 6: he's not a franchise quarterback. Just throw him on the
Speaker 6: trash heap. NFL teams don't do that, Okay. I know
Speaker 6: there's some people. You know, you can you can bash
Speaker 6: the NFL for missing on quarterbacks. You can you can
Speaker 6: praise the NFL for hitting on quarterbacks. People in the
Speaker 6: NFL like this guy, And I can see exactly why
Speaker 6: Kellen Moore really likes this guy. I can see exactly
Speaker 6: why a lot of other quarterback whisperers and gurus and
Speaker 6: who are both in the league and out of the
Speaker 6: league really like this guy. I can see why Jeff
Speaker 6: Brohm loved this guy. That's why people should just kind
Speaker 6: of like chill out, let him get in there, learn
Speaker 6: the system, get with Kellen, and then get on the
Speaker 6: football field, because a lot of the stuff that he's
Speaker 6: been through from an adversity standpoint are all the kind
Speaker 6: of things that you don't know how some guys are
Speaker 6: going to react to that kind of stuff until they
Speaker 6: go through it.
Speaker 7: He's already been there.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and you already know what he's made of and
Speaker 6: his skills on the field.
Speaker 7: You can't really question him.
Speaker 6: So yeah, that's about a three minute, you know, soapbox
Speaker 6: oration right there. I gave you as to why I
Speaker 6: believe in the guy, and I know and I've talked
Speaker 6: to him multiple times.
Speaker 7: I love everything about the kid. Everything.
Speaker 6: And if there's somebody who I trust, it's Jeff and
Speaker 6: Brian Brown. They can coach it with the very best
Speaker 6: of them. And I think Kellen Moore knows what he's
Speaker 6: looking for in a quarterback too, So let's give him
Speaker 6: the benefit of the doubt before we start just bashing
Speaker 6: this guy.
Speaker 7: And you know what, here's the last thing I'll say.
Speaker 6: And you can edit this out if you want, but
Speaker 6: I'm sorry, but I have to say it this way.
Speaker 6: That little dumbass clip that's trending on Twitter about how
Speaker 6: he you know, he missed that throw at the combine.
Speaker 6: Learned some context behind that. Tyler had said before that
Speaker 6: he was going to try some things at the combine
Speaker 6: to try and impress people, as far as throwing the
Speaker 6: football with different arm angles and stuff kind of like
Speaker 6: to throw. He had the Jacory Brooks against Notre Dame,
Speaker 6: but that probably wasn't the best of time to do
Speaker 6: that because you're throwing the guys who you don't even know,
Speaker 6: and it's not a game circumstance, and that's probably that's
Speaker 6: not a good indication, like a good time to do that.
Speaker 6: He did it once and then he stopped doing it,
Speaker 6: and I remember when it happened. I'll sit in there
Speaker 6: watching it live when it happened. I'm going I see
Speaker 6: what he's trying to do. He needs to just throw
Speaker 6: the football, and when he did, he's the best thrower there.
Speaker 6: So when people put that up there and then they
Speaker 6: put it on Twitter and say this is what the
Speaker 6: Saints drafted, you're full of shit. And what you're doing
Speaker 6: is you're trying to create a narrative that's inaccurate. And
Speaker 6: if for anyone who buys into that, you're just as
Speaker 6: full of shit as a person who put it up there.
Speaker 7: So don't do that. But that's the world we live in,
Speaker 7: right But you could not you could not have found
Speaker 7: a bigger fan in the guy.
Speaker 6: And I'm rooting like hell for him, and hopefully it
Speaker 6: all turns out the way everybody ideally wants it to.
Speaker 2: When he brought up the best throw that he had
Speaker 2: this season, I was going to ask you about that
Speaker 2: clip from the combine and what you saw there, So
Speaker 2: thank you for addressing that. And then with Tyler Shuck,
Speaker 2: he might not have been a household name because people
Speaker 2: didn't know how to pronounce it. I mean, it's tough, right.
Speaker 7: I had this conversation with I think I with my son.
Speaker 7: He's like a dad. I saw your boy Tyler Shuck
Speaker 7: went and I was like, he's like, why is his
Speaker 7: name spelled like that? It's his name should be Tyler's Show.
