It may have escaped your attention that the New Orleans Saints added help to the receiver room during the NFL Draft.
It didn't?
Of course not — it couldn't have, given that the Saints added three in the draft: First-round pick Jordyn Tyson, fourth-round pick Bryce Lance and sixth-round Barion Brown. Singularly, that path suggests that when it comes to tracking rookies during training camp, the receiver group is as good a place to start as any.
Tyson's on-field work so far has been minimal; he practiced on May 8, the first day of rookie minicamp, but was shifted to a maintenance plan to, in part, manage a prior hamstring injury sustained in college. His absence during drills for OTAs and mandatory minicamp means a floodlight will be on his activities during training camp. After being selected to be a complement to All-Pro Chris Olave, and having shown the ability to play outside or slot receiver in college, high expectations accompany Tyson.
"He has attributes that you look for in a wideout," Saints receivers coach Keith Williams said. "He has good size, good speed, he's sudden, he's a 'hands' catcher, he's athletic, he's got good run-after-the-catch. He checks a lot of the boxes that you look for in a wideout."
Lance and Brown are both speedsters who can carve out space: Lance is a big target (6 feet 3) who needs polish, and Brown was one of the best kick returners in college football history (six kickoff returns for touchdowns). And don't count out undrafted rookie Brock Rechsteiner; not just because he has famous bloodlines (his father and uncle — Scott and Rick Steiner, respectively — are WWE Hall of Famers who teamed to form the Steiner Brothers), but because he displayed great hands and because special teams always present a pathway to a roster spot.
"Speed, juice — these guys have got some really good engines, so to speak," Saints Coach Kellen Moore said.
Third-round pick Oscar Delp, a tight end, joins the roster at a good time, also. Two veterans (Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant) have the experience and production edge but given the fact that his addition will allow the Saints to utilize more two- and three-tight end sets, and the fact that he showed himself to be a capable blocker whose receiving skill may have been underutilized in college at Georgia, there's a path for Delp to impact.
Defensive tackle isn't a glamour position, but that doesn't mean there's no eagerness to get a look at second-round pick Christen Miller. He, too, adhered to a maintenance program after the draft and his drills participation was non-existent. Big-man evaluation ramps up in padded practices, and the first one of those is scheduled for Aug. 3.
Meanwhile, Zxavian Harris will be really hard to miss. The undrafted rookie defensive tackle stands 6-8 and weighs 330 pounds, and if he's capable of making plays when the opportunity presents, it will jump off the page. He's an intriguing prospect who, because of his height, may be able to create disruption in the passing game simply due to his ability to bat down passes and to clog passing lanes.
