Quinn Ewers met the Saints at the Combine [Mar 24: Saints hosted dinner with Ewers]

[texasjefe]

If you count QB as a need, then we basically need help everywhere.

Every possibility is on the table.

Almost true in that we no longer have needs at special teams, unless they wanted to upgrade the punter. So we got that going for us.

On Ewers I posted earlier in the thread. He lacks mobility and that's a dealkiller to me.

 

[blackjack]

I don't see it as contradictory, but more like qualified or with caveats.

Ward got sacked a lot at as a junior at Washington St. and had a fumbling problem because his OL was pretty bad. Last year at Miami his OL was much better, he had very few sacks and he cut down on all those fumbles. It tells me he can improve with better coaching and having a good OL also helped.

 

[Eeyore]

More folks are talking about the kid from Louisville; he seems to be this year's Penix/Nix with 7 years of college and injury history.

His arm stood out from the others who worked out

 

[Hank]

Listened to Greg Cosell’s opinion of him on a podcast yesterday. He basically hates him.

I'll go with Cosell's opinion --pass

 

[StudioSaint]

Ward got sacked a lot at as a junior at Washington St. and had a fumbling problem because his OL was pretty bad. Last year at Miami his OL was much better, he had very few sacks and he cut down on all those fumbles. It tells me he can improve with better coaching and having a good OL also helped.

Here's Cam Ward's sack rates broken out by school:

YEAR​	TEAM​	ATT​	SACK​	SACK RATE​
2020​	UIW​	303​	17​	5.61%​
2021​	UIW​	590​	33​	5.59%​
TOTAL​	​	893​	50​	5.60%​
​	​	​	​	​
2022​	WSU​	497​	46​	9.26%​
2023​	WSU​	485​	38​	7.84%​
TOTAL​	​	982​	84​	8.55%​
​	​	​	​	​
2024​	MIA​	454​	22​	4.85%​

Cam got sacked at a high rate both of his years at WSU. At Miami he got sacked about 1 out of every 20 pass attempts. In a game, that's about once every 2 to 3 drives. Sacks like holding calls, tend to kill drives, so it's at least a concern.

The pertinent question is which school did he play at that most mirrors the pressure he'll be under in the NFL?

Greg Cosell pointed out that a clean pocket in college is bigger and less congested than a clean pocket in the NFL. That's why some QB's who are great in college struggle in the NFL. It's also why some solid QB's in college end up doing better in the NFL than some of the QB's that were better than them in college. A QB is under more pressure in a clean NFL pocket than in a clean college pocket. It's more compact in the NFL and there's more congestion.

Getting sacked is mostly a result of a QB either not being aware of how much time they have to get rid of the ball or not accepting when they have to get rid of the ball. The average time for a QB to throw in the NFL is shorter than the average time to throw in college. If the average time to throw Ward got at Washington was close to the NFL average time to throw and the time he had to throw at Miami was longer than the NFL average, then his NFL sack rate might be closer to what it was at Washington than at Miami.

I couldn't find any stats on the average time he had to throw the ball each year.

 

[Cajun Chat]

Would y'all take a chance on him in the 4th or 5th round?

Ewers was a top recruit coming out of high school. He had a couple of good years. That said, nagging injuries this last year. I watched probably 5-6 games of Ewers. I think he might develop but I'd say more of a 4th-5th round developmental player. We already have one of those so I'd stick with Rattler and see how he develops.

 

[PanicFootball]

I have little confidence in Haener, and if Ewers is there in the 5th - if he's the BPA, fine.

Rattler - maybe, but I don't think he's the future either.

Isn't next year's QB depth supposed to be better?

 

[blackjack]

Here's Cam Ward's sack rates broken out by school:

YEAR​	TEAM​	ATT​	SACK​	SACK RATE​
2020​	UIW​	303​	17​	5.61%​
2021​	UIW​	590​	33​	5.59%​
TOTAL​	​	893​	50​	5.60%​
​	​	​	​	​
2022​	WSU​	497​	46​	9.26%​
2023​	WSU​	485​	38​	7.84%​
TOTAL​	​	982​	84​	8.55%​
​	​	​	​	​
2024​	MIA​	454​	22​	4.85%​

Cam got sacked at a high rate both of his years at WSU. At Miami he got sacked about 1 out of every 20 pass attempts. In a game, that's about once every 2 to 3 drives. Sacks like holding calls, tend to kill drives, so it's at least a concern.

