The Saints pieced together their final 53-man roster. What do we think of the initial squad and what could change?
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00:00 Hey everyone, John Hendricks here for Saints News Network coming at you with another video
00:07 talking a lot about the Saints final roster.
00:10 We got to see everything unfold on Tuesday, got out of practice.
00:13 Of course, before we get into that bonus episode that's sponsored by Justin Burgess of BenPro
00:19 today, just want to thank him for training camp.
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00:42 You will not be disappointed.
00:43 So talking about the 53-man roster, look, a lot of stuff came out.
00:47 I think when you look at this roster, a few shocks, a few surprises.
00:51 I think the first one that stood out was Bradley Robey getting released.
00:55 Now, look, going into this season, everything we were told, everything that happened, just
01:00 walking down the timeline a little bit, Bradley Robey is going to be the starting slot guy.
01:06 And so there was something we talked about back in February, March, is that Elante Taylor
01:12 was going to get work in the slot.
01:14 And so this is not new information, but really what it shows is the Saints getting a lot
01:19 younger and really taking the chance on Elante Taylor being that guy.
01:23 This is somebody who started kind of third team in the slot, got up to second team, they've
01:29 tried him in the first team.
01:30 But essentially, you're putting your three best corners out there on the field at any
01:35 given time.
01:36 And look, we had been talking about Paul Sinodivo.
01:39 He was always going to be the starter opposite of Marshawn Lanham or something we talked
01:43 about.
01:44 We've also mentioned the fact that him and Taylor could rotate on series.
01:48 But now you've painted the picture where Elante is going to be that primary guy.
01:52 You also have Ugo Amati, who could also be there for this team too.
01:56 But really interesting decision to move on from Bradley Robey.
01:59 Wasn't the most shocking thing, I guess, of the day, but really one of the most shocking
02:04 things that we learned early on.
02:05 But look, I still think they're solid at corner.
02:09 You got Isaac Yadam.
02:10 He's a guy that is much like JT Gray, hard gritty guy.
02:14 He can fill in as far as a reserve role too.
02:16 He made the roster as well.
02:18 No real surprises at corner.
02:20 Community-wise, the only thing that I was a little bit, I was on the fence about it
02:24 because I wrote this on Saints News Networks, my final roster prediction, kind of saying
02:29 what the roster would be.
02:30 Jonathan Abram was kind of one of those on the fence.
02:32 I could see by a numbers game that he might be one that doesn't get in.
02:36 I talked about Lonnie Johnson Jr.
02:38 Look, this whole entire rookie class, without talking about Jordan Howden specifically,
02:42 they all made the roster.
02:44 First time that's happened since 2017.
02:46 Plus you got the undrafted guys.
02:48 We'll get in there a little bit more.
02:50 Ryan Becker, look, no real surprises there.
02:52 I know people talked about Zach Vaughn, but he's a guy that they're going to use.
02:58 Not keeping Jalen Smith.
03:00 Dennis Allen saying there's absolutely a chance that he comes back.
03:02 I think that's the case that, look, they had to keep some of these guys initially on the
03:07 roster like Orion Connelly, Landon Young, Trae'Quann Smith.
03:11 I expect him to go to IR.
03:13 We'll see how that kind of shakes out.
03:15 We have seen Trae'Quann on the sidelines and Landon Young on the sidelines.
03:19 Also seen at the facility.
03:21 So those are obviously good signs.
03:23 We'll see kind of how they shake out because, look, four weeks is the minimum of what you
03:27 have to miss when you do go on IR.
03:29 So that would probably be something if these guys are not readily available in the first
03:33 couple of weeks, put them on there, get the roster spot to somebody who is going to play
03:36 for sure.
03:37 But Alvin Kamara's suspension started.
03:41 That's something he's going to be out for the first three games.
03:43 He cannot practice.
03:44 He cannot play.
03:45 He's going to be away from the team, obviously.
03:47 So watch him from afar.
03:49 So there'll be a little bit of intrigue and interest there.
03:52 The Kirk Merritt, I thought they would keep Ellis Merriweather in that spot.
03:56 Everything I heard that they may not be done there, might look at a veteran running back
04:00 to come in to help show that load for the first three weeks.
04:02 And look, a lot of player movement.
04:04 I mean, almost 1,200 players that get dropped now.
