Analysis Preseason Week 1: the Good, the Bad, and the Ian Book (1 Viewer)

Credit: Associated Press - David J. Phillip


By Dan Levy - Staff Writer - Saintsreport.com

The New Orleans Saints kicked off their 2022 preseason with a 17-13 loss to the Houston Texans. Keep in mind that there is always a lot of overlooked context when it comes to preseason games. Who did the coaches rest? How many snaps did key players receive? These games are more about competition within the team than competition versus the opponent, and they should be viewed accordingly, through a lens of evaluation rather than final score and statistics.

With that in mind, here are my takeaways from Saturday’s game.

Most Opportunistic Player
To my understanding, Chase Hansen was just chilling at home when he got the call from the Saints early last week. And yet he made his presence known from the very first snap, fitting downhill on a split zone run and tackling the RB for a loss. Filling in for All-Pro linebacker Demario Davis, Hansen made the most of his opportunity, consistently executing his run responsibilities and showing up on special teams, where he was always running downfield and around the ball. His interception and 42-yard return was just the icing on the cake.

With both Pete Werner and Demario Davis sitting out, the combo of Eric Wilson and Chase Hansen didn’t miss a beat.

Steady Hand
QB2 Andy Dalton led the offense on its first and only TD drive of the evening—a ten-play march down the field, where Dalton completed all five of his passes. He looked to be in comfortable command of the offense. I firmly believe that Dalton could start for a number of NFL teams, and he did nothing to dissuade me. The Saints are lucky to have him on the roster.

Pleasant Surprises at Safety
It was great to see Justin Evans making plays around the ball—including an impressive diving interception—after his injury struggles the last couple of years. Much like Dalton, Evans looks to be an excellent backup who could still start on a lot of NFL teams.

But what was more surprising was the play of Daniel Sorensen, who had garnered a reputation as a perpetual liability from his stint with the Chiefs. There are even lowlight reels floating around on YouTube of Sorensen apparently blowing coverages and being miles out of position on various big plays. However, in Saturday’s game he saw time with the first and second team—as well as on various special teams—and was consistently in position. His performance was not as impressive as Evans’, but it was surprisingly good, given how low the bar was.

Perhaps writing Daniel Sorensen off as nothing but a camp body was a little premature.

Running Back Competition: A Deep Dive
There are four running backs competing for two likely roster spots behind Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. After watching Saturday’s game, I would rank them as follows:

1. Tony Jones, Jr.

Tony Jones, Jr. looked to have improved on last preseason. He makes quick reads, runs with good pad level and balance, and shows the most polish of the group. He is also very assignment sound in the passing game, both in protection and routes out of the backfield, and showed competency as a kick returner (though he is not one of my top choices there given his lack of top-end speed). In terms of running style, he is a little bit of a poor man’s Mark Ingram, with decent wiggle for his size, but still someone who relies more on a combination of violence and pad level to roll and bounce off would-be tacklers. His 2021 preseason showed a lot of promise that did not pan out in the regular season, but hopefully a healthy and improved Tony Jones, Jr. will be more equipped to step up if needed.

1. Abram Smith

I honestly wanted to see more of the rookie UDFA out of Baylor. But I understand the process and know he will receive more time and touches in the coming games. While the fumble down near the goal line was less than ideal, a rookie fumbling the ball in his first NFL preseason game is hardly a reason to set yourself on fire. He was the most explosive back of the night, and his gliding slasher style is something none of the other backs possess. Smith runs high—higher than you would like as a coach—but he has good timing to lower his pads and manages to fall forward for an extra yard or two on every run. On his lone target in the passing game, he caught the ball with ease and turned it upfield for a decent gain.