Speaker 7: I was like, Yeah.
Speaker 6: When I when we first started preparing for for the
Speaker 6: Louisville game the first time against SMU, I remember looking
Speaker 6: at it and before we went down there, I was like,
Speaker 6: this quarterback Tyler Show.
Speaker 7: Never like it's shucked. I was like, it can't be
Speaker 7: spelled s a jo. How's it shuck? Yeah, that's another
Speaker 7: thing that I think people will have fun with. But
Speaker 7: I'm sure people are going to.
Speaker 6: Have some fun with the pronunciation of his name, especially
Speaker 6: if he starts if he starts tearing it up down there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, with the system that he played under at Louisville.
Speaker 2: You said it was perfect for him coming in here
Speaker 2: under a new head coach, and Kellen wore, we don't
Speaker 2: know exactly what his system is going to look like.
Speaker 2: When you have a new coach, usually they want to
Speaker 2: get their guys in here. How much do you think
Speaker 2: he is going to build a system around Shuck or
Speaker 2: not going to be able to assimilate into whatever it
Speaker 2: is that Moore wants to do.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it's always the best systems that are
Speaker 6: created are collaborative first and foremost. But I think if
Speaker 6: you look at if you just break the individual components down,
Speaker 6: you know, starting you know, with Kellen, just think of
Speaker 6: the quarterbacks that.
Speaker 7: He's coached recently.
Speaker 6: He's coached Dak Prescott, He's coached Justin Herbert, he coach
Speaker 6: Jalen Hurts. Those are three very different guys and all
Speaker 6: of them played at a super high level underneath him,
Speaker 6: and all of them, you know, I'm sure Kellen had
Speaker 6: a very collaborative process with all three of them to say, hey, look,
Speaker 6: what are the things that make you comfortable. What are
Speaker 6: the things that you know that you feel most confident
Speaker 6: in executing? This is basically this is These are the
Speaker 6: basic fundamentals that I believe in terms of individual quarterback
Speaker 6: play and then offensive philosophy. But let's work together to
Speaker 6: get this, you know, ironed out, so we can get
Speaker 6: you rolling at a high level. And the reason why
Speaker 6: I'm sure he takes that approach is because Kellen played
Speaker 6: the position and he knows that you just don't come
Speaker 6: in and just hammer a quarterback into into a certain
Speaker 6: role because that's how you feel they should play it.
Speaker 6: It's always best when it's collaborative. It's always best when
Speaker 6: there's a nice exchange of ideas. And I think you'll
Speaker 6: see a little bit of everything with Tyler because he
Speaker 6: can do a little bit of everything. He played in
Speaker 6: an air raid, he played in a in a more
Speaker 6: conventional pro style offense that emphasized being underneath center and
Speaker 6: taking three five seven step drops, boots, keepers, rollouts thrown
Speaker 6: from different platforms, operating from the pub. He's done all
Speaker 6: that he's done. He's done just about all of it.
Speaker 6: And the stuff that he was doing at Louisville is
Speaker 6: just high level and that's probably stuff I'm sure when
Speaker 6: Kellen was watching the tape, he's probably sitting there going
Speaker 6: this is perfect.
Speaker 7: This kid has done everything, and so what you do
Speaker 7: is I mean, that gives.
Speaker 6: You a lot of runway to really construct an offense
Speaker 6: that ultimately is just going to move the ball and
Speaker 6: put points on the board because Tyler can do it all.
Speaker 7: So that's really.
Speaker 6: The last of my worries as far as Kellen trying to,
Speaker 6: you know, find that sweet spot with with Tyler and
Speaker 6: what he can do.
Speaker 7: That's that's the least of my concern.
Speaker 2: There is the question mark right now the quarterback position
Speaker 2: with the injury to Derek Carr. So that is something
Speaker 2: that Kellen Moore is going to have to figure out
Speaker 2: as well when implementing what his system is going to
Speaker 2: look like. But when you bring in somebody that has
Speaker 2: the experience that Schuck does, the age even in itself,
Speaker 2: he said, the maturity, could he just seamlessly step in
Speaker 2: if needed?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I know, you never you never want to, Like
Speaker 6: I'm trying to hold myself back as far as not
Speaker 6: wanting to get too far ahead. But all the things
Speaker 6: that right now people are and I say people in general,
Speaker 6: that are pointing to us negatives, once he gets there,
Speaker 6: it'll quickly turn to a positive because he is mature.
