New Orleans Saints Jake Haener, Kevin Austin Jr. Make Waves In Training Camp Day 18

it was Jake Hanner and wide receiver Kevin Austin that stole the show as the New Orleans Saints wrap-up practice here in Irvine California we got all that and a little bit of L Yap for you on today's episode of Locked on Saints you are locked on Saints your daily New Orleans Saints podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what is good hudat nation and hudat family I am your host your friend Ross Jackson New Orleans native your New Orleans Saints expert and credential member of the media covering those New Orleans Saints as the Saints beat writer over at Louisiana sports.net which is set to debut this Sunday you can also find me as the Saints analyst over at wwltv we appreciate you very much for being here for another episode on today's show Breaking Down day 17 of New Orleans Saints training camp we're going to go into the Run game finish ping out their West Coast Camp strong diving into Chase young still being very good and we're going to lead everything off with the stars of day 17 in my humble opinion quarterback Dr Hanner and wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr who is making a push for a roster spot we appreciate you very much for making us your first listen of the day every day here on the show and for being an every dayer here on the show which is a proud part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day today's episode brought to you by friends at game time Time download the game time app create an account and use that promo code locked on NFL for $20 off of your first purchase terms apply it was a busy day for the New Orleans Saints who again went into situational work they were doing a little bit of end of game simulation type work throughout the day and a big part of what they were doing when it came to that was a look at an end of game drive and they simulated their end of game drive as if they were down by I believe it was uh 22-7 in that situ 22 to 27 in that situation so they needed to get a touchdown right didn't need the extra point just needed the touchdown and just needed to be able to get into the end zone and the Saints first team failed to do that uh they came up short when it came to a couple of plays here uh they moved down the field well but then got to about the 31 yard line from the 45 starting on the other side of the 50 she only really moved a little bit then there was a little bit of a fight between Brian breaze and Eric McCoy and uh we also saw Lucas Patrick involved in it after that fight they kind of just called it off Dennis Allen says that they just didn't want to do like a Hail Mary type of a situation with 30 plus yards to go and all that at the end so then they went on to their second team when they went on to their second team Jay Kaner uh missed on a pass to uh it looked like 85 so it looked like uh D Hulker at one point but then ended up completing a big pass on a great throw and catch by Jake canner to Kevin Austin Jr Kevin Austin Jr I really hope gets playing time against the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday Kevin Austin Jr has been somebody that has consistently made plays here throughout camp and I think right now is making a pretty good claim for a roster spot remember the Saints haven't had a lot of receivers really step up behind guys like Chris alve and Rashid Shahed by the way rased Shahed missing practice again today this time instead of the ham injury uh Dennis Allen saying it was a toe foot injury so definitely something to watch on uh to watch for because toe injuries for the New Orleans Saints have not typically been great news for the team so watch out for that although I will say pton Turner and Nathan Shepard both dealt with some toe issues early on in training camp came back the very next day or after missing one practice and they were fine so you know we can look at this both ways just to be fair um but behind those two guys it feels like Cedric Wilson and at you're kind of the ones that are solidified as the wide receiver three depending upon which what you want right you want the outside receiver you want the slot receiver whatever behind them though there's still a fifth and then potentially sixth spot I I don't know if the new kickoff rules make it and kickoff structure make it so that a sixth wide receiver spot is more necessary or anything like that so we'll have to see exactly how that goes but even when it comes to a fifth spot there's guys like bub means there's uh Sam sakua and there's Kevin Austin Jr who are all making conversations for that I thought bub means since coming back to practice has now had two straight pretty strong practices uh here so far not like big gamebreaking plays or anything like that but still strong practices uh and enough to show that he deserves some opportunity this Sunday and we'll see how he performs uh in the game him as a drafted player of course gives him a little bit of an edge but outside of that the guy that has just made more plays has been Kevin Austin Jr and he contributes to you on special teams as well which we know the New Orleans Saints very much like from that position so he continued on by the way so there was the uh there was the big catch on what was like a post route into the middle of the field Jake caner doing a really good job stepping up and avoiding pressure and in delivering that pass over the middle of the field kind of had to throw it like a little side Army uh to hit the arm angle on it that he needed but really really nice throwing catch by the two uh we also then saw Jake hayner completing a pass uh to uh uh I got 84 written here but I know that's no no no 89 89 89 I just enclose the top of my nine Sams sinua to pick up some more yardage there uh as well moving from the 24 to about the 14 so a nice 10 yard gain on that one then Jake Hanner comes up and listen Jake did this thing in Thursday's practice where he kind of did this you know fake handoff keeper and then walked into the end zone all by himself and he kind of did that along with Clint kubak without letting anybody else know on the the offensive side so they were able to really sell that play fake because the running back was probably actually expecting to get the football in that situation uh so really well sold then he comes back today and then tries to go with a fake spike Fade to the back of the end zone and actually completed the pass to none other than Kevin Austin who unfortunately just was led a little bit too far couldn't get both feet in bounds so then they came back on the next play and on the very next play Jay caner does a good job again climbing the pocket and delivering to Kevin Austin alone in the end zone uh in the corner of the end zone back corner of the end zone for the touchdown that sealed the win then this was really interesting instead of going for two now that they had leapt ahead uh in this simulation now leading 29 to 28 I think it was or maybe it was yeah I think it was 29 to 28 by the time that was all said and