The Jaguars got off to a 17-3 halftime lead with the Jaguars 1st-team offense battling the Saints 2nd/3rd-team defense...that was an advantage for the Jags, but J-ville definitely didn’t crush the Saints with this upper hand/advantage...it was very sloppy/patchy for what you’d want to see from a 1st-team offense vs. a 2nd/3rd-team defense.
In the 2nd-half, when it got to be more ‘equal’ talent level facing each other...that’s when the Saints became the ‘dominant‘, per se, team...coming back from two scores down and tying the game with 0:21 remaining with a TD drive + 2-pt conversion.
The scoreboard said the Jags won...the judge’s scorecard/my scouting tips it to the Saints as the ‘winners’. Two weeks in a row I’ve been impressed with the Saints...from a ‘not the worst team in the league’ standpoint. Still, they aren’t going anywhere in 2025...but they do not appear to be as bad as I thought they’d be. If the Saints are the worst team in the NFL...it might be a rough year for Jacksonville after all.
Player Notes...
-- Saints QB battle report...
Spencer Rattler (18-24 for 199 yards, 1 TD/1 INT) probably won the Week 1 starter battle here with this performance versus what Tyler Shough (9-12 for 66 yards, 0 TD/0 INT) did with his opportunity to start this game and play against a 1st-team-ish defense. It’s really been ‘lean’ Rattler looking at both of the Saints preseason games as a whole.
Rattler likely won this battle but likely lost the war.
The reason why Rattler is a ‘winner’ for now is -- in this game, Rattler is just ‘gripping it and ripping it’. He has little fear...and he’s throwing the ball so much better than he did as a rookie and as a college QB. He has made some nice throws this preseason.
But why I say Rattler will lose the war is...Rattler’s ‘grip it and rip it’ is not elite -- it’s just better than where Shough is at right now. Rattler still throws risky passes into danger too often. He’ll make 2-3-4 solid throws in a row and then he’ll have a ‘try and make a play’ throw into danger. In the preseason, with excellent protection, it’s like a 7-on-7 game for young QBs...they can look great but put any real pocket pressure on them and things fall apart...and Rattler falls in that bucket. BUT...this is the preseason and you’re gonna see on highlights/remember the good throws by Rattler...and none of the safe-playing Shough throws here.
Shough is the one who needs to trust himself more, whereas Rattler is overconfident, but Shough is young and was a tad nervous in this game. He didn’t look terrible, he got pressured/took sacks/hits, and really didn’t have any major/memorable throws. The optics favor Rattler. The style QB head coaches want is more Shough. Shough needs more time, and there is no reason to throw him out there to the wolves Week 1 when you can do that Week 3-5-8, etc.
Rattler is gonna start Week 1, I believe...but he won’t make it through the season as the starter.
-- Jacksonville RB report...
I think this 1st-team couple of series showed what Liam Coen intends to go with to start this season.
Tank Bigsby (2-6-0, 1-19-0/1) started the game and looked really good. He was in for the first 2 plays of the first series and then Travis Etienne (3-24-0, 1-8-0/1) came in on 3rd-down...but then from there it was a Bigsby-Etienne rotation, a 1-2 punch. That’s what we’re gonna see Week 1 and for a while, it appears...from this game to the practices. Either could start a game...and either could wind up with the most touches one week, and not the next.
The first team ran for two series for Jacksonville, then the backups came in...and that’s when we first saw Bhayshul Tuten (10-35-1, 1-6-0/1) first enter the game. Zero snaps with the 1st-team, all 2nd-team work.
And it was warranted (Tuten not in with the 1st-team)...Bigsby-Etienne looked way better, more polished, more confident here than Tuten. Bhayshul was very skittish and slower moving on most of his touches here. He did not look like you’d hope. Almost like he had some fumble issues in practice (and that’s been an issue for him) and thus he was just running the ball trying ‘not to fumble’ instead of just ‘going for it’.
