The New Orleans Saints rallied back in the second half of Sunday’s matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars to bring the game to 17-17 at the end of regulation. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you feel about preseason, there is no overtime in the preseason. Despite the slow start, we learned a lot about the team heading into the final week of preseason.
The offensive line may be more of an issue than we thought
After the Saints used the ninth overall selection on Texas tackle Kelvin Banks Jr, many believed the offensive line in New Orleans was
set for the future. Taliese Fuaga had a great rookie year, and the interior of the line has been mostly set for a few seasons with Cesar Ruiz and Erik McCoy.
But Sunday’s game showed the offensive line may not be as prepared as we initially thought. Ruiz struggled immensely against the Jaguars’ starting defense, making things difficult for rookie quarterback Tyler Shough. Ruiz lost multiple one-on-one reps and allowed a couple of pressures. These issues began to show up last season after Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy went down with an injury, and it seems McCoy has masked some of Ruiz’s flaws for some time.
Banks and Fuaga also saw minutes against Jacksonville, and for the most part, looked solid. It’s the lack of depth, however, that makes me worry. Tackle Will Clapp went down with a season-ending injury during last week’s outing against the Los Angeles Chargers. Trevor Penning would also go down in the same matchup and is expected to miss “some time” per head coach Kellen Moore. While Erik McCoy is healthy and will be ready for the start of the regular season, he struggled with injuries last season, and New Orleans is playing it safe with him. The Saints’ offensive line may be just one injury away from having the same issues they did in 2024.
Over the last week, New Orleans has brought in multiple players to compensate for the injuries they suffered. The Saints signed Shane Lemieux, who started seven games for them in 2024, and brought in Jonathan Mendoza and Mike Panasiuk after recent tryouts. The Saints also made a trade for former Jaguars third-round pick Luke Fortner, who has started 34 games in his first two seasons with Jacksonville. The offensive line remains a concern for New Orleans during the preseason and will likely follow them into Week 1.
The quarterback battle will go into week three of the preseason
The quarterback battle has a new leader each week. Spencer Rattler was the frontrunner throughout training camp, but after a series of good practices and a strong showing against the Chargers, Shough closed the gap in the race. Spencer Rattler would respond with a strong showing of his own against the Jaguars, throwing for 199 yards and leading a game-tying drive.
Shough and Rattler have very similar stats after each signal caller was given the chance to start a preseason game, and the decision is only going to get harder from here. Kellen Moore has said he wants to name a quarterback as soon as possible, but won’t rush it. Disappointingly, neither player has run away with the job, and the Saints will likely have to wait until their final preseason matchup with the Denver Broncos to know who will start in week one.
Stats for both players after two weeks:
Shough: 24/34 231 yards 1 TD 1 INT
Rattler: 25/35 252 yards 1 TD 1 INT
Kendre Miller is the clear-cut best running back on the roster behind Kamara
It’s hard to say Kendre Miller’s talent is something we learned of against the Jaguars rather than something we already knew. But Miller may be even better than we thought. Checking the stats, you would believe Miller had a mediocre at best game where he wasn’t able to run the ball. The former third-round pick ran just 6 times for 21 yards, averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
What the stat sheet won’t show is the effort and vision Miller ran with despite the lack of run blocking. The third-year running back was often met in the backfield by a defender immediately after receiving the handoff and was forced to make a play to gain any yardage. I truly believe if it were any other running back behind Miller, they would’ve ended the game with negative rushing yards. Miller also had a large gain called back due to a holding penalty.
The concern for Miller isn’t his talent; he hasn’t been able to stay healthy since entering the league. The former TCU running back has only appeared in 14 of 34 games over the last two seasons and was amidst controversy with former head coach Dennis Allen, who was rumored to have placed Miller on injured reserve prematurely after suffering an injury last season.
Miller is getting the opportunity to start fresh with the new coaching staff. After switching jersey numbers from #25 to #5, the elusive back says he is ready to leave all the bad juju in the past. This may be Miller’s last chance to prove to the Saints that he could be the running back of the future, but he looks prepared.
