COUNTDOWN 2020 (1 Viewer)

[SaintLuke]

JOSH HILL

Josh Hill was born and raised in Blackfoot, Idaho. At Blackfoot High School, Hill was an all-state first-team selection his senior year. He recorded 47 catches for 650 yards and 13 touchdowns while helping the Broncos to a 4A state championship. Hill started his college career at Boise State where he redshirted his freshman year. He decided to move closer to home so he transferred to Idaho State where he played for four years. During those four years his team only won five games. At Idaho State, Hill never missed a game and was second on the team in receptions in 2011 and 2012. His college coach was pleased to see how hard Josh worked and improved his junior and senior years. In his senior year, Hill capped off his time at ISU with 70 receptions, eighth most in a single season in Bengals history. Hill went undrafted and was picked up by the New Orleans Saints in April of 2013. In August of that year Hill was surprised to learn he made the cut and had a spot on the SAINTS roster. Hill primarily played special teams and was the third option at tight end behind all-pro Jimmy Graham and veteran Benjamin Watson. Hill worked his way into the offense and made his first NFL reception Week 7 against Buffalo and caught his first career touchdown three weeks later. After 3 years with the SAINTS, Hill became a restricted free agent during the 2016 offseason. He signed an offer sheet to join the Chicago Bears. The SAINTS had decided they wanted to keep Josh so three days later they matched the Bears' offer sheet and re-signed Hill. They gave him a new contract in 2018 keeping him tied to New Orleans through the 2021 season. One of Hills’s highlights during his time with the SAINTS is being part of history by catching Drew Brees' 540th regular-season touchdown pass, breaking Peyton Manning's previous mark of 539. After seven years with New Orleans, the un-drafted free agent has managed to stick around. The SAINTS must like Hill, because they did what it took to keep him here twice, while during the same period of time they let tight ends Jimmy Graham, Coby Flenner, and Ben Watson all go join other teams.

 

[primadox]

Great job on this thread, St Luke. It's getting me fired up for the season to begin! Thanks for all the work you're putting in on this.

 

[insidejob]

Great job on this thread, St Luke. It's getting me fired up for the season to begin! Thanks for all the work you're putting in on this.

I second this. I've been really busy having just moved and haven't had as much time in the morning before work to help out with any of the posts really. @SaintLuke if there are ever any specific days that you know you won't be able to do a particular number, just PM me and let me know and I'll make sure to take care of it for you. (Probably won't be as good as yours, but I'll do what I can!)

 

[SaintLuke]

We have featured 11 players so far in our COUNTDOWN 2020, and #88 is the first one new to the SAINTS this year. Since the pandemic has kept us from seeing our new players in mini-camps and organized team activities this spring, we will just have to wait an see our #88 in a SAINTS uniform.



Ty Anthony Montgomery II

Montgomery was born in Jackson, Mississippi. He attended St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas, where he was a five-sport star in football, track, basketball, baseball, and lacrosse. He played as a wide receiver, running back, and quarterback on the football team. As a senior, he had 823 rushing yards on 93 carries and 17 catches with 10 total touchdowns. He had 118 catches and 36 total touchdowns during his high school career. As a standout track & field athlete, Montgomery competed as a sprinter and long jumper. As far as I know, he never touched a shot put.
After his high school playing days were over, Montgomery went to Stanford where he played wide receiver from 2011 to 2014. As a junior in 2013, Montgomery was a consensus All-American as a return specialist. He finished his collegiate career with 172 receptions for 2,125 yards and 15 touchdown receptions. Montgomery was drafted as a wide receiver by the Green Bay Packers in the third round (94th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. In 2016, he switched over to running back. Over the course of his six-year career, Montgomery has appeared in 58 games with 16 starts for the Packers, Ravens and Jets, carrying 224 times for 1,035 yards (4.6 avg.) with 7 touchdowns and catching 120 passes for 982 yards (8.2 avg.). The SAINTS have another versatile athlete in Montgomery who can contribute from multiple positions. He can play wide receiver and running back on offense, plus he can contribute as a special team player. I am anxious to see what he can bring to our offense.