Speaker 6: He is someone who's been through a bunch. He is
Speaker 6: someone who's been in multiple systems. He's ahead of the
Speaker 6: game compared to you know, typical rookie quarterbacks. We just
Speaker 6: saw this play out with bow Nicks. We just saw it.
Speaker 6: It's almost a carbon copy. It's a bo didn't have
Speaker 6: the injury history that that Tyler had, which again I'm
Speaker 6: not concerned with, because the medical people I talked to
Speaker 6: who aren't concerned with. So it's all going to help
Speaker 6: him and accelerate his his his growth trajectory in a
Speaker 6: way that I'm sure will allow him step on to
Speaker 6: the field much sooner than maybe most quarterbacks could and
Speaker 6: or or should for that matter. That doesn't mean there
Speaker 6: are gonna be bumps in the road, because there are.
Speaker 6: I mean, the pro game is not at the ACC.
Speaker 6: The program is not SMU and and Wake and UH.
Speaker 7: And Clemson in Florida State. It's just not.
Speaker 6: So he's gonna have isn't gonna be perfect, But I
Speaker 6: can promise you he isn't gonna be overwhelmed. It isn't
Speaker 6: gonna be one of those where if he throws an
Speaker 6: interception or he has a he gets stripped sacked of
Speaker 6: the ball in the pocket or makes a bad read.
Speaker 6: He's gonna all of a sudden go in the tank
Speaker 6: and look like you know, someone just stole his wallet,
Speaker 6: and all of a sudden he's just lost. It's not
Speaker 6: gonna be that. It's not gonna be that. He's gonna
Speaker 6: make a hell of a lot more good plays than
Speaker 6: bad ones. I'm I'm kind of like, I'm eerily not eerily.
Speaker 6: I'm I'm uniquely calm about this one because of the
Speaker 6: guy and who he is and who I got to
Speaker 6: know and who I got to talk to, and the
Speaker 6: kind of trust that I have, and the people who
Speaker 6: coach him. Jeff Brohm, the coach at Louisville, should be
Speaker 6: in the NFL coaching if you were a GM and
Speaker 6: you aren't going to Louisville trying to get him out
Speaker 6: of there. And I'm not for all the Louisville fans,
Speaker 6: I'm not trying to get Jeff brom you know. But
Speaker 6: if you're a GM and you're not an interviewing him,
Speaker 6: I don't know what you're doing. I just don't know
Speaker 6: what you're doing. The dude knows how to coach it,
Speaker 6: and so I think he has prepared. He has prepared
Speaker 6: Tyler Shuck for everything that's come in his way. As
Speaker 6: far as the challenge of being an NFL.
Speaker 2: Quarterback, when do you step back and look at the
Speaker 2: overall draft for the Saints, they did start with that
Speaker 2: offensive tackle and Kelvin Banks junior. How much do you
Speaker 2: value drafting alignment, whether it's either side, you know, building
Speaker 2: from the inside out.
Speaker 7: Kelvin, I'll tell you this.
Speaker 6: I talked to Steve Sarkesian just about two or three
Speaker 6: days before the draft, and I know sark Well. I
Speaker 6: went down there and spoke to the University of Texas
Speaker 6: their football team two years ago. He said that Kelvin
Speaker 6: Banks is obviously he's a decades long plus book can tackle.
Speaker 6: He said, there's no one that he trusted more on
Speaker 6: his football team. If there's anybody who was tailor made
Speaker 6: for the pro game to protect the quarterback's blind side
Speaker 6: or whatever side you need to protect it, it's that
Speaker 6: young man again, a guy who dealt with some difficult
Speaker 6: circumstances during his time at Texas, whether it be not
Speaker 6: playing totally healthy this year, personal issues with the health
Speaker 6: of his mother. Continue to fight through it, continue to
Speaker 6: be an absolute bedrock stalwart of their football program. And
Speaker 6: again that's before you even get to the field. See,
Speaker 6: I'm big on character and makeup, resiliency, forty two, whatever word.
