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 to the New Orleans Saints Podcast. I'm Aaron Summers. We're continuing our draft series as we head into the draft April twenty fourth, looking at different prospects in different positions,
and today we're doing something a little different. We're bringing in Ross Jackson because I mean, let's be honest, he knows everything about everything and I needed somebody to talk to me about tight ends today and Ross before we get into it, I just need you to kind of give me a summary of what you're up to these days, because it is hard to keep track.
Yeah, we got a lot going on. First of all, thanks much for having me.
It's always a play to be able to be here with you, and it'll be able to chat with you.
You can find me on the.
Locked On Saints podcast, which reaches two shows, the Daily Lockdown Saints podcast, as well as every Monday and Thursday, The Saints Squad, which features myself, Saints Wires, Dylan Sanders, Athlon Sports, John Hendricks, as well as former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Lance Moore.
You can find all the written work that I.
Do over at Louisiana Sports dot Net as the Saints beat writer there and you can find it all in one place the easiest way on your favorite social media at Ross Jackson, Nola and Ola.
How is Lance? Is he trying to really talk up his guys now that he's in the eighties.
He's playing a very clean game and we love him for it. Now, he's been awesome. He's been excellent and obviously you know him being able to step into that next career as a certified agent in the NFL. Everything's been so cool. He's got several players in this year's draft. It's been really awesome to just kind of hear about his journey.
Yeah, I'm sure it gives you a different perspective on some things too. So getting into the tight ends, obviously, Penn states Tyler Warren has been the one that's been at the top of everyone rankings when you look at the group here, Why is he your number one? When it comes to basically every tight end ranking?
I've seen it. Yeah.
I mean, he's kind of the consensus guy. He's the number one tight end in this draft on my board. There are some dissenting opinions around it, which is good. You want those dissenting opinions, especially when it comes to you know, different conversations and draft rooms.
And scouts and things like that.
But I mean when it comes to Tyler Warren, it's just the the eclecticism of his game. One hundred and four receptions, two hundred and thirty three receiving yards, and eight touchdowns last season with the Penn Saint Ntney Lyons is the focus of that passing game, but also had you know, twenty plus rushes for over two hundred rushing yards and another you know, just under a handful of rushing touchdowns through a touchdown.
Last year as well.
It's just the the the remarkable flexibility and versatility of his game. Is he going to be asked to be
a wildcat quarterback in the NFL? It depends on the system that he goes to, but outside of that, his ability to be able to play in line, meaning that he's like tucked in right next to the offensive tackles in the slot or all the way out wide like you would see a wide receiver that alone, in terms of his versatility to be able to do all those things makes him a kind of a can't miss candidate in this year's draft as a playmaker.
You brought up his ability to get in there like in the slot as a receiver, rusher, and passer. But I think a lot of the adjectives that you hear now with tight ends, as he's a receiving tight end and not so much a blocking tight end as what we've seen in the past. How have you seen the position evolve and maybe what people are looking for change.
Yeah, it's interesting because there's a lot of people that want and look different. Teams are going to want different things to different systems are going to require different types
of fits. But you see a lot now of these collegiate tight ends coming into the NFL that are polished pass catchers, in some cases polished route runners as well, but need to learn run protection, need to learn pass protection, need to learn how to block with better maybe technique than they were asked to in college, and things like
that. That's not entirely uncommon, but it's something that I think now the receiving prowess of guys like brock Bauers and things like that who come into the league is certainly more appealing. And I think the other thing that shifted to Aaron is the expectation of size.
It used to be at six foot six, six foot.
Seven tight ends where the marquee types of players, But now you're looking at kind of six foot three, six foot four guys being perfectly acceptable first round, second round.
Investments at the position.
So I think those are two major shifts that we've seen at the position in terms of the expectations making that leap in that transition from college to the pros.
It's funny that you bring that up, because when I was talking to Juwan Johnson, who does recently signed that three year extension with the Saints, he mentioned how he's not that big of a guy, and he changed from receiver to tight end and he's going up against offensive our defensive linemen that are voices side, and I'm looking at him like, Joan, you look pretty big to me, Like you're kind of a big guy. But yeah, it is interesting though that even he views himself as smaller
for a tight end. When you're being asked to block and hold the ground. When you look at the next few tight ends that maybe coming off the board, the Michigan's Colston Loveland, do you have Miami, He's Elijah Royo. Those guys though have been slated as receiving tight ends.
Yeah. Absolutely.