done 29 yeah 29 to 28 and so instead of actually running a two-point conversion or kicking an extra point they came out in their two-point conversion and kneel the football which makes sense right you go out there you kick the extra point there's a chance of gets blocked they could take it back for two points and win you go for a run play on to go for two and you go on a run play and then you fumble the ball they pick it up scoop and score they win by one because they get two points you throw a pick six in the end zone that goes a full 100 plus yards two points the other way they win by one not a great scenario so taking the knee there actually made a lot of sense really really nice stuff uh there so amongst the other wide receivers that I think are due some consideration after highlighting a really strong Day by Jak Kanner really enjoyed watching him I think based on what we've seen in practice by the way that Spencer Rattler is probably going to play the first half or will be the the quarterback to finish the first half in this upcoming game and then Hanner will be the second half quarterback so they'll flip what they did last week what we just don't know yet is will we see Starters play like will they play all the healthy guys and things like that so we'll definitely find that out uh but really strong day from Jay Kaner when it comes to the other wide receivers to watch out for though um guys like sha Davis guys like bub means guys like Mason Tipton who's been dealing with injuries still a lot more to be seen from those guys not a lot of opportunities going some of their ways as well so definitely something to keep an eye out on as the preseason continues to roll on so maybe they'll get some more opportunities uh Come Those preseason games all right coming up next I want to dive into a look at Chase young as well who continues to be good and how the new orans st's Run game really wrapped up this portion of training camp right the West Coast portion of training camp with a strong day we're going to dive into all that here as we wrap up our quickfire episode of Locked on Saints part of locked on podcast Network your team every day today's episode brought to you by our friends over at game time download the game time app today so you can buy last minute tickets if you're like me you don't plan months in advance sometimes you plan moments in advance I like spur of the moment oh this is happening in the city let's go check it out or when you're traveling and things like that want to see what's going on for that weekend that you're in town game time is the best place to go because you're going to end up saving money by going to game time as well they are the destination for last minute tickets perfect for your trips perfect for uh you know a late you know date night spontaneous date night all these other things so make sure you go and check them out uh they also have all-in price that you can toggle on which will give you the opportunity to be 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since it's Saturday no practice it's my travel day to get back to New Orleans as well and then Sunday we'll be live before the game and after the game uh from New Orleans so we'll be diving into all of that as well all right so I want to take a look and and when I say live before the game I mean like in the morning Sunday morning not not other because there know other other channels are doing stuff like right before I don't want to cut anything off with that but something Sunday morning make sure you got something before the game um all right so Chase young I mentioned in yesterday's episode that counting back from day 17 to day 10 last year uh that we definitely saw the like at least 10 sacks by Chase young Chase young consistently disruptive consistently in the back field consistantly beating up on quarterbacks and offensive lineman and all the other stuff and so I think that the thing that I want to highlight around Chase young is that he's still really good uh today he had another really great day pressure sack uh he walked away from yesterday's practice kind of saying like hey I had three of them and everything like that um I chase young looks like he is exactly what it is that the New Orleans Saints wanted from him so I just wanted to highlight that he again um had a strong day um the New Orleans Saints offensive line is it struggling versus if the New Orleans Saints defensive line is good I highlighted that and broke that down in a previous episode now that Justin Simmons isn't going to be a New Orleans Saint some might look at that and wonder and actually somebody in the chat's asking about this right now Jerry um would the Saints now turn their focus to an offensive lineman them going after Justin Simmons would never stopped them from going after an offensive lineman that would have never stopped that process in the first place if they won other offensive lineman they'll go get off other offensive linemen as example for that they brought in guys like Germaine Johnson they brought in guys like Jesse Davis they brought back Mark Evans they've added you know other offensive linemen like Shane Lemieux and Justin Herron earlier this offseason if they want offensive lineman they'll go get offensive lineman they're just not getting the offensive lineman that's just not what they're doing and when they have been they've been kind of getting these like smaller contract guys so that probably tells you everything you need to know about where the New Orleans Saints either are with the money that they're willing to spend or where they are in terms of like how bad they feel like they need how badly they feel like they need to address the offensive line versus how badly we feel like they need to address the offensive line so that would be something that I would definitely uh be watching out for but regardless of how bad the offensive line has struggled or anything like that it has been great to see ch young just enter the chat so quickly as a guy that's able to help contribute to this pass rush and I did a whole show on it this morning you can go and check it out but I just wanted to highlight that as a carryon from that another strong day uh from Chase young today uh the Run game finished strong and this was a big need for the New Orleans Saints is to make sure that this run game is is percolating that it's working right one of the things that we highlighted here recently was game Flow and how important that is in a game but you can't replicate it in practice if your run game is working it keeps the defense from being able to just kind of pin their ears back and go after the quarterback they have to be ready to defend the run it's always a defense's first responsibility is stop the run and everything like that on a play-by-play basis and so I think that that's the next piece that you're looking for is can that run game improve from where it was last year and I thought today we saw a really strong Run game and this was without Alvin chra who's still out with that back tightness that he was