Speaker 7: You want to use. He has that.
Speaker 6: He has it on top of the fact that he has,
Speaker 6: you know, cannons for hands and has got like a
Speaker 6: grip like Thanos, And he's strong and he's mobile, and he's.
Speaker 7: Smart, and.
Speaker 6: He plays one of the most coveted positions in all
Speaker 6: of football. He can play at a high level. Of course,
Speaker 6: that's a home run. That's an absolute home run type
Speaker 6: of pick for them. And if you're Tyler Shuck, you're
Speaker 6: going perfect. Thanks a lot, that'll help.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Saints drafted two players out of Texas and
Speaker 2: two players out of Louisville. Is there anything to that
Speaker 2: they just really value those programs or is just kind
Speaker 2: of how the cards fell?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 6: I think sometimes, you know, the draft just plays out
Speaker 6: the way it plays out, And I'm sitting here, I'm
Speaker 6: just like, like all these names, I'm sitting here familiar
Speaker 6: like looking back over their draft. But look, i mean,
Speaker 6: Vernon Broughton is a hell of a interior defensive lineman
Speaker 6: and again he's the he's the kind of guy that
Speaker 6: from a football character standpoint, position specific skills standpoint, some
Speaker 6: teams really do lean on certain programs and kind of
Speaker 6: like how they develop their guys. I don't think they
Speaker 6: specifically target those guys, but maybe it just kind of
Speaker 6: works out that way, and it's a testament to what
Speaker 6: Sark is building down there, it really is. And look,
Speaker 6: Quincy Riley is someone who I had written about out
Speaker 6: for ESPN dot com before the draft. Is one of
Speaker 6: the guys who I thought were going to be one
Speaker 6: of the best Day two I thought Quincy should have
Speaker 6: been a Day two player, one of the best Day
Speaker 6: two or Day three values in the draft. So you know,
Speaker 6: one hundred meters two hundred meters sprint champion in high school,
Speaker 6: a guy who had fifteen plus interceptions in his career.
Speaker 6: He can play inside at the slot. I mean, he
Speaker 6: can do He can do it all. And Brandon Staley's
Speaker 6: gonna absolutely freaking love him because Brandon knows how important
Speaker 6: corners who are are that can play outside and play inside.
Speaker 6: Like Brandon coached one of the very best when he
Speaker 6: was with the Rams with Jalen Ramsey. And I'm not
Speaker 6: saying that Quincy Riley is Jaalen Ramsey, but he has
Speaker 6: that kind of mentality. And so again when we went
Speaker 6: to Louisville, they couldn't say enough good things about Quincy.
Speaker 6: He was banged up a lot of the year this
Speaker 6: year and had dealt with a foot injury or an
Speaker 6: ankle injury I believe it was, but he's super super talented. Yeah,
Speaker 6: I think Saints fan's got to give Mickey in his
Speaker 6: in his personnel department and that coaching stay have credit.
Speaker 7: They had a heck of a draft.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, there are a lot of unknowns right now
Speaker 2: because you have a whole new coaching staff, really and
Speaker 2: the news of Derek Carr's injury, so I think people
Speaker 2: need to pump the brakes a little bit and wait
Speaker 2: and see what happens, right, Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 6: You know, it's at this time of year generally, I
Speaker 6: think fan bases and people will like tend to lean
Speaker 6: on the side of optimism, you know, because you haven't
Speaker 6: lost any games, so why why not be optimistic? But
Speaker 6: then sometimes that pendulum can swing the other way, and
Speaker 6: before people even get on the field, they can start
Speaker 6: they start making wholesale like evaluations on players and teams
Speaker 6: that can also tend to lean way too negative. There's
Speaker 6: a lot of things that are going to happen between
Speaker 6: now in September and team building is an ongoing process. Also,
Speaker 6: there's a lot of teams that you think are gonna
Speaker 6: be good that it's just not going to go their way.
Speaker 6: It's just not going to click the way maybe they
Speaker 6: envisioned it on paper. And then there's a lot of
Speaker 6: teams you're gonna sit there and you're gonna go, oh,
Speaker 6: that's an average draft, that's an average free agency.