You know, Loveland coming out of Michigan is one of the more polished route runners at the position, and I think the truth of the matter is when it comes to him, when it comes to Tyler Warren, when it comes to Elijah Royo, you probably don't want those guys one on one with defensive ends, but typically you try to avoid that being a part of your game plan as an offense anyway. The bigger pieces can they contribute for you as additional blockers in the run game, And
sometimes that's all about a willingness. Sometimes it's about just being in position and having your number, your jersey numbers on your back towards that running back to give them a lane to be able to cut through and things
like that. And so I think those are the things that you look for on tape and that you can find with a Colson Loveland, even though he's considered more of a receiving tight end, but he certainly maybe fits a little bit more of the traditional what we would call like a true why tight end, a guy that lines up in line, that stays site to the formation, but has the flexibility and versatility to be able to move.
Around, while Warren and Arroyo would probably be more.
Of what you'll typically refer to as kind of f move tight ends guys, so you can move all around the formation, do a bunch of different things with have them do split split action releases out of the backfield and all this other stuff. And so it's just kind of this fun thing of like these different types of chess pieces that you can now find at the tight end position as that position continues to grow and the talent continues to.
Grow, and you know, from college to the pros and all these things.
But both those guys certainly more so receiving tight ends, But I think you'll look for do they have what it takes to be able to maybe grow a little bit as a blocker so you can have him on the field for more looks, more downs, more situations things like that.
LSU's Mason Taylor is somebody that has started to rise in conversations around who and where you might draft him, like who would go before him after him? He's kind of on that three spot right now. Some people have him around the fifth tight end that goes off the board, but it does seem like he's starting to climb, they have said. People have said, I hate the same thing
because it's like who is that? But it's been out there that some people think he needs to put on a little more size, and maybe that's something that they're hoping that he can do, but they still like what he brings to the table. I know you saw him at his pro day at LSU. What do you like about him?
Yeah, he's another guy that I look at and I would personally say, what more size?
What do you mean? Like he's massive out there right right?
And then he moved extremely well also right it comes in. I think he's it's six foot four and he's in the two four range. I think that's probably pretty solid in terms.
Of what it is that you're looking for at the position.
Maybe you can bump them up into the two fifty range more solidly. And we've got to remember sometimes too, that where these guys work out where they like, the weight at which they work out, the weight at which they test, the weight at which they do their offseason prep might be different than the weight that they actually play at once they get to you know, game mode, if you will, and things like that. So some of
that might be inherent to what his process is. But running a four six five and you know, leaping and giving you twenty eight bench reps and showing the strength along with the athleticism and the explosion and things like that.
I think that's the.
Reason why you saw and why we're seeing all of the they conversations around Mason Taylor really skyrocketing up boards, Like he went from being a late day two guy in the third round being somebody you might have to invest in the second round in order to be able to get and a bit of that is the attitude that he brings.
He's got an NFL.
Pedigree as well, of course, and then him coming in and being a guy that can you know, be that fifty to fifty jump ball winner in the end zone, go up there and be bigger than the safeties and defensive backs that he might be lining up with, but then be faster than the linebackers that he's going up
against in the middle of the field. That's really really interesting and obviously something that teams would covet, along with the fact that he is somebody that will go out there and block and do some of the dirty work too.
A lot of the prognosticators the mock drafts have said that the Saints should select a tight end at some point. You see that as a need for.
Them, I think so, I mean, maybe not necessarily a need. Like the three year deal to bring back Juwan Johnson gives you kind of a place for your future to head, and he's somebody that obviously this team is invested in multiple times over at this point, and with this new coaching staff and everything, I think that that's going to all be able to play to Juwan Johnson's strengths a bit.
And so I think the other thing that you're looking at, though, is that as of right now, foss Row is in a contract year, Taysom Hills in a contract year, both those guys coming off of.
Injuries as well.
So I think you're looking at just preparing for your future at the position. If you're the New Orleans Saints, I could see that being a logical thing to do, just based on the situation of the entire the circumstance
rather or the entire position group as a whole. You've got to be ready when you're going into these drafts in twenty twenty five, You're not just looking for somebody to help you in twenty twenty five, you're going, Okay, what can this person be in twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven, twenty twenty eight, like, you're looking at that whole expanse of the rookie contract, and I think that's something that you could see this team potentially taking the consideration at the position this year.
As we move into later in the draft Day two, three, four, heck even you know over the weekend Saturdays, rounds and the Saints are needing somebody. Who are some of the names we should be looking out for.