1. Dwayne Washington

Washington is a known commodity with the Saints. In terms of performance vs. the Texans, you can’t really knock him. He executed his assignments well, as you’d expect from a veteran, and he was productive in both the run game and in his receiving opportunities (including the Saints lone TD on a screen pass). But when it comes to evaluation, Washington is a little lacking—especially given that he is going into his seventh year in the NFL. Despite his size, he is a much more effective outside runner. He has great speed—the best of these four—but runs a bit out of control and doesn’t carry his bulk well. And while he made solid inside zone reads behind the first OL, he’s still pretty heavy-footed when changing direction. Once he starts making moves and trying to slip tackles, his pads get either too high or too far out over his base, and he loses balance. In short, there is noticeably less efficiency when Washington runs the ball that there is with Jones and Smith. I’m not ready to say that’s enough to keep him off the final roster, but if I’m evaluating the backs honestly, DW has some glaring deficiencies.

1. Devine Ozigbo

Take all of Washington’s flaws I just mentioned and turn up the dial. Then subtract a significant chunk of speed and give him one gear. That’s Ozigbo. He runs hard, with a lot of effort, and you can tell he understands the offense and isn’t out there making mental errors. But he is significantly behind the other backs as a ball carrier. Like Washington, he just doesn’t seem to carry his weight that well and it affects his balance when running anywhere except in a straight line. Combined with his lack of explosion and the need to stop and gather when changing direction, I just can’t see him making the team over any of the other three backs.

Offensive Line: TACKLing the Issues
Rookie LT Trevor Penning performed just about as I expected in his first preseason game. He honestly kicked butt in the run game, but there were two very significant brain-sharts in pass protection that stuck out (one where he was beat across his face for the sack on Book; another where he was beat outside around the edge).

In Penning’s defense, he was not alone, with Landon Young also struggling at key junctures in pass protection from his RT position. And while I still think James Hurst has the edge as the day-one starter at LT, you can see how much lighter he is in his anchor than Penning. There were a couple moments where Andy Dalton’s pocket awareness saved Hurst from giving up a sack. Hurst is solid, but he is definitely more susceptible to being bull-rushed than Penning—especially when the rookie is playing with proper technique. He is truly immovable.

If RG Cesar Ruiz’s performance stays consistent with where it was last night, he will be OK this season. Not an All Pro, not a gang-buster, but still solidly the fifth best offensive linemen on the team and less of a liability than he was last season. Physically, I think he’s always going to be more of a finesse blocker, but I did see more awareness from him in pass protection, including one instance where he was doubling with McCoy and then peeled off to help Young, who was about to be beat on a counter move inside. You’d like to see Ruiz (or any guard) clean the pass rusher’s clock in that situation, but hey, he did his job.

LG Andrus Peat and C Eric McCoy are studs. Studs studs STUDS. These two held down the fort on every snap I saw, were extremely violent and physical in both the pass and run game, and their execution on the screen pass for the lone TD of the evening was a thing of freaking beauty. The two of them have always been solid, but dare I say that they look even better going into this season.

Ian Book
If there was a sad trombone emoji, I would use it right here. Just… wow. I don’t want to make the kid walk the plank right after the first preseason game, but like I said, I’m not looking at production or win/loss. I’m evaluating performance.

Where to start? Second-year QB Ian Book is shockingly inaccurate, even on a simple 10-yard hitch or stop route to his left (one high, errant pass that resulted in a tipped INT; another that almost got Ozigbo killed). Part of this is he double clutches nearly every throw—something he’s had more than enough time to work through. His lack of comfort in the pocket boggles the mind, and on more than one snap, he had a ton of room to climb and just bailed instead. His screen pass to right for Ozigbo was poorly timed and inaccurate, pushing the running back away from his blocks and getting him tackled for a loss. He’s athletic—I’ll give him that—but his performance last night looked almost identical to that dumpster fire versus Miami (which he was, rightly at the time, not blamed for).

Now, why am I coming down so hard on Book? Because as the quarterback, his performance during the preseason affects more than just him. The Saints have a crowded stable of talented young wide receivers looking to fight for a roster spot. Kirk Merritt, Dai’Jean Dixon, Esop Winston, Kevin White, Rashid Shaheed, Kawaan Baker—these guys are depending on their QB being able to complete a basic pass. Sure, they will be evaluated on more than just their ability to catch (their routes, blocking, etc.), but they will also lose opportunities to make plays and separate themselves in a live game.

