NEW ORLEANS — Editor's Note: Ralph is a Saints fan who writes a column from a fan's perspective. He is a New Orleans native who has been watching his favorite team from afar for more than a dozen years now.
New Orleans Saints football is back! Let’s recap the Saints preseason opener before our brains forget the game between the Houston Texans and New Orleans Saints took place at all. Can you even recall a single thing from a preseason game from previous seasons? Without using Google I mean?
Give new Saints head coach Dennis Allen credit for one thing - he got the few players who we recognize at all in and out of the game so fast – we barely had time to notice them and they had no chance to get injured. Preseason football the way the Good Lord intended.
The Saints gave us JUUST enough of a look at the interior offensive line to get excited. Guards Andrus Peat and Cesar Ruiz and center Eric McCoy looked great on a perfect opening Saints drive that led to a touchdown.
Andy Dalton was a splendid 5 of 5 throwing and we can feel good about the backup quarterback spot, which for a team who has played six quarterbacks since 2019, is kind of important.
Dalton was filling in for an injured Jameis Winston and looked exactly the way he looked at practice during the week. If the bearded redhead has to play games that matter the Saints could be ok, and after watching the quarterback carousel of 2021, I for one am excited to have Ginger Spice, aka The Red Rifle, in a Saints uniform. I could talk about Ian Book's rough Saturday but let's just say his chances of making the final roster took a hit. I feel like Saints' Twitter (me included) were a little too hard on Ian Saturday night, but if he wants to be a part of the 2022 Saints he needs to get better in a hurry.
One of the Saints first round picks, Trevor Penning, had an up and down first game, and I'm undecided if the fact he didn't get into a fight like he did almost every day at practice the first week of camp is a good or bad thing. Fighting Trevor is kind of what we want deep down right?
The other real bright spots during the Saints loss to the Texans were Wil Lutz returning at kicker and Paulson Adebo looking tremendous at cornerback.
Let’s start with Lutz. The Saints said his return from a groin injury, which cost him the entire 2021 season, was behind him but it was great to see him make a couple field goals and not have to worry about what calamity would befall the Saints on an extra point. The Saints missed SEVEN extra points in 2021. Lutz has missed 7 his entire career. Good kickers are like air conditioning — we never truly appreciate either until we don’t have them.
The other bright spot from Saturday was Paulson Adebo. He looks like a guy making what experts and fans like to call 'the leap'. As a rookie Adebo was thrown into the lineup and acquitted himself quite well. Sure he had some down moments like the game against the New York Giants but he also had that magical interception in the season finale against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.
If Adebo becomes a top 20 corner, the Saints defense will be an absolute killing machine. Adding another great corner to a secondary with Marshon Lattimore, Tyrann Mathieu, and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson? The mere thought of it made Tom Brady do something horrible to a Microsoft tablet somewhere.
The only bad news from Saturday was the great depth the Saints believe they have on the defensive line might not be real. 2021 first round pick Payton Turner was playing in the fourth quarter against likely future USFL offensive linemen and did not make a discernible impact. The same went for Carl Granderson and Tanoh Kpassagnon. Let’s hope they were just sleep walking through the preseason opener, but it’s definitely something to watch.
Overall, the offense line looked good, Adebo looks like a star, Lutz made extra points, and no one important go hurt. A+ preseason start for 2022 Saints.