04:06 And you get 16 people back on a practice squad.
04:09 Six can be vets.
04:10 Ten can be guys that don't have that accrued experience.
04:13 I expect some of the guys that were dropped, like your John Trae Kirkland or your Shaq
04:17 Davis, those are two of many that are primary for the practice squad.
04:21 But diverting from what I kind of talked about, right, his linebacker, Jalen Smith was, I
04:27 don't want to say surprised, because I think Jalen Smith did everything he needed to and
04:31 then some to make the roster, right?
04:32 But Nefi Sewell was a guy that he plays hard.
04:36 He special teams matter.
04:39 That's not totally surprised, because again, I wrote about him, that he could be one of
04:42 those guys who at the end of the day, kind of on the fence when you're talking about
04:45 a numbers game, but he and DeMarco Jackson get in.
04:48 Defensive line, I think every single person in New Orleans media had the entire defensive
04:52 line pegged out, all your five rushers, and plus your guys on the interior, no surprises
04:58 there.
04:59 I know Nico Lallos balled out in the preseason and such.
05:01 He's somebody, him and Jack Heflin, I think are priorities for this practice squad for
05:05 sure.
05:06 But we'll see again how it shapes up, because you're auditioning for 31 other teams in addition
05:10 to the Saints.
05:11 So again, we'll know more about that probably Wednesday afternoon-ish.
05:15 You know, veterans don't have to worry about the process, but guys that don't have that
05:18 experience, subject to waivers, so they can't really kind of control their destiny there.
05:22 And then you go to the offensive side, quarterback, no surprise.
05:26 Running backs, we just kind of talked about it.
05:28 Keeping Adam Prentice, look, this guy has got a lot more of a role than I think a lot
05:32 of people believe in.
05:33 And so, you know, he's somebody that I also think can help out in this grand scheme of
05:38 things.
05:39 Wide receiver-wise, look, I've been telling you about Keith Kirkwood.
05:43 I don't care how you feel about it.
05:44 The guy earned a roster spot, right?
05:46 Plain and simple.
05:47 So I'm not surprised that Keith Kirkwood made this roster.
05:50 He worked extremely hard.
05:52 He also balled out in training camp.
05:55 Didn't really have to see much from him in the preseason.
05:57 But again, now that they've taken a chance on him, he's got to produce.
06:01 Obviously we'll see how that kind of works out.
06:04 Does have some special teams abilities as well.
06:06 So we'll kind of see how those things come together.
06:09 Tied in, no surprises.
06:10 We told you, Jimmy Graham.
06:12 I didn't need to see much because I thought Jimmy was back.
06:16 But after LA and after the preseason game, there was no way you could not keep him on
06:20 the roster.
06:21 I know it's tough because Lucas Kroll had that really good game to finish out the preseason.
06:26 He'll be back in some capacity.
06:28 He's going to be on a roster, right?
06:30 A practice squad roster for sure.
06:33 You don't have that type of success, but I could see him definitely on the practice squad.
06:37 Offensive line is where it kind of got a little bit interesting.
06:40 I had reported that they were moving on.
06:42 Well, not moving on, but they were waiving Lewis Kidd and then releasing Calvin Throckmorton.
06:47 Throckmorton was a little bit more shocking than maybe Lewis Kidd.
06:52 Here's what I tell you about Lewis Kidd.
06:54 Definitely can come back in the practice squad.
06:55 I think there might be some other priorities there at first, but guy can play left tackle,
07:00 guy that can play right tackle in the interior.
07:04 They were actually trying him out at left tackle because they knew what he could do
07:07 at right tackle and inside.
07:09 Just kind of more of a stretch.
07:10 It was a little bit difficult talking about stance and protection there.
07:16 Again, versatile guy.
07:18 He's going to latch on somewhere.
07:19 Same thing with Calvin Throckmorton.
07:20 It's not going to surprise me to see somebody pick him up if New Orleans doesn't bring him
07:26 back.
07:27 Tommy Kramer is a guy to keep an eye out for on the practice squad or maybe even the 53-man
07:31 roster.
07:32 I think overall, 53-man roster, a couple surprises.
07:36 Nothing crazy surprising.
07:38 I guess you could say besides Roby and maybe not Jalen Smith making it and then Throckmorton
07:44 for sure.