How can Merritt or Dixon catch a pass, break two tackles, and explode for a fifty yard TD if the ball can’t get them?

Again, sure—it’s one preseason game. But Ian Book throwing the ball in the dirt for 3.75 quarters was a tremendous disservice to these young WRs. He should of course be given another chance. But if he goes back in and continues to spray crap all over the bed, looking like a junior high QB, I don’t know… yank him and put in Taysom Hill so these young WRs can at least have a chance to shine.

Question...Why was the pass rush so inconsistent that game? I was disappointed in Payton Turner performances. Lack of sacks is not my concern but he lost a lot of his battles and didn't even come close to the quarterback.

Books was horrible. If he was a rookie, I would give him a pass. But he started a regular season game already and had one year under his belt. There shouldn't be any excuses to how poorly he played. In college he could get away with alot of his shortcoming. I wanted to see an improvement from year 1 to 2. But I see none.
Sorensen still looks like a liability.

I am not as hard on Penning like some people on here. I sort of expected his performance like this based on what I read about his training camp report. He will win some but lose some. From here on out, he needs to improve. That's up to him.

TCUDan said:

Credit: Associated Press - David J. Phillip

By Dan Levy - Staff Writer - Saintsreport.com

The New Orleans Saints kicked off their 2022 preseason with a 17-13 loss to the Houston Texans. Keep in mind that there is always a lot of overlooked context when it comes to preseason games. Who did the coaches rest? How many snaps did key players receive? These games are more about competition within the team than competition versus the opponent, and they should be viewed accordingly, through a lens of evaluation rather than final score and statistics.

With that in mind, here are my takeaways from Saturday’s game.

Most Opportunistic Player
To my understanding, Chase Hansen was just chilling at home when he got the call from the Saints early last week. And yet he made his presence known from the very first snap, fitting downhill on a split zone run and tackling the RB for a loss. Filling in for All-Pro linebacker Demario Davis, Hansen made the most of his opportunity, consistently executing his run responsibilities and showing up on special teams, where he was always running downfield and around the ball. His interception and 42-yard return was just the icing on the cake.

With both Pete Werner and Demario Davis sitting out, the combo of Eric Wilson and Chase Hansen didn’t miss a beat.

Steady Hand
QB2 Andy Dalton led the offense on its first and only TD drive of the evening—a ten-play march down the field, where Dalton completed all five of his passes. He looked to be in comfortable command of the offense. I firmly believe that Dalton could start for a number of NFL teams, and he did nothing to dissuade me. The Saints are lucky to have him on the roster.

Pleasant Surprises at Safety
It was great to see Justin Evans making plays around the ball—including an impressive diving interception—after his injury struggles the last couple of years. Much like Dalton, Evans looks to be an excellent backup who could still start on a lot of NFL teams.

But what was more surprising was the play of Daniel Sorensen, who had garnered a reputation as a perpetual liability from his stint with the Chiefs. There are even lowlight reels floating around on YouTube of Sorensen apparently blowing coverages and being miles out of position on various big plays. However, in Saturday’s game he saw time with the first and second team—as well as on various special teams—and was consistently in position. His performance was not as impressive as Evans’, but it was surprisingly good, given how low the bar was.

Perhaps writing Daniel Sorensen off as nothing but a camp body was a little premature.

Running Back Competition: A Deep Dive
There are four running backs competing for two likely roster spots behind Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. After watching Saturday’s game, I would rank them as follows:

1. Tony Jones, Jr.

Tony Jones, Jr. looked to have improved on last preseason. He makes quick reads, runs with good pad level and balance, and shows the most polish of the group. He is also very assignment sound in the passing game, both in protection and routes out of the backfield, and showed competency as a kick returner (though he is not one of my top choices there given his lack of top-end speed). In terms of running tyle, he is a little bit of a poor man’s Mark Ingram, with decent wiggle for his size, but still someone who relies more on a combination of violence and pad level to roll and bounce off would-be tacklers. His 2021 preseason showed a lot of promise that did not pan out in the regular season, but hopefully a healthy and improved Tony Jones, Jr. will be more equipped to step up if needed.