Speaker 7: I don't know about that coach. Who you're gonna when
Speaker 7: the season.
Speaker 6: Comes around, you're gonna be going, damn, how did this
Speaker 6: team hit it? Like that, You're dealing with fifty three
Speaker 6: dudes who you're trying to make become a team along
Speaker 6: with the coaching staff, and there's so many moving parts.
Speaker 7: Like I understand, we all like to make projections. I
Speaker 7: do it.
Speaker 6: I mean, we do it for a living. But you
Speaker 6: also have to understand that there's a lot of things
Speaker 6: that we just can't forecast, and what you really should
Speaker 6: do is lean on the side of favor the people
Speaker 6: that in favor of the teams that have good people,
Speaker 6: high football character, guys. The Saints got a lot of good,
Speaker 6: high football character guys on top of being talented, and
Speaker 6: I would bet on Kellen Moore. I would bet on
Speaker 6: Brandon Staley. I'd feel pretty good about where they're sitting right.
Speaker 2: Now and talking to the players. They've been here already
Speaker 2: off season workouts, and they said it feels different. It's
Speaker 2: unlike anything that they've done before. As far as the
Speaker 2: workouts go. They're working out together, not position groups, so
Speaker 2: they are are working on that team building aspect and
Speaker 2: things do feel a little different around here. So I
Speaker 2: appreciate the time, Lewis awesome, love the insight, and yeah,
Speaker 2: good luck with everything going forward, and hopefully we'll see
Speaker 2: you again down the line.
Speaker 7: Of course.
Speaker 6: Of course, hopefully I can get down to New Orleans
Speaker 6: this year and see Tyler and the group and the
Speaker 6: group of play.
Speaker 7: In person there.
Speaker 2: Go come visit anytime.
Speaker 7: Bet thanks a lot, thank you.
Speaker 2: If everything Reddick said comes to fruition, we're going to
Speaker 2: be just fine here. The next offensive player to get
Speaker 2: drafted by the Saints came in the sixth round, Kansas
Speaker 2: running back Devin neil. I was able to catch up
Speaker 2: with Kansas head coach Lance Leopold for some background on
Speaker 2: the player coach. Thanks for joining me on the New
Speaker 2: Orleans Saints podcast. It was an awesome weekend for so
Speaker 2: many players that got to hear their name called. And
Speaker 2: I'm sure we're special for you to be able to
Speaker 2: see some of your players take the next step in
Speaker 2: their career. How are you doing well?
Speaker 4: First of all, I'm doing well. It's great to be
Speaker 4: with you. Appreciate the opportunity to talk talk about Devin,
Speaker 4: and it was special time. And you know, we just
Speaker 4: completed our fourth season here in Lawrence, and to see
Speaker 4: some of these players that have been with us a
Speaker 4: long time grow and develop on and off the field
Speaker 4: and then to live their dream to hear their name
Speaker 4: called and have the opportunity at the highest level as special.
Speaker 4: And I think Saints fans will will really appreciate.
Speaker 2: And like Devin Neil, you think about where Devin was
Speaker 2: drafted and then you look at the numbers that he
Speaker 2: was able to put up throughout his collegiate career and
Speaker 2: you're like, man, was this like the steal of the
Speaker 2: draft here for the Saints.
Speaker 4: I think it could be. It definitely could be. And
Speaker 4: and as you know, you know the running back positioned
Speaker 4: is viewed differently, and I think in the NFL than
Speaker 4: it was five ten years ago. And sometimes you know,
Speaker 4: and there's a lot and this year it happened to
Speaker 4: have a lot of quality backs and it really compared
Speaker 4: to the previous year. So you know, he knew he
Speaker 4: was in a competitive situation and whatnot. But again, I
Speaker 4: you know, talking to people through the process, as people
Speaker 4: came through you, people could see him as easy as
Speaker 4: you know, maybe being as early as late second day
Speaker 4: pick to maybe where he ended up. And again, as
Speaker 4: many of our guys understand, it's it's not from this
Speaker 4: point on, once your name's called. It's really what you
Speaker 4: do at the opportunity anyway to make the most of it.
Speaker 4: And again, as we've been able to build this program here,
Speaker 4: our players have always kind of been able to excel
Speaker 4: in that underdog underdog role.
