Game overview:
A battle of the backups and some rookies across the board.
The Saints felt like it had the more talented backup/s unit, but the Chargers played with a bit more urgency, and that kept them in the game. The Chargers had a shot to win with a late drive but had a dropped, easily catchable pass to convert a 1st-down to keep the drive going into Saints territory and that really popped the bubble on the comeback win chance.
New Orleans just had more talent on display…and that made the difference, but it was an evenly played/sloppy (as you’d expect) game. Plenty of young players, especially rookies to be able to scout here…so, let’s get to it.
Scouting Notes from the game:
-- We got a full dose of Kendre Miller (10-23-1, 3-36-0/3) for about a half…and he looked really good. He is Kamara 2.0 is the only way to say it…a better runner of the ball than Kamara, but a step back in the passing game (but not an issue, just AK is really good). They move and look like each other. It’s an easy comp that fits.
Miller’s rushing numbers might have been better here but 2-3 of his runs the Saints O-line broke down and Kendre got smushed just as he took the handoff.
Miller should split with Jamaal Williams (DNP) the first 3 games while Kamara is out, and then Kamara will return and take right over with Miller waiting in the wings/for an emergency situation. He’s not taking Kamara out yet.
-- The revelation player of this game was at WR for the Saints, but it wasn’t who you think…
You might have thought it was ‘my guy’ A.T. Perry (3-22-0/5), but it was not. However, Perry has to be noted for another nice performance -- this week even more encouraging because with this 2nd-team unit starting, it was obvious Jameis Winston was looking at Perry as his main target/go-to…which means that’s the team’s sentiment, you can tell last week and this week. This is great news for Perry’s future…the Saints ‘get it’. Whew. Thought/worried he might be buried for 1-2-3 years a month ago.
The revelation WR, for me, this game was South Carolina State UDFA rookie WR Shaquan Davis (3-62-0/5)…#88.
I mention the number, because I had forgotten all about Davis existing, honestly…hadn’t heard a peep about him. Then, sometime in the 2nd-half, I see this #88 line up and he’s tall with a good build, so my eyes went to him, and I saw him take off after the snap into his route with speed and grace in a split second of the visual -- and I was like ‘Who is that?’ I was suddenly excited to learn about someone I must have missed in pre-Draft scouting, possibly…then I saw it was Davis, and I was like OH, YEAH! There he is. Forgot he existed for a moment. Damn, he looks promising.
*From my pre-Day 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft report titled: 2023 NFL Draft Day Three+ Guide to Deep Sleeper/Late-Round Gems/High-Priority UDFAs…
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WR: Shaquan Davis, S.C. State
6’4”+/216…ran a 4.51 40-time with a 7.19 three-cone.
Very good hands. Has the great reach with his size -- an 82 3/8” wingspan…he just snatches passes. He moves like a fluid, NFL-level athlete. Good job with contested catches as well. Didn’t play for the greatest passing game at SC State, so his numbers were ‘meh’ -- but the guy can play. Is it really next level impact? We’ll see. https://youtu.be/xEU0D_25aNo
*I would have put Jason Brownlee, So Miss here but I did a full scouting report on him already (posted on FFM). Xavier Smith from Florida A&M almost nabbed this spot, but he’s smaller and didn’t light up his Pro Day, but he’s a really professional WR from the FCS ranks.
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Davis played in this game exactly as my blurb would have suggested -- they threw medium and deep passes of all kinds his way here, and he just stuck his hands out and snatched them like he hands made of magnets and the football metallic. I think he surprised himself with 1-2 of his own catches here.
He’s a really raw, but gifted/athletic WR prospect. Likely not going to matter in 2023, but he has a future…a possible big future. If the Saints can hold him (they might try to stick him on the practice squad and then could lose him), they really have something for the future with Olave-Shaheed-Perry-Davis. Unfortunately, that’s a lot of mouths to feed for FF purposes…but that’s the future of Fantasy at WR -- every team is gonna have 2-3-4 #1 level WR talents on the roster, and we’re stuck trying to figure out who is in the QB’s good graces and who the coach’s pets are.
Derek Carr is a very, very lucky man. He’s a great guy, so I hope this works out for him big-time. Carr now has a suddenly bright looking/sleeper future…along with the current.
-- Easton Stick (21-41 for 233 yards, 0 TD/2 INTs, 7-63-2) went the whole way for LAC. Where is Max Duggan? It doesn’t even matter…this LAC management team is something else…
Anyway, Stick went the whole way, and he showed some really nice moments and a few some dud throws, but overall not bad for a backup…
The nice: He has really beefed up his body and when he can step into a throw, he has some serious velocity…surprising velocity. He made a couple great, starting NFL QB, big boy throws in this game. He also has become a running back-like QB…beefed up and always had wheels, he ran the ball well here. He was like a taller, not-as-fast-but-fast, more accurate Malik Willis (who I just watched prior…why it came to mind).