07:45 But we got to look at practice yesterday and I'll get into special teams, I promise, here
07:49 in just a second because we've given plenty of thoughts on that.
07:52 But yesterday, saw practice.
07:54 Guys that we didn't see that were on the initial roster, JT Gray, Marshawn Latimore, Traquan
08:00 Smith and then Landon Young.
08:03 Again, I don't know if we panic about Gray, but Latimore was already being held out for
08:09 precautionary reasons because of the knee.
08:12 And then Traquan and Landon Young are really the two wild cards.
08:16 So we'll see how that kind of shakes out.
08:18 But we'll kind of just check.
08:22 This roster's not set in stone.
08:23 You make the initial roster, but because of numbers, players that come up, things can
08:27 change.
08:28 And so those are the things that we're keeping on.
08:31 As far as special teams, look, most all of us had picked Lutz and Gilligan, right?
08:36 I was a guy on Lutz and Gilligan.
08:39 I wasn't as sold on the punter position because there's inconsistencies there, but Headley
08:45 wins the job.
08:46 And so, look, that's an important position.
08:48 I mean, the guy's a 30-year-old rookie, but look, he plays well.
08:52 I think the only concerns I've had about him is the hang time and again, the consistency.
08:57 I think that he can end up proving himself really well, but we're going to just have
09:03 to see how that kind of shakes out.
09:04 You know, it's tough for Gilligan.
09:06 I'm sure he won't be out long, but you know, they decided to move on from him.
09:11 And so it's two undrafted rookies, right?
09:14 And so the thing about Groupie is, again, he had an amazing training camp, neck and
09:18 neck battle.
09:20 I went with him just because Ty goes to a runner situation, right?
09:24 And the fact that he did get traded to Denver, not surprising.
09:28 That was a rumor that came out really early on.
09:31 Sean Payton picks him up, seventh round pick, get a little bit of something.
09:34 That was my only thing going back about the compensation.
09:37 Only thing is if you were going to release Bradley Roby anyway, he's inexpensive.
09:41 I thought you could get some type of compensation for him.
09:43 If he's not in the plans, that was my only issue with Bradley Roby is that, okay, you're
09:48 moving on from a veteran that's played a lot of snaps, a lot of good things that he does
09:52 on tape.
09:53 Why couldn't you get some compensation, right?
09:54 I think that was my only concern there with the Roby move might have been a little bit
10:00 more.
10:01 But look, Blake Groupie is going to be the guy.
10:02 And I've talked about this before.
10:04 If you went with Lutz, you know what you're getting, right?
10:07 And he's healthy.
10:08 So I think he's going to have an outstanding year, right?
10:10 And so the question, the thing that comes into play is now Groupie, when you look at
10:15 it, Lutz was going to be a free agent after this year.
10:18 Saints would still have to be in a boat where they had to find a kicker if Lutz wasn't going
10:21 to be re-signed.
10:22 But Groupie, four years, I believe is what his UDFA deal is going to end up being.
10:28 He's going to be your kicker of the future.
10:31 If it works, everybody looks like a genius, right?
10:33 And the thing is, if this team gets into a deep postseason run and you're faced with
10:39 a rookie kicker in a situation where he has to make a kick in his championship game or
10:43 divisional game, a wild card win, this is where it's going to come into play.
10:48 When no Lutz can do it, we've seen Lutz do it accurately.
10:51 This is just the chance you're taking on an undrafted rookie like Blake Groupie.
10:54 But credible story, he kicked the crap out of it, right?
10:58 I mean, he absolutely wowed.
11:00 There was only one minor kick difference in between the two, between training camp and
11:04 preseason.
11:05 So we'll see how this kind of shakes out.
11:07 I mean, this is a big deal for the Saints.
11:10 You got an offense that's going to put a lot of points up on the board.
11:13 Groupie's very, I guess you could say undersized, but man, he's got a leg cannon for sure.
11:17 So this is going to be one of those things.
11:19 The practice squad starts shaping out on Wednesday.
11:22 You got the waiver process, we'll keep an eye on that.
11:24 But then you got your practice squad, 16 men that you can do.
11:28 And then we got week one right around the corner.
11:30 So enjoy Labor Day.
11:32 We'll have more to talk about.
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12:12 That's going to do it for us.
12:13 Talking about the 53-man roster.
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