1. Abram Smith

I honestly wanted to see more of the rookie UDFA out of Baylor. But I understand the process and know he will receive more time and touches in the coming games. While the fumble down near the goal line was less than ideal, a rookie fumbling the ball in his first NFL preseason game is hardly a reason to set yourself on fire. He was the most explosive back of the night, and his gliding slasher style is something none of the other backs possess. Smith runs high—higher than you would like as a coach—but he has good timing to lower his pads and manages to fall forward for an extra yard or two on every run. On his lone target in the passing game, he caught the ball with ease and turned it upfield for a decent gain.

1. Dwayne Washington

Washington is a known commodity with the Saints. In terms of performance vs. the Texans, you can’t really knock him. He executed his assignments well, as you’d expect from a veteran, and he was productive in both the run game and in his receiving opportunities (including the Saints lone TD on a screen pass). But when it comes to evaluation, Washington is a little lacking—especially given that he is going into his seventh year in the NFL. Despite his size, he is a much more effective outside runner. He has great speed—the best of these four—but runs a bit out of control and doesn’t carry his bulk well. And while he made solid inside zone reads behind the first OL, he’s still pretty heavy-footed when changing direction. Once he starts making moves and trying to slip tackles, his pads get either too high or too far out over his base, and he loses balance. In short, there is noticeably less efficiency when Washington runs the ball that there is with Jones and Smith. I’m not ready to say that’s enough to keep him off the final roster, but if I’m evaluating the backs honestly, DW has some glaring deficiencies.

1. Devine Ozigbo

Take all of Washington’s flaws I just mentioned and turn up the dial. Then subtract a significant chunk of speed and give him one gear. That’s Ozigbo. He runs hard, with a lot of effort, and you can tell he understands the offense and isn’t out there making mental errors. But he is significantly behind the other backs as a ball carrier. Like Washington, he just doesn’t seem to carry his weight that well and it affects his balance when running anywhere except in a straight line. Combined with his lack of explosion and the need to stop and gather when changing direction, I just can’t see him making the team over any of the other three backs.

Offensive Line: TACKLing the Issues
Rookie LT Trevor Penning performed just about as I expected in his first preseason game. He honestly kicked butt in the run game, but there were two very significant brain-sharts in pass protection that stuck out (one where he was beat across his face for the sack on Book; another where he was beat outside around the edge).

In Penning’s defense, he was not alone, with Landon Young also struggling at key junctures in pass protection from his RT position. And while I still think James Hurst has the edge as the day-one starter at LT, you can see how much lighter he is in his anchor than Penning. There were a couple moments where Andy Dalton’s pocket awareness saved Hurst from giving up a sack. Hurst is solid, but he is definitely more susceptible to being bull-rushed than Penning—especially when the rookie is playing with proper technique. He is truly immovable.

If RG Cesar Ruiz’s performance stays consistent with where it was last night, he will be OK this season. Not an All Pro, not a gang-buster, but still solidly the fifth best offensive linemen on the team and less of a liability than he was last season. Physically, I think he’s always going to be more of a finesse blocker, but I did see more awareness from him in pass protection, including one instance where he was doubling with McCoy and then peeled off to help Young, who was about to be beat on a counter move inside. You’d like to see Ruiz (or any guard) clean the pass rusher’s clock in that situation, but hey, he did his job.

LG Andrus Peat and C Eric McCoy are studs. Studs studs STUDS. These two held down the fort on every snap I saw, were extremely violent and physical in both the pass and run game, and their execution on the screen pass for the lone TD of the evening was a thing of freaking beauty. The two of them have always been solid, but dare I say that they look even better going into this season.

Ian Book
If there was a sad trombone emoji, I would use it right here. Just… wow. I don’t want to make the kid walk the plank right after the first preseason game, but like I said, I’m not looking at production or win/loss. I’m evaluating performance.