Speaker 2: With his productivity on the fields. He's obviously in the
Speaker 2: record books there in Kansas. But what was it about
Speaker 2: him that made him such a good player.
Speaker 4: I just think it's he's such a well grounded, hardworking
Speaker 4: young man. He's very humble. I know a lot of
Speaker 4: people say it, but when you get a chance to
Speaker 4: visit with him, You'll see it. He's a quality person.
Speaker 4: He's hard working, he's never satisfied. He comes into building
Speaker 4: every day with with with the attitude to get better,
Speaker 4: not never entitled, and he wants to be the best
Speaker 4: he can for his team, and he kind of approached
Speaker 4: it that way. I don't have a ton of stories
Speaker 4: about Devon. When I'm asked about what I really remember,
Speaker 4: it's just his steadiness and humbleness. But I do remember
Speaker 4: his true freshman season that he was really living in
Speaker 4: Jonathan Wallace, our running back coach's office, in between meetings
Speaker 4: of fall camp, asking more questions, trying to understand plays
Speaker 4: and concepts and protections to be the best he could be.
Speaker 4: And he was the starter by week two of his
Speaker 4: true freshman year. And those are the things that I
Speaker 4: probably will remember about him. I know he'll take that
Speaker 4: same approach of understanding of having to learn and embrace
Speaker 4: a new offense and scheme at the highest level, and
Speaker 4: I'm sure he'll do everything he can to make that
Speaker 4: team successful.
Speaker 2: When I emailed Andy to ask if I could get
Speaker 2: you or a coach on to talk about Devin, he
Speaker 2: sent back glowing regards for for who Devin was as
Speaker 2: a person and how much they enjoyed working with him
Speaker 2: the whole time that he was there. What is it
Speaker 2: about Devin that you guys love so much?
Speaker 4: Well, you know, you know, being right from here from Lawrence, Kansas,
Speaker 4: sometimes you wonder what what what makes guys tick? And
Speaker 4: you know, for he had many opportunities. This program was
Speaker 4: was not on, was was not very successful. He bet
Speaker 4: on his home hometown team to to come in and
Speaker 4: make a difference, and he was determined to do so.
Speaker 4: And he did that. And and again as uh, he
Speaker 4: and our our quarterback Jalen Daniels, two of our more
Speaker 4: marquee players, our best players on the team, were also
Speaker 4: some of our best people in our program. And again,
Speaker 4: he's a guy who will get involved in the community,
Speaker 4: give back to his community. He does. He doesn't forget
Speaker 4: where he comes from. And it's just that that blue
Speaker 4: collar mentality that that kind of balances that he gives
Speaker 4: back and does the things they want. But he's also
Speaker 4: hungry enough to be determined, and it's that other balance
Speaker 4: that makes him so spa And we'll miss him here,
Speaker 4: that's for sure.
Speaker 2: Since he is from Kansas, he was the number one
Speaker 2: recruit coming out of high school there and chose to
Speaker 2: stay there. How's he going to fit in here in
Speaker 2: New Orleans and Louisiana it's a little different.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm sure he'll he'll adapt. And you know Kansas
Speaker 4: has a little humidity too, so I'm sure he'll be
Speaker 4: able to do that. But again, the presence about him
Speaker 4: and the way he goes about himself, he's such a
Speaker 4: likable guy that he can interject himself and fit into
Speaker 4: a lot of different groups and again fit into a
Speaker 4: new culture and new way of life. And like I said,
Speaker 4: I think, you know, given the opportunity of the fan
Speaker 4: base there will appreciate what Devin Neil's all about.
Speaker 2: How did you see him grow from when he stepped
Speaker 2: on campus there?
Speaker 4: Well, you know, probably again I keep saying the word humbleness.
Speaker 4: That a guy. Then when you really keep talking to
Speaker 4: him about working on deficiencies and for him, like I thought,
Speaker 4: he had an excellent year this year out of the backfield.