Yeah, I've got three like late round guys that I really like in this year's draft, one of which has already been connected to New Orleans.
So I'll start with him.
Nebraska Cornhuskers tight end Thomas fedoniuh the second.
He's the guy that comes in and has, you know.
A little bit of the all around tag at tight end, do a little of blocking, but is also not a little bit of blocking, blocks very.
Well he's in that Cornhusker's offense.
Playing in Nebraska, you better be able to block, and so you know him having that while also being a guy that is, you know, a pretty good athlete and a polished receiver with safe hands. I think that he's one that I would watch for in Day three. Arondez Gads. Then also the second. There's a lot of seconds in this year's draft, not as many juniors. He's coming in out of Syracuse. Probably he's a converted wide receiver. I'll
lad Juwan Johnson. So somebody that is of the type and of the style of tight end that we know this organization is comfortable with. Good route runner, good contested catch guy, big hands, all those things. So I think that those are the are reliable hands. I think those are kind of the biggest attributes for him. Maybe not so much a powerful blocker though, so maybe that's too much of a leap late in the third, but I'm relate in day three. But he's somebody that I really
like as well. And then I'll finish with Mitchell Evans. Notre Dame has been a program that we've watched New Orleans, can you know, go back to a few times over the course of the recent past. There's something about that pedigree that they like. When you have a head coach like they have over there and coach Rima too, you obviously want to be able to work with those guys.
But Mitchell Evans is an interesting one because if you he's a watch the film guy, he doesn't have a ton of stats, doesn't have a ton of things that jump off the board at you when it comes to a stat line. But when you watch him on tape and you see that, you know, Notre Dame's offense just didn't go to its tied end very much. You can kind of see where he's working into the open areas
of the field. He's you know, running good routes. He's you know, moving well and kind of the short area quickness piece of the game where you're having a change direction and things like that. He just shows you a lot of promising things on tape while also again being a willing blocker that I think that if you're looking for somebody from a raw traits standpoint, even if the stat line doesn't match up, he could be a really interesting candidate for you, just in terms of what his skill set.
Looks like, sounds kind of like somebody that we grabbed those undrafted and Dolln Holker, you know you can, got some of those flashy moments and as a trait, he stuck around. So Saints are are not afraid to try out some guys that didn't get drafted, and they've done very well with their undrafted free agents and a lot
of them have stuck around for a while. Since I do have you and I'm the Saints Podcast, you know, can you you want to just kind of give me your thoughts on this whole Shador Sanders Staints draft in a quarterback situation that seems that it has kind of like taken over the last couple of days.
Yeah.
Man, it's the momentum around Schador has been so funny, not so funny, but it's been so like remarkable to see and it's been it's been really interesting to watch.
I would say that momentum wise, there's two big names when it comes to quarterback for the New Orlean Saints draft, and there's the consistent momentum and the sustained momentum which has been felt like that's been old miss quarterback Jackson Dark from the very beginning of the draft process, but the sort of peak of momentum is absolutely here right now when it comes to Colorado passes Shador Sanders.
Look, I don't know if the.
Saints are, you know, super in on your door or super out on your door where they really sit on the spectrum when it comes to him, But I will say this, he's a really, really talented passer, and he's a passer that is more accurate and more and maybe shows better elite ball placement than he is a strong armed passer. And so some people will develop feelings about that in whichever way they want to go.
But in the NFL, a mongst all of it.
If you can throw at seventy yards all you want, but if you can't throw at seventy yards and hit your target, you're not doing me much much good as an NFL organization.
And so accuracy is all right. And so seeing him as.
A potential for the New Orleans Saints at number nine, I still think he goes off the board early. Whether it's the Cleveland at two, New York at three, even Las Vegas at six, I don't believe that any of those three teams have long term solutions at the quarterback position, even with some recent free agent acquisitions and even a trade for the Raiders. I think again, you're not just
looking at twenty twenty five. You're looking at way longer than that, especially with a quarterback in the first round.
And so I could see any of those teams do it.
I could see a team like the Pittsburgh Seelers trying to trade up as well to be able to go and get their guys. So I think it's a tall task for New Orleans if they want to stick and pick at nine and hope that sure Sanders is there.
But if he is there, it's it's just good business.
It's good business to go out and grab one of the best quarterbacks in this year's.
Draft without having to move around.
If he's there for you, it's going to be really tough for them to pass on him, for sure, unless they feel really really good about another one of those quarterbacks later on.
