The New Orleans Saints need some rookies to step up and help the team improve if they want to win the NFC South again this season after losing it to the Tampa Bay Bucs, who are also 9-8, in a tiebreaker. Fortunately, there are some intriguing rookies from the Saints who will compete with veterans for playing time during camp. One such position is the starting spot, where Spencer Rattler may challenge Derek Carr.
For New Orleans, more than most teams, it is crucial that rookies from the Saints step up and take up playing time from veterans. The Saints lack a distinct identity ever since Sean Payton and Drew Brees retired. Although they added Carr, that was essentially the most mediocre move a franchise could make.
This team appears to have a few potential future franchise faces after what appears to be a strong 2024 NFL Draft. They are desperate for some young players to step up and become stars. In light of this, let’s examine the three Saints veterans who are up against rookies during training camp.
QB Spencer Rattler versus Derek Carr
There’s no need to leave this until last or to mince words. The best thing that could happen to the Saints team is if Derek Carr is beaten out by fifth-round pick Spencer Rattler in training camp (or during the season) for the starting quarterback position.
Now, it’s normally crazy talk to think that a fifth-round pick could replace a Pro Bowl quarterback, but Rattler is not your typical fifth-round pick, and Carr is no longer that Pro Bowl quarterback.
Carr embodies everything that makes a quarterback mediocre. Although he has had some great seasons—he has actually made four Pro Bowls—as a starter, he is just 72-87 and has lost the one postseason game he has started in his career.
Last season, Saints fans experienced the whole Car. He was alright. With over 3,800 yards of passing experience, he had 25 touchdowns to just 8 interceptions. Even so, the team just about managed a winning record and was eliminated from the postseason. That’s essentially who Derek Carr is.
Carr is 33 years old, and it is more likely that he will regress than improve next season. It would be fantastic if the Saints could find a much younger, long-term replacement.
Let’s introduce Spencer Rattler, a young 23-year-old football player who has already experienced a turbulent career.
The most successful quarterback in Arizona high school football history, Rattler previously starred as a teenager in the Netflix reality series QB1: Beyond the Lights. Then, after lying about it and getting fired for cheating, he signed with Oklahoma as a top recruit, won the starting job, lost it to Caleb Williams, moved to South Carolina, and was selected in the fifth round.
Spencer Rattler is a prime example of the negative aspects of today’s social media, reality TV, and NIL culture. It’s possible that his once-promising career was cut short before it ever got off the ground.
Nevertheless, beneath all the drama lies a tremendously gifted quarterback, and perhaps after all the publicity and drama, entering the NFL and turning pro will unlock that talent once more and make the Saints a sleeper steal.
Bub Means vs. WR AT Perry
Chris Olave is the top wide receiver for the Saints going into the 2024 NFL season, followed by Rashid Shaheed as the No. 2 pick and roughly seven other players vying for the WR3 slot.
Second-year wideout AT Perry is in the driver’s seat to secure that third receiver position going into camp. Last season, the 2023 sixth-round pick displayed glimpses of potential as he caught 12 passes for 246 yards and four touchdowns.
Though Perry did establish himself as a formidable red zone threat, he did not secure the WR3 position. The Saints selected Pitt wide receiver Bub Means in Round 5 of this year’s draft, which is evidence of that.
Means is a big, physical wideout at 6-foot-1, 212 pounds, and a 4.43-second 40-yard dash, though he is not as big as the 6-foot-5 Perry. He can run after a catch and gets good separation.
It’s not like Means is expected to dominate right away like Olave did as a first-round pick—he was a fifth-round pick. Having said that, Means has every chance to secure the WR3 position on the team because all of his opponents have a similar (or lesser) pedigree than the former Panther.
LT Taliese Fuaga vs. Trevor Penning
It’s almost time to formally announce that the Saints blew it when they selected offensive tackle Trevor Penning of Northern Iowa with the 19th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. In two seasons, Penning has played in 22 games and started six of them.
The fact that the Saints selected Oregon State OT Taliese Fuaga with the No. 14 overall pick is even more damning for Penning because Andrus Peat, the starter at left tackle last season, is now with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Interestingly, Fuaga, who weighs 324 pounds and is 6 feet 6 inches tall, is a right tackle by trade. He earned his 25 college starts with the Beavers at that point. Nonetheless, Ryan Ramczyk, who is still only thirty, has established himself as a mainstay at right tackle for New Orleans. He has made two second-team and one first-team All-Pro teams.
The key question now is: Will Fuaga, a rookie for the Saints, dethrone a team veteran by moving to a different position? Or can Penning overcome the stigma of being a bust and land the position at a more comfortable spot on the O-line?
The answer could have a significant impact on the kind of season Derek Carr, also known as Spencer Rattler, has in the pocket. We’ll find out during Saints training camp.
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