Where to start? Second-year QB Ian Book is shockingly inaccurate, even on a simple 10-yard hitch or stop route to his left (one high, errant pass that resulted in a tipped INT; another that almost got Ozigbo killed). Part of this is he double clutches nearly every throw—something he’s had more than enough time to work through. His lack of comfort in the pocket boggles the mind, and on more than one snap, he had a ton of room to climb and just bailed instead. His screen pass to right for Ozigbo was poorly timed and inaccurate, pushing the running back away from his blocks and getting him tackled for a loss. He’s athletic—I’ll give him that—but his performance last night looked almost identical to that dumpster fire versus Miami (which he was, rightly at the time, not blamed for).

Now, why am I coming down so hard on Book? Because as the quarterback, his performance during the preseason affects more than just him. The Saints have a crowded stable of talented young wide receivers looking to fight for a roster spot. Kirk Merritt, Dai’Jean Dixon, Esop Winston, Kevin White, Rashid Shaheed, Kawaan Baker—these guys are depending on their QB being able to complete a basic pass. Sure, they will be evaluated on more than just their ability to catch (their routes, blocking, etc.), but they will also lose opportunities to make plays and separate themselves in a live game.

How can Merritt or Dixon catch a pass, break two tackles, and explode for a fifty yard TD if the ball can’t get them?

Again, sure—it’s one preseason game. But Ian Book throwing the ball in the dirt for 3.75 quarters was a tremendous disservice to these young WRs. He should of course be given another chance. But if he goes back in and continues to spray crap all over the bed, looking like a junior high QB, I don’t know… yank him and put in Taysom Hill so these young WRs can at least have a chance to shine.

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For someone who didnt watch the game appreciate the write up. The video of Sorenson is Mathieu consistently throwing his hands up, which is kind of funny because they are on the same team again. I was wondering with Taysom Hill on the roster and book play is he even going make the team. We literally have the best emergency qb in the league and if there's a game where Dalton and Winston goes down. Hill just pounding the ball might be the best chances of winning at that point. All penning mistakes look pretty coachable, I'm for one glad he got dominated so that way he can focus on learning in practice instead proving how much of a bad A he is. Everyone gets you big and strong but that goes so far.

Great article from OP.
IMO, Left tackle will be of concern going into the season. Penning played flat footed in pass protection. James Hurst will be the starter. Solid player but nothing above average. Hurst can handle the position but if he gets nicked and can't make a start Penning will be the guy and we don't know if he's ready

My thoughts exactly on Book and what he also effects with his bad play, Dan. I question who was Book draft pick more on Payton or Ireland? I'm going to go Payton since every QB draft pick has been meh during his tenure.
The way Tony Jones was running he reminded a little of Ivory Saturday night.

Good analysis. Is there any chance KJ beat out Book for the 3rd QB spot or is he literally the camp body?

Grandadmiral said:

Good analysis. Is there any chance KJ beat out Book for the 3rd QB spot or is he literally the camp body?

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Camp body. We're only going to carry 2 QBs this season with Taysom being the emergency QB. The only way we were going to ever carry 3 QBs was if Ian Book played spectacular.

TCUDan said:

Now, why am I coming down so hard on Book? Because as the quarterback, his performance during the preseason affects more than just him. The Saints have a crowded stable of talented young wide receivers looking to fight for a roster spot. Kirk Merritt, Dai’Jean Dixon, Esop Winston, Kevin White, Rashid Shaheed, Kawaan Baker—these guys are depending on their QB being able to complete a basic pass. Sure, they will be evaluated on more than just their ability to catch (their routes, blocking, etc.), but they will also lose opportunities to make plays and separate themselves in a live game.

How can Merritt or Dixon catch a pass, break two tackles, and explode for a fifty yard TD if the ball can’t get them?

Again, sure—it’s one preseason game. But Ian Book throwing the ball in the dirt for 3.75 quarters was a tremendous disservice to these young WRs. He should of course be given another chance. But if he goes back in and continues to spray crap all over the bed, looking like a junior high QB, I don’t know… yank him and put in Taysom Hill so these young WRs can at least have a chance to shine.

