NEW ORLEANS — Saints Training Camp has arrived and although some people will say surviving the months without Saints football is agonizing, to me this past off season flew by. Between the 'Where will Sean Payton coach and what draft picks will the Saints get?' saga in January and the Derek Carr pursuit in February, the Saints gave us mountains of off season news to fill our football void.
You think this past off season was long, just wait until we have an NFL off season where the Saints aren't at the center of the NFL news universe. The months without football will feel like watching paint dry on a fence, but worry about next off season when we've just survived this one?
It's time to get irrational about Saints players looking great in shorts and panic about any potential injuries. Always remember kids, the beauty of Saints training camp is it is at its core one of those ink blot paintings where you can see whatever it you want to see.
You see Derek Carr struggling in practice. I see the defense looking AMAZING.
I see the Saints secondary struggling to cover anyone. You see an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver. Rookie A.T. Perry is probably going to Canton.
If you want to believe the Saints are going to be amazing in 2023 training camp will give your mind reasons to dream it. If you would rather believe by mid-season fans will want Dennis Allen given a bus ticket out of town, you will see reasons for that too.
I love Saints training camp so much. Here's the 3 things I'll be watching all summer...
1. Trevor Penning Practicing
The Saints offensive line has felt like it's either injured, underachieving, or both since 2018. The Saints made the big trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022 to be able to draft Penning and both his rookie season and his 2023 off season were ruined by foot injuries.
The Saints need Penning to be an upgrade from their left tackle play in 2022 and the only way that's going to happen is if Penning is practicing every day. Doesn't matter if Penning is having good days or bad days as long as he's participating. Plus, Penning likes to fight and what's more fun than seeing videos of Saints training camp fights on social media? Fight your way to greatness Trevor. We believe in you.
2. Care About the Kickers
The Saints' special teams were not good in 2022. Wil Lutz only made 74% of his field goals, which by 2023 kicking standards, is bad. Like the worst in the NFL. The Saints got Lutz to take a pay cut for 2023 and while Lutz is very much the favorite to be the Saints kicker in 2023, Dennis Allen is unlikely to tolerate any struggles. Undrafted rookie free agent Blake Grupe might have an opening to unseat Lutz if Lutz struggles even a little.
Blake Gillikin after a great season struggled in 2022. His gross average per punt dropped from 46.4 to 41.4 yards in 2022, but even more importantly, in critical situations, he had some very poor punts.
Will another undrafted rookie free agent, Lou Hedley, push Gillikin?
I won't lie, Hedley is a former Australian rules football player so I really hope to see 567 camp interviews with him because who doesn't love hearing an Australian accent and the health benefits of Vegemite on toast?
3. Dennis Allen's Daily Mood
By all accounts the vibes for Saints during OTAs and minicamp were excellent but repeating 7-10 is the kind of thing that gets a coach fired. So is Dennis Allen more relaxed in year 2 now that he has his quarterback of choice and made changes to the defensive staff? Or is he more uptight facing the pressure of immense expectations?
His daily interactions with the media will be interesting. I know I shouldn't, but I miss Sean Payton either fighting or joking with the media. Payton's mood swings made press conferences fun. So many classic hits like 'Worry about your meat' and 'Peat's gotta play better."
Come on Dennis, spice our summer up by sparring with the media - playfully, of course.
Enjoy camp everyone and remember, the Saints are undefeated when practicing against themselves.
Ralph Malbrough is a contributing writer and Saints fan living in Houston. Email him at saintshappyhour@gmail.com, find him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter at @SaintsForecast or download the Saints Happy Hour Podcast.