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