 

[insidejob]

I really like Montgomery lining up in the backfield wearing #88. I'm surprised the league hasn't been their typical stupid selves and made him change it already.

 

[AARPSaint]

I really like Montgomery lining up in the backfield wearing #88. I'm surprised the league hasn't been their typical stupid selves and made him change it already.

He hasn't played for the Saints yet.

Montgomery was such an interesting pickup. Payton has probably run out of napkins for drawing up plays for him.

 

[mambodeath]

I really like Montgomery lining up in the backfield wearing #88. I'm surprised the league hasn't been their typical stupid selves and made him change it already.

His number is within the rules. If you play long enough at one position, then switch to another, you can keep the same number

 

[SaintLuke]

Jared Alan Cook

Jared Cook was born in Birmingham, Alabama and he played his high school ball for the North Gwinnett High School Bulldogs in Suwanee, Georgia. As a senior, he caught 32 passes for 800 yards and ten touchdowns. He also competed in track as a high jumper.
Cook played his college ball at South Carolina for Steve Spurrier. During his college career he started 15 of 36 games for the Gamecocks at tight end, finishing his career with 73 receptions, 1,107 yards and seven touchdowns.
When Cook entered the 2009 NFL Draft, he was projected to be a third round pick by NFL draft experts. Mike Mayock ranked Cook as the fourth best tight end prospect in the draft. He was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the third round. They moved up in the draft to get Cook by trading their second round pick in the following year's draft. Throughout training camp, Cook competed against Alge Crumpler. While he did not start his rookie season he ended up with nine receptions for 74 receiving yards in 14 games. He played four seasons for the Titans before spending the next three years with the Rams. His head coach in Tennessee , Jeff Fisher, had been let go by the Titans and Fisher moved on to coach the Rams. Cook followed him there after becoming an unrestricted free agent. Cook finished his first season with the Rams with 51 receptions for 671 receiving yards and a career-high five touchdowns in 16 games and 13 starts. After his 3 years with the Rams, Cook signed with the Packers in 2016. Cook underwent surgery on his foot. The surgery was deemed a preventive measure and his recovery caused him to miss the majority of training camp. His absence delayed his ability to become the primary tight end for Green Bay. He also missed time that season due to an ankle injury. The Packers went on to the playoffs and Cook had a pretty good post season before they lost in the NFC Championship. He was not able to work out a deal with Green Bay for another contract. After meeting with several teams he signed with Oakland where he spent the next two years. In his second year with the Raiders, Cook was named to his first Pro Bowl. Once again he was a free agent. The SAINTS signed him prior to the 2019 season. During Week 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cook caught four passes for 41 yards and his first receiving touchdown of the season. Overall, he finished the 2019 season with 43 receptions for 705 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns. Cook is now entering his 12th NFL season and his second campaign with the SAINTS. For his career, Cook has played in 163 games with 84 starts, recording 468 receptions for 6,169 yards (13.2 avg.) and 34 touchdowns. He has also posted at least 30 receptions in each of the last nine seasons, one of only two active tight ends in the league to do so. Nick Underhill recently wrote that the SAINTS plan to “unleash a nightmare against the league”. He quoted Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell as saying, “He’s a matchup nightmare for a defense. I don’t know how you cover the guy.” That is some mighty big talk and I am sure hope he is right.

 

[SaintLuke]