Speaker 4: Probably we didn't use him a ton in the past,
Speaker 4: but he worked on his receiving skills, became a better
Speaker 4: route runner, was more effective in the past game. He
Speaker 4: continues to work on past protection understands that's an area
Speaker 4: that he needs to improve on, but he doesn't shy
Speaker 4: away from it. He doesn't shy away from the challenge
Speaker 4: of getting better in the areas that needs help. He
Speaker 4: continued to learn the game and study really not just
Speaker 4: what the assignment and responsibility of the plays were, but
Speaker 4: what the concept of the play is designed to do.
Speaker 4: And when you really watch his running style, I think
Speaker 4: he has excellent vision, but his patience for things to
Speaker 4: develop and then take advantage of it with quickness and
Speaker 4: acceleration really made him very successful in our scheme.
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to seeing him. Little tandem of Alvin
Speaker 2: Kamara and Devin Neil sounds pretty good, it sure does.
Speaker 4: And to have a great player like that to kind
Speaker 4: of mentor him and kind of show him the ropes,
Speaker 4: I'm sure it'll help Devin all the way. And I
Speaker 4: hope we have a chance to circle back to and
Speaker 4: let me know when when you have a chance to
Speaker 4: interact with him, what you think of If you feel
Speaker 4: as strongly as we do about the person Devin Neil.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting to know him because
Speaker 2: I always appreciate a good person in the locker room
Speaker 2: makes my job easy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I bet it does. And you know, people use
Speaker 4: the word culture a lot today within teams and organizations
Speaker 4: and it is important, but sometimes we feel that, you know,
Speaker 4: the word kind of gets over you sometimes. But it
Speaker 4: truly helped us turn this program around here at Kansas
Speaker 4: with with a solid locker room a culture, and for
Speaker 4: us at Kansas, culture's action. It's not just putting a
Speaker 4: bunch of words on the wall. It's what you do.
Speaker 4: And Devin understands that and he's and he's been at
Speaker 4: the forefront of watching something really change dramatically and what
Speaker 4: it's done not only for our football program and our
Speaker 4: athletic department, but really for our whole university and being
Speaker 4: a part of that, I think is something that he
Speaker 4: can carry on to the next level and be an
Speaker 4: integral part no matter what role he's given.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, he's going to be a part of
Speaker 2: a new era here with the Saints, starting with the
Speaker 2: new coaching staff, you know, so everyone's kind of on
Speaker 2: the same page.
Speaker 4: Right And though Devin signed with the previous coaching staff,
Speaker 4: it was after signing day that I was that I
Speaker 4: took over here as a head coach. So he went
Speaker 4: through a coaching change, he went through a first year staff.
Speaker 4: He's kind of been through some of those things, though
Speaker 4: it'll be different at the professional level again, changing new
Speaker 4: opportunities and transitions are not new to him.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for the insight. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: I know it's a busy time right now, college football,
Speaker 2: the transfer portal and everything.
Speaker 4: It sure is, But no problem. I'm glad we had
Speaker 4: a chance to get together and hopefully we can do
Speaker 4: this again sometime talking about Devin's progress and success there
Speaker 4: as a Saint.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, we will definitely circle back.
Speaker 4: I'll fill you in, all right, Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Saints went for UCLA tight end Maliki Metaval
Speaker 2: with their second to last pick.
Speaker 5: I think the big thing that he gives you immediately
Speaker 5: is a very experienced blocker. And you know, it's kind
Speaker 5: of like the offensive line thing where it doesn't sound
Speaker 5: like the most exciting thing, but look, most of the time,
Speaker 5: the biggest challenge for collegiate tight ends transitioning from the
Speaker 5: college game to the pros game is learning protections. And
Speaker 5: so he spent several years learning all of those protections
Speaker 5: already and then became more of a receiving threat, bringing
Speaker 5: it over five hundred receiving yards last year in twenty
Speaker 5: twenty four. So maybe you'll get the opportunity if you're
Speaker 5: the New Orleans Saints and development further as a passer.
Speaker 5: But he could show up already ready to help you
Speaker 5: blocking for your run game.
Speaker 2: Great insight and stories from everyone I talk to you
Speaker 2: today on the draft class, specifically on the offensive side.
Speaker 2: For our next podcast, and I'm sure you can guess
Speaker 2: we will focus on the defensive side. Make sure you
Speaker 2: tune in wherever you get your podcast, and thanks for listening.
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