Yeah, Jackson Dart was somebody that we've seen from their IBN as somebody that was talking about is a good fit for the Saints. Obviously they've been in contact over the last couple of weeks as well. People reading into maybe Alvin Kamara going up there visiting prime hanging out with Craado doing going through practice. It's been funny to see all of that, for sure, and it just, I don't know, it makes you love the draft because you never know what's going to happen and there's all these
little things. It's tea leaves. If people are over an as it is, it comes. So it's gonna be a lot of fun when we get there. Other needs that you think the Saints have other than you know, we've talked about possibly a tight end quarterback. It than's there and it works.
Yeah, I would probably say corner is a spot that makes sense right like you know, you think about going back to the trade deadline last year, Marshall Latimore traded to the Washington Commanders to get sort of turned into some pretty solid draft selections out of that. We'll see
what those draft selections turn into. But then Paulson Adiebo's signing with the New York Giants, getting his next opportunity over in the Big Apple, and then bringing in Isaac Adam I think was an excellent move by New Orleans in terms of bringing in a familiar face, somebody that they know pretty well.
All these other pieces, and that is also talented.
But you know, I think that's a position where you can continue to invest and it's not necessarily something you have to invest in or a spot you have to invest in in the first round. You could do that in the second round with one of those third round picks. However, it works, so there's a lot of different spots where they can go there. I'm curious to say, if a big bodied tight end excuse me, a big bodied wide receiver, my apologies, is on the docket at all for New Orleans.
They have these.
You know, they've built a lot of speed in their wide receiver room. But you wonder, like Kellen Moore when we talked to him at the at the league meetings, he kind of mentioned, you know, ideally, you want your you know, some people want their wide receiver room to kind of look like a basketball team. You want your center, you want your point guard, you want your big bodied
guys and all these other things. But really, I mean, when it comes to Kellen Moore, as he said over and over again, he wants to identify the superpower of the players that he does have. More than he's worried about going out and trying to find the superpower in you know, another player, but I would I would venture to guess that if there's an opportunity to go and get a big bodied guy with a superpower, that Kellen
Moore would know what to do with that player. So I would certainly put kind of that mold of a wide receiver on pick watch for the New Orleans Saints during the draft as well.
When you say superpower, I immediately think of defensive end Cam Jordan because it feels like he has so many the longevity that he's had, right, his personality, the positivity. He was on Good Morning Football talking about how he thinks that when this team is healthy, they could be the second best team in the League's.
I mean, look, this is what you need to do in the NFL is to have that kind of attitude. And I'm actually surprised to hear him say second best team in the NFL. Usually players like well being the best team in the NFL. But like, that's the attitude that you have to have. If you're not going to have that attitude, then what are you on the field for, right?
I Mean, I think that that's the kind of thing that Cam has always been so brilliant at throughout his career, and I mean going on year fifteen, Aaron, I don't think I've done anything well for fifteen years at once.
You know what I mean, fifteen years in a row.
It's never happened consistently.
I've done a lot of things not well for fifteen years, that's for sure. But I mean, yeah, like that's something that he's always been so great at is the belief in the team. And when you look at who your leaders are in this locker room, Cam's name is one of the first names that pops up. And if Cam's out there not believing in this team, then who why anyone follows suit so great to see him be able to, you know, willingly go out there have that belief, truly
know that he believes it too. Like we've talked to Cam a lot, and we know that he truly believes.
In what this team has.
And I think that this is an organization that still very much feels like injuries had a major impact last year, and so staying healthy here going into twenty twenty five would be such a big benefit for them, should that be the case, to allow them maybe to be able to maximize themselves in a way that they weren't necessarily able to you know, down to their sixth seventh, this SAT, and the other all throughout the season.
Yeah, you may be right. Cam might have said top two teams. He might not have positioned himself as second. So I'll have to fact.
Check that I was gonna say that.
Cam.
I'm surprised he didn't say the best, right right, not even top Tam surprised he didn't say the best.
But it is really good to hear the confidence that he has in this team and the belief that he has, and the players in the locker room and what they can add in the draft, and then looking at what Kellen Moore really wants to do as far as highlighting each person's strengths and pulling that out, and Camp feels like it's there and Callen feels like you can pull it out of everybody, then it's going to be really interesting to see what this team does look like in
the fall. So I'm looking forward to it and I appreciate your insight as always.
Of course, thanks for having me. Always pleasure to be here with you.
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