Jason Kenneth Vander Laan

Jason played college football as a quarterback at Ferris State. Vander Laan set the NCAA all-divisions record for career rushing yards by a quarterback with 5,953. He also set the NCAA Division II record for rushing yards in a single season by a quarterback (1,607 in 2013). He also won 2 Harlon Hill Trophies, which is awarded to the best player in all of NCAA Division II. I believe that will make him our 6th string “emergency quarterback” , if anyone is counting. Vander Laan was undrafted and became a free agent after the 2016 draft. He was signed by the Jets.. In New York, he converted from a quarterback to a tight end. He was released by the Jets at the end of camp, but was re-signed to the practice squad later in the season. He was brought back in the next year but did not make the team at the end of camp and he was waived in September of 2017. Later that same year the Colts signed him to their practice squad and promoted to the active roster late in the season. He was waived by the Colts the following May. The Carolina Panthers signed him and he took part in their preseason camp, but again he did not make the active roster at the end of camp. He was waived but signed to the practice squad the next day. In December of 2018 he was promoted to the active roster. He went through camp with the Panthers last year but was waived during final roster cuts in August. In September of last year he joined his 4th NFL team in as many years. The Patriots signed him to their practice squad last September but waived him the next month. That is when he was signed by the SAINTS to our practice squad. In November he was promoted to the active roster but was place on IR in early December due to a head injury. So Jason apparently has no quit in him after bouncing around with so many teams. He will be sharing the Tight end reps with Jared Cook, Josh Hill, rookie Adam Trainman, Garret Griffin, and Cole Wick during camp, trying to secure one of the last tight end spots on the team.

 

[B_doggman47]

This countdown every year really gets me excited, I'm ready for the season to start. Thanks again St Luke.

 

[SaintLuke]

Cole Wick

Cole Wick was born and raised in Halletsville, Texas. He played high school football at Sacred Heart Catholic High. Wick was a two-way starter, earning first-team All-District honors on offense and first-team All-State honors on defense. He led Sacred Heart to a Texas State Championship as a senior. After high school he went on to San Antonio where he played his college football at the University of Incarnate Word.
Wick was the first Incarnate Word football player to make an active NFL roster. The SAINTS recently had a player by the name of Alex Jenkins from Incarnate Word on our practice squad, but he was never put on the active roster. Jenkins and Wick spent part of their college career together at Incarnate Word. Wick went undrafted in the 2016 NFL Draft. He had free agent offers from the Carolina Panthers and Oakland Raiders before signing with the Detroit Lions. His rookie season came to an early end after suffering a knee injury. He was placed on injured reserve. The following year he was waived at the end of preseason and was signed to the practice squad the next day but was waived later that month. That is when he went to be on 49ers practice squad and spent the rest of the year there. He resigned with the 49ers in 2018, and was on their practice squad. In October of that season is when the Titans poached him off the 49ers practice squad and signed him to their active roster. Unfortunately he was place on injured reserve in December of that year. He was waived by Tennessee in 2019 an then was placed on the Raiders practice squad for a short time. After he was waived by the Raiders the SAINTS signed him to our practice squad for the remaining part of last season. The SAINTS re-signed him in Jan of this year. His NFL career is very much like Jason Vander Laan who we featured yesterday. On and off several teams practice squad for the last 4 years with a brief visit to an active roster. Wick had a little more time on an active roster as he did appear in 11 games in his first three seasons. Both Wick and Vander Laan will be battling to find their way on an active roster, if not the SAINTS, then somewhere.

 

[SaintLuke]

Lil’Jordan Humphrey

Lil’Jordan was born in Southlake, Texas. His older brother wanted his Mom to name his new baby brother Michael Jordan. To make him happy she named her new son Lil’Jordan. I’m sure that name fit at the time, but with him currently at 6’ 4” and 225 lbs it doesn’t fit as well as it once did. Growing up, Humphrey played football and was mostly playing at running back position. He attended and played running back and a wide receiver for the Carroll High School Dragons. He received numerous offers, from several collegiate programs including Texas, Wisconsin, California, Iowa, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Texas Tech, UCF, and Washington. He decided to stay within the state and play for the University of Texas Longhorns. His running back days were over as he would just play WR for the Longhorns. There was no redshirt for Humphrey. He played in 10 games as a true freshman at Texas in 2016. As a sophomore, he played in 12 games with six starts and had 37 receptions for 431 yards. In his junior year Humphrey had 86 receptions for 1,176 yards and nine touchdowns. After his junior season, he entered the 2019 NFL Draft. He was not drafted and he was signed to a three year contract by the SAINTS as an undrafted free agent. He flashed a little in preseason games but he did not make the 53 active roster coming out of camp and was waived. He was signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster just a few weeks later, but was waived in late October. He made it through the waiver wire and once again resigned to the practice squad. He was promoted a second time to the active roster in late December, right before the last regular season game against the Panthers. With the addition of Emmanuel Sanders & Ty Montgomery he will have a lot of competition to earn a spot on the SAINTS active roster. But he should have an advantage over the new less experienced guys as they will have a lot less time and opportunities to shine in practice, since we have not been having mini-camps, rookie camps, and authorized team activities this year. Who knows when practice will even start.