I don’t care what the 40-yard dash recordings said, Tuten is nowhere near as fast as TreVeyon Henderson. I say that because the whole base case for loving Tuten was supposed to be -- he’s so fast! Not here he wasn’t. Not even close. But it could’ve been just a bad week or the whole trying not to fumble thing...whatever it was, Tuten was definitely ‘off’ this game. Definitely did not impress to be with the starters.
-- Trevor Lawrence (8-10 for 76 yards, 1 TD/0 INT) looked his usual...not great.
The thing I’m seeing in the preseason over-and-over again is there’s less of a pass rush on the QBs, whether it’s because of a 2nd/3rd team defense going against a 1st-team and they just can’t put any pressure on or there’s a secret ‘coaches agreement’ thing before the game (which does happen, often).
With less pressure, a giant pocket to work in with more seconds of time...then these 7-on-7 wonders at QB can really look good. And that’s Trevor to a ‘T’. He can process and deliver short and medium passes well with plenty of time, like most decent NFL QBs...but add pressure and they get uncomfortable and make over or under and/or bad throws. We saw a re-glimpse of that here with Trevor dinking and dunking vs. a 2nd/3rd-team defense. He’s just very mediocre. Trevor should’ve tried to show off here, but he was his typical, scared game manager self.
For those same reasons, a Spencer Rattler or Jaxson Dart can rack numbers in the preseason or in non-contact practices...but they are not the normal situations that they will deal with for real in-season. The preseason stuff for many QBs is a head fake in this era...a head fake on them and their coaches and the fans. It’s been that way for my 10+ years scouting all this and going to college prospect events like the Senior Bowl. It’s why Bryce Young was so coveted, and great in college, but then a mess in the pros...ditto Mac Jones. It's how Logan Thomas got himself drafted so highly...he was a wizard in non-contact drills at the Senior Bowl in 7-on-7s. It takes a keen scouting eye to tell the difference on these QB prospects that have a ‘pressure issue’ and which ones don’t. It’s an art not a science...and I’m an artist.
-- I will say that TE Brenton Strange (2-22-0/2) looked very solid working with Trevor in this brief 1st-team appearance. But I cannot get FF-excited here when a talent like Evan Engram got underutilized so badly by Trevor...how would a solid-but-not-spectacular Strange rise up here?
-- Saints RB report...
Kendre Miller (6-21-0) started and still looks like Kamara 2.0, but he looks like he’ll be the #2 behind Kamara...or possibly ‘with him’ a little bit this season. Miller sure looks like the proper handcuff. And it wouldn’t be shocking if Kamara got traded midseason.
Cam Akers is running as the #3 in the preseason. I have a feeling he might get cut...it could be Akers or CEH (4-12-0, 2-16-0/2) for the #3 spot. And CEH looked better than Akers.
I think Velus Jones (4-29-0, 1-0-0/1) should be the #3...he’s looked better than all the non-Kendre’s and is versatile as a runner/receiver/return man.
Devin Neal? Probably practice squad material.
-- Saints WR report...
Mason Tipton (6-100-0/8) is killing it this preseason. He’s got a good case to be the #3 here but will probably be the #4 until the Saints give up on Brandin Cooks.
Dante Pettis (4-57-1/6) is trying to resurrect himself here...he may just make the team unless he’s just too much behind-the-scenes.
-- Jags PK Cam Little (1/1 FG, 2/2 XP) is having a great preseason...he of the 70-yard field goal last week. He nailed a 53-yarder here like it was nothing. He has been rising in our PK rankings this preseason.
-- IDP Notes...
Saints rookie CB Quincy Riley (9 tackles, 1 TFL) is a prospect we like, and he had a nice, productive game here.
Jags CB Christian Braswell (5 tackles, 1 PD) made some standout plays in coverage in this game. He made me notice. He’s not set to start for JAX, but he provides some depth. The Jags secondary is not as bad as their ‘rep’ is.