The not-nice: Still makes too many bad throws. I don’t know if he’s ‘not seeing it’ or if he’s just trying to force things because he’s trying to impress with his sparse opportunities. I saw reports after the game mocking his play…I thought he looked pretty promising (to be a capable backup) in context. He’s gonna be the #2 QB for LAC to start the season (and finish it that way probably)…a heartbeat away from quite a spot to be in (starter for LAC)…and he’d be a QB1 FF threat if it happened because of his wheels.
-- LAC receivers report:
Rookie Quintin Johnston (3-37-0/3) did a nice/solid job here. No drops. Got open. Made catches in traffic. He’s gonna have FF moments…he has FF value but not the extreme value. I don’t think we’re looking at a future star, but a future solid-in-his-role guy (outside deep decoy/homerun hitter) is possible.
Derius Davis (3-24-0/3) did not appear with the 2nd-team starters that I saw. I don’t think he’s being taken too seriously as a WR just yet. He could be a gadget weapon, but LAC doesn’t seem to care.
Donald Parham (0-0-0/3) dropped a potential TD pass in the red zone. He’s been a ghost in camp reports. I’m just about to fold my cards here…for good. It’s just not working. Former college WR-QB-turned-TE Stone Smartt (4-32-0/5) might be kept on the 53-man and Parham ditched to NFL free agency come Sept. 1st. If you want to fold this hand, in Dynasty, and chase after some of these new wave of rookie late-NFL Draft picks or UDFA hopefuls…go ahead. We wasted enough time here.
-- The battle for the #2 RB spot in LAC went as follows…
Joshua Kelley (4-9-0, 1-5-0/1) has been the first RB working every preseason game and is listed on the depth chart as #2. He looked fine/solid here, nothing special.
Isaiah Spiller (5-27-0) comes in behind Kelley and looks bigger and better than Kelley…worst case they look similar. I’d bet Spiller will be the #2…or it’s a Kelley/Spiller rotation right now.
In the 2nd-half, the real talent came in, for the second week in-a-row…UDFA rookie RB Elijah Dotson (6-21-0, 0-0-0/3) entered the game and it’s kinda hard to tell, with no audio/volume on, when he does enter because he kinda looks like Kelley-Spiller, at a glance. They all look about the same…but then Dotson gets the ball, and you see the speed/burst/energy and you know it’s not Kelley-Spiller.
Dotson dropped two passes on the failed game-winning drive. The first may have been a bit off target/tough catch. The second drop killed the game, 3rd & 4, Dotson leaked out downfield 5+ yards and sat down, no one within 5-10 yards of him, and Stick put it right in his chest, but Dotson started to turn to run with the ball (before he had it) and it ricocheted off his shoulder pads and incomplete. I don’t think it was a ‘hands’ issue more than a thing we’ve seen a million times where a guy wants to get going right as he catches the ball, in a hurry up, but he takes his eye off the ball to get going up field and butchers the catch. LAC fans were apoplectic on the star from Week 1 over this…because fans are apoplectic about everything.
Knowing the NFL, that drop will cost him any shot at a 53-man spot…and I’m sure they can cut him and get him on the practice squad -- but I bet their Week 1 preseason opponent would jump all over him/grab him before they could, because they saw what he did live Week 1 (two 30+ yard TD runs)…and Dotson would be this team’s most promising RB talent day one -- and that team is the L.A. Rams.
-- Saints rookie QB Jake Haener (11-17 for 118 yards, 0 TD/0 INT) didn’t look bad here. He’s progressing. Not my favorite rookie QB hopeful from this draft, but he’s not terrible. Future NFL backup who could have a Taylor Heinicke moment if it fell into his lap…not a next Brock Purdy that I can see, but I won’t close the door on it…all these scrappy Day 3 QBs are playing so much better in the preseason than the QBs of 5-10+ years ago did. They’re so polished and unafraid.
-- IDP notes…
LAC rookie ILB Daiyan Henley (9 tackles, 0.5 sacks) played a lot in this game…and, I just don’t see what everyone else sees here. THEY have been telling me he’s such a great linebacker since the Senior Bowl, and whatever data point/thing that comes up against him that doesn’t help his scouting cause, it’s quickly excused away by analysts. I don’t know what they see in this guy that they want to defend him to the hilt.
Henley was a nobody for five years at Nevada…goes to Washington State for his 6th-season and has an OK run but THEY act like he’s Dick Butkus. When he had a weak Combine/Pro Day measurables set…then measurables didn’t matter. I just don’t see it.
LAC rookie EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu (2 tackles, 1 TFLs), on the other hand…you could see he belongs after his first snap. That guy just has a knack for getting past blockers and into the backfield.
Saints bust-watch 2021 1st-round pick DL Payton Turner (1 tackle, 1.0 sacks, 2 QB hits) has added bulk and is trying to get his career back. He looked OK here. He’s gotten big and he was tough to handle…for 2nd/3rd-team left tackles from LAC. Not sure he’s going to pay-off big for the Saints.
-- An FYI article from ESPN centered around Juwan Johnson…with a few interesting nuggets…