 

[SaintLuke]

Juwan Johnson

Johnson played his high school ball at Glassboro High School in Glassboro New Jersey. In his senior year he recorded 42 receptions for over 800 years and 9 touchdowns. He also played defensive back as well as. Leaving high school he was a consensus four-star and top 200 prospect by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports. He was labeled the top wide receiver in New Jersey by pretty much every scouting service and was rated the No. 12 wide receiver in the country. He decided to play football at Penn State. He played in all 14 games as a redshirt freshman in 2016, primarily on special teams and ranked second on the team with nine special teams tackles, including eight on kickoff return, and one blocked punt. As a sophomore he became a starter, and had a catch in all 13 games. with 5 or more receptions in six of those games, so he really had a breakout year. As a junior in 2018, he played in ten games and made seven starts, finishing with 25 catches for 352 yards and a TD. He graduated from Penn State in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in Telecommunications. He transferred to Oregon in 2019. but missed the first four games of the season due to an injury. He played in 10 games and made 6 touchdowns on 30 receptions with a 15.6 yard average. He signed with the SAINTS as an underrated free agent and his older brother George played for the SAINTS in 2017.

 

[SaintLuke]

Adam Trautman

By what I have read, Trautman was another one of these high level athletes in high school. At Elks Rapids High School in Michigan he played basketball, was a team captain, and was All-Conference and All-County. In football he was the quarterback for the team, as well as a team captain for 2 years. He was All-Conference, and All County, twice each. He also earned All-Region and Conference Player of the Year awards. He played his collegiate football at Dayton where he was redshirted his first year but he still earned the distinction of Scout team offensive player of the year. The next four years there he excelled. He started 7 of the 11 games the next year and he lined up at tight end, slot receiver, wideout and wildcat QB. Does that sound like someone we know? Tight end did become his main position. His next three years he earned honor after honor both on the field and in academics. Too many to list here. In his senior year he started all 11 games for the Flyers. He led the team in receiving with 916 yards and a school-record 70 receptions. His 916 yards ranks second among tight ends in a single season. He broke several records and he became the University of Dayton all-time record holder in receptions. He did all this while receiving several academic honors and he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. When the SAINTS saw he was still available in the third round of the draft they made a move up to take him as the 105th pick overall. The SAINTS coaching staff has commented very highly of his talents and what they expect to see him be able to bring to our offense. I can’t wait to see if this third round tight end pick ends up being as good as our last third round tight end draft pick. I have a hunch he will be a better blocker.

 

[SaintLuke]

Krishawn Hogan

Hogan was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He did not see any playing time on the football field his first three years in high school. As a senior he was a backup wide receiver with 20 catches. He first attended Division II school Walsh but eventually left the program. He became a janitor but then decided to go to Marian University and spent three years there. It is there that his football career took some major steps forward. In three years he had 263 receptions and 4395 yards. Both are school records. In addition he made 67 total touchdowns. He was named first team in his league three times and eventually named conference offensive player of the year. That was good enough to capture the attention of some NFL scouts and he became the first player from Marian to earn an invite to the NFL combine. He was not selected in the draft but had several offers from NFL teams as an un-drafted free agent. He joined the Arizona Cardinals in 2017 and performed fairly well in mini camp. However he was later cut, but the Colts picked him up for their practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster before September ended but his 2017 rookie year ended quickly with a torn ACL and he was put on IR. The next year he spent more time as a Colt, first on IR, and then on their practice squad. In 2019 he spent the off season and preseason with the Colts and he had 12 receptions in those preseason games but was waived in August before the regular season started. The SAINTS signed him to their practice squad in September and promoted him to the active roster in October where he played in 8 games before suffering a hamstring injury and being placed on IR again. The SAINTS saw enough in him to bring him back for another try in 2020.