dealing with early on in the week so he will will not have practiced throughout this entire week we'll be interesting to see if he's back in uh New Orleans and how they manage that right because they're going to be outside when it comes to yulman Stadium on the 20th they'll be outside when they're at their practice facility because the indoor practice facility is uh under you know part part of that is under renovation and everything so will the Heat cause more issues for the back tightness and things like that I don't know we'll have to see where all that goes but we definitely did not see Alvin CRA for this week a practice and so even without Alvin chimra I thought Jamal Williams ran well today I thought Jacob kabot ran well today I thought James Robinson ran specifically particularly well today I thought that Jordan Mims had some nice moments today Jordan Mims I think the hype around him is kind of cooled off a little bit that doesn't mean that he's underperforming or that he's performing worse or anything like that it's just the hype's just kind of cooled down and so I think a big game for the Run game up against San Francisco on Sunday I think would go a long way uh for this team and remember they're probably not going to run their full system they're not run you know uh they're probably not going to run a big chunk of their system and all that and so you know you're only going to see so much of what it is that New Orleans Saints are trying to offer uh this off season but what we're seeing in practice so far with the Run game has been working and it's interesting because if the Run game is working then it means that the offensive line is performing well right so that has been one of those things that one of the reasons why I kind of highlight like no I think this defensive line has actually looked good from a pass rush perspective is because the Run game still finds I mean sorry the offensive line still finds areas of the game where they produce well and even without T fonga who wasn't out on practice today also dealing with back tightness uh but Dennis Allen making it very clear no need like he basically said everybody can sleep easy when it comes to week one for tal fongo so that's really good news um but even with all of that H all the concern on the offensive line the injuries on the offensive line everything that the Run game still went well today and so now you kind of have to look at that is all right did the offense offensive line just perform well in the Run game or is the defensive line struggling in the Run game and then you're having like the reverse conversation you're having about the pass rush so we don't really know until we see it of course but it was just a good thing to see um The Run game finished the day out strong I've got several big runs they ran some simulated drives that included you know more than one uh 10 y 10 plus yard run I still don't think we've seen a 20 plus yard run in Camp hard to tell sometimes times too when it comes to these because really next week or not next week sorry I was something caught my eye but re because really like what'll happen is a Defender will be in range of a running back put their hands on that running back and then the play will be blown Dead uh whereas in a real game situation who knows did that running back maybe break that tackle did that running back put a stiff arm on knowing that this person was actually trying to tackle them versus what they're doing in practice and things like that so we'll have to wait and see when it comes to all of that but for the most part it was just good to see the Run game be successful because if the Run game can be successful or finish strong I can't say be successful because it was a practice right but if the Run game does finish strong I think that that or with the Run game finishing strong I think that that goes a long way for this team uh in 2024 um Blake groupy kicked today uh missed one from 42 but otherwise went eight of nine and sunk every kick that he made that was in a game situation so like a simulation of a drive or something like that the only one that he missed was the first kick that he made that was from like okay we're doing field goals now and then he came out and did those field goals uh and he ended up missing one of those uh play of the day definitely goes to to uh Jake Kanner on uh completing that pass in the back of the end zone uh to Kevin Austin Jr for it the touchdown I have a couple of other plays starred uh here throughout the day as well including a wide openen throwback to the left side from DK Carr to bub means bub means got some first team run today it was him 12 and 11 so it was uh it was it was uh bub means Chris olve and and Cedric Wilson who were all kind of the first team receivers today so good to see him get into the first team we saw some nice plays from the linebackers again including even Mike Rose Mike Rose somebody that kind of got added under the radar because the saints were dealing with some injuries at um at linebacker he made some nice plays in The Run game and everything as well so just really nice stuff from the saint second level continues uh throughout so those were kind of the the highlights of the day it was a little bit of a I don't want to call it a slower day but they only ran like three or so team drills coming off of another day where they ran like five team drills six team drills and stuff like that uh so you know they're just making sure that they are keeping as many people healthy as possible going into this preseason game so we'll see how things go for them uh it is a big big big um game this weekend uh for guys that are fighting for roster spots and I I would imagine for fans that are watching this team and want to see some something that gives them confidence about what this team looks like and I think the Saints um have a desire and a necessity to deliver on that let's see if they get it done all right y'all uh again no show tomorrow but we will be back Sunday morning uh with a bit of a pregame show so drop a bunch of questions in the chat here if you're if you're here live if you're an Insider uh you can text them to me directly or you can join The Insider uh Insider Group by texting hudat the 5504 285 7473 to become a part of that Community uh and then of course you can also find me on social media as well so me in your questions I'll get some answered Sunday morning before the game and of course we'll be live right after the game as well as we get uh one more preseason game closer to the season actually getting underway so we appreciate you very much for being here and for making locked on Saints part of your day part of your routine for saying yes to me on the show as always if you see me please say hi and if you need anything else around your New Orleans Saints in between these episodes make sure you follow me on your favorite social media Ross Jackson n o l hit me up know the family's doing know how you living let me know how you moming them and Trust you. 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