The New Orleans Saints open training camp on July 26 at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center in Metairie, Louisiana. Here’s a 53-man roster projection:
QUARTERBACK (3): Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, Taysom Hill.
Three obvious choices here though I might have to consider inventing a new position group for Hill, who plays QB/RB/WR/TE/KR and on special teams coverage units. Coach Sean Payton loves how much talent he has in this QB room, which is probably the most in franchise history.
RUNNING BACK (3): Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray, Dwayne Washington.
New Orleans signed former Ravens runner/receiver Javorius “Buck” Allen to compete for a spot this offseason, and they have some intriguing young backs in camp. But I’ll still give Washington the edge after he showed some nice glimpses last season.
FULLBACK (1): Zach Line.
Fullback is a part-time role in the Saints’ offense, but Line has been one of the better ones in the NFL since arriving in 2017.
WIDE RECEIVER (6): Michael Thomas, Ted Ginn Jr., Tre’Quan Smith, Keith Kirkwood, Austin Carr, Cyril Grayson Jr.
Now it really gets tricky. Grayson is my wild-card pick as the longest of long shots -- a track star who never played football at LSU and has already been cut by three different NFL teams over the last year. But it’s hard to ignore his speed on the practice field, and I feel like he could be a Tommylee Lewis or Trey Edmunds type who earns a roster spot based on special-teams ability.
Meanwhile, I hate leaving Cameron Meredith off this list because I’d love to see him finally recover from the devastating knee injury he suffered with the Bears two years ago. But we haven’t seen that yet (Meredith sat out OTAs and minicamp to take a precautionary approach). Newly signed veteran Rishard Matthews also has a real shot at making this roster, as do some intriguing undrafted rookies such as Emmanuel Butler and Lil’Jordan Humphrey.
TIGHT END (4): Jared Cook, Josh Hill, Dan Arnold, Alize’ Mack.
I don’t know if the Saints need both Arnold and Mack, since they are both developmental, athletic tight ends who would be used primarily as pass-catchers. But I like Mack’s potential as a seventh-round pick who was once the top-ranked TE recruit in the nation before a disappointing career at Notre Dame, so he could be a "redshirt" candidate at the very least.
OFFENSIVE LINE (8): Terron Armstead, Ryan Ramczyk, Larry Warford, Andrus Peat, Erik McCoy, Nick Easton, Cameron Tom, Marshall Newhouse.
It’s hard to leave second-year pro Will Clapp off this list, since he made the roster last year and appeared in three games. But Easton and Tom are also guard/center types, so there might not be enough room. Experienced veterans such as Michael Ola, Ulrick John and Ryan Groy are also strong contenders.
DEFENSIVE LINE (8): Cameron Jordan, Marcus Davenport, Malcom Brown, Taylor Stallworth, Mario Edwards Jr., Trey Hendrickson, Wes Horton, Sylvester Williams. *Sheldon Rankins (injured), *David Onyemata (suspended Week 1).
The Saints have some depth concerns here, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see them add someone who isn’t on the current roster. They lost starting DE Alex Okafor in free agency. Starting DT Rankins is expected to miss time while recovering from a torn Achilles. And Rankins’ primary backup, Onyemata, is suspended for Week 1.
LINEBACKER (6): Demario Davis, A.J. Klein, Alex Anzalone, Craig Robertson, Vince Biegel, Kaden Elliss.
The top five guys on this list are returning from last year, when they made up New Orleans’ best linebacking corps in years. Elliss, a rookie seventh-round draft pick, will have to earn his roster spot via special teams.
SECONDARY (11): Marshon Lattimore, Eli Apple, Marcus Williams, Vonn Bell, Patrick Robinson, P.J. Williams, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Chris Banjo, Justin Hardee, Marcus Sherels, Saquan Hampton.
This group is so deep that I couldn’t find room for former starting cornerback Ken Crawley, among others. But there are a lot of core special-teams players here, including Banjo, Hardee and newly signed punt returner Sherels. Hampton, a rookie sixth-round pick, was also drafted in large part because of special-teams ability.
SPECIALISTS (3): Thomas Morstead, Wil Lutz, Zach Wood.
Easy choices here. Morstead and Lutz are as good as any pair of legs in the NFL.