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Thank you for writing that. Book was unwatchable and in a game where I wanted to watch the new receivers, I gave up and felt sorry for them. The Saints need to figure out who they will try to keep on the practice squad, and maybe another they can stash on IR. The rest, if unsigned, will join the "Loomis revolving door" of players the Saints bring in for spot duty off the street.

Book and Costello will get the big bulk of the reps the next two games, because that's the sensible thing to do. The one benefit of Book killing pass plays is that it may help limit the injuries.

football said:

Question...Why was the pass rush so inconsistent that game? I was disappointed in Payton Turner performances. Lack of sacks is not my concern but he lost a lot of his battles and didn't even come close to the quarterback.

Books was horrible. If he was a rookie, I would give him a pass. But he started a regular season game already and had one year under his belt. There shouldn't be any excuses to how poorly he played. In college he could get away with alot of his shortcoming. I wanted to see an improvement from year 1 to 2. But I see none.
Sorensen still looks like a liability.

I am not as hard on Penning like some people on here. I sort of expected his performance like this based on what I read about his training camp report. He will win some but lose some. From here on out, he needs to improve. That's up to him.

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Really come on man! We saw Payton Turner play last year, and became aware of his potential, the guy is returning from injury. Have you no decency.

Abraham Smith is the type of nobody back the broncos wheeled out year in year out and got 100 yards from every year.

Sguill said:

Really come on man! We saw Payton Turner play last year, and became aware of his potential, the guy is returning from injury. Have you no decency.

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That's was a question for the OP (coach). And in that question, I mentioned "that game". Did I insult or belittle a player? Payton is one of those I have given a lot of praise and excuses for. I don't know why you question my "decency".

Watching Book was rough. I thought one of his greatest strengths was his accuracy. When he was drafted in the 4th round a lot of people didn't understand the pick at all but people defended the pick by pointing out his accuracy and the fact that he met the criteria of Parcell's QB Checklist. In college he completed 63.8% of his passes. So far that accuracy just isn't there.

So he doesn't have a big arm and he's inaccurate. That's not a great combination. I'm trying to think of a QB who was able to succeed in the league with little arm strength and poor accuracy. Drawing a blank. All I know for sure is that the announcers need to stop bringing up Drew Brees when Book is in the game. That comparison is absurd and forced.

Great writeup Dan. Spot on analysis. My biggest takeaway was that I was surprisingly encouraged by our RBs. The O line was doing their job in the run game for the most part and our backs looked alright. Tony Jones Jr looks like a RB1 again. Hopefully he keeps it up.

Book is bringing back memories of Danny Wuerffel...

football said:

Question...Why was the pass rush so inconsistent that game? I was disappointed in Payton Turner performances. Lack of sacks is not my concern but he lost a lot of his battles and didn't even come close to the quarterback.

Books was horrible. If he was a rookie, I would give him a pass. But he started a regular season game already and had one year under his belt. There shouldn't be any excuses to how poorly he played. In college he could get away with alot of his shortcoming. I wanted to see an improvement from year 1 to 2. But I see none.
Sorensen still looks like a liability.

I am not as hard on Penning like some people on here. I sort of expected his performance like this based on what I read about his training camp report. He will win some but lose some. From here on out, he needs to improve. That's up to him.

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Not worried about Payton Turner. I'd have to go watch again and focus in on him to give any sort of detailed analysis, but I saw enough of him last season to know what he's capable of when healthy.

Disagree on Sorensen. Thought he played well.

fishing4food said:

Great article from OP.
IMO, Left tackle will be of concern going into the season. Penning played flat footed in pass protection. James Hurst will be the starter. Solid player but nothing above average. Hurst can handle the position but if he gets nicked and can't make a start Penning will be the guy and we don't know if he's ready

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I don't think it's a concern. Penning is tremendously improved from where he was just a few weeks ago, and he's going to continue to get better. I thought his feet were fine, the issue is still with his hands. I would not be surprised if he beat out Hurst by the time the season started.