The pertinent question is which school did he play at that most mirrors the pressure he'll be under in the NFL?

Greg Cosell pointed out that a clean pocket in college is bigger and less congested than a clean pocket in the NFL. That's why some QB's who are great in college struggle in the NFL. It's also why some solid QB's in college end up doing better in the NFL than some of the QB's that were better than them in college. A QB is under more pressure in a clean NFL pocket than in a clean college pocket. It's more compact in the NFL and there's more congestion.

Getting sacked is mostly a result of a QB either not being aware of how much time they have to get rid of the ball or not accepting when they have to get rid of the ball. The average time for a QB to throw in the NFL is shorter than the average time to throw in college. If the average time to throw Ward got at Washington was close to the NFL average time to throw and the time he had to throw at Miami was longer than the NFL average, then his NFL sack rate might be closer to what it was at Washington than at Miami.

I couldn't find any stats on the average time he had to throw the ball each year.

Thanks for the statistical breakdown. As a fan of Miami I can tell you he had quite a few of us fans frustrated because he refused to check down and kept looking to make a big play. He’s an absolute play maker but he could’ve dumped it off so that is something he’ll need to work on.

 

[faceman]

Absolutely not. Texas could have beaten OSU if Sark had played Manning all game

 

[meily]

I have little confidence in Haener, and if Ewers is there in the 5th - if he's the BPA, fine.

Rattler - maybe, but I don't think he's the future either.

Isn't next year's QB depth supposed to be better?

Were is the guarantee we will be in the running for a top signal caller next year? when was the last time the Saints or any team that has not been a perennial loser been in position to draft#1 or #2 where the top signal caller typically goes?

 

[PanicFootball]

Were is the guarantee we will be in the running for a top signal caller next year? when was the last time the Saints or any team that has not been a perennial loser been in position to draft#1 or #2 where the top signal caller typically goes?

No guarantee, but more depth is better. Do you think we should draft a QB at 9? Which one do you think will be the best?

 

[meily]

No guarantee, but more depth is better. Do you think we should draft a QB at 9? Which one do you think will be the best?

There are multiple prospects this year, same with the two previous, and we came out with Haener and Rattler; I do not have a QB in mind, but I will not be surprised if Coach Moore does not select one at some point.

 

[webster]

I respectfully disagree about your McCord assessment and provide 2 reasons as to why:

1) Mccord rarely had enough time to sit in the pocket at Syracuse and go through progressions. The Syracuse O-line wasn't good enough to give him that kind of time. When McCord had success, he had to make pre-snap reads or create one on one match ups for his receivers by moving the safety. 2) He threw for 4,750 yards and 34 TDs (most in NCAA) at Syracuse, with Syracuse level talent in the ACC. 65% accuracy. His #1 RB rushed for over 1000 yards, so there was some offensive balance. So, I'll answer your statement with a question. How does McCord throw for that many yards and TDs if he processes slowly? And we all know it wasn't with his mobility. The answer is pre-snap and quick processing skills.

2024 highlights. They don't include his 500 yards, 4 TD bowl game highlights.

He would be a nice pick

 

[snake pliskin]

I don't see the point. Why draft a QB with high upside that needs some development, can make the throws, and lead a huddle when you're just going to say "so and so gives us the best chance to win"? We don't need more of those guys. We have one that could potentially be a decent QB that we won't play except under the worst circumstances, we don't need another one of those guys.

I'm of the mind set you bring in a rookie quarterback every year. At worse, a practice squadder. If you have an established stud and hit on one of those, use it as capital to acquire other needs, a la the old Ron Wolfe model from Green Bay. Remember him parlaying Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks, Ty Detmer into extra draft picks.

 

[Elvis]

I'm of the mind set you bring in a rookie quarterback every year. At worse, a practice squadder. If you have an established stud and hit on one of those, use it as capital to acquire other needs, a la the old Ron Wolfe model from Green Bay. Remember him parlaying Hasselbeck, Aaron Brooks, Ty Detmer into extra draft picks.

I'd agree if there were any chance we'd ever play them, but we have too many holes to be drafting backup QBs. You can get one of those in free agency for league minimum. So far it seems like the idea is to roll with the veteran QB over a young guy that performed fairly well with a bad team in 6 games against playoff teams last year. I don't see a QB beyond the 2nd round that would beat out our current backups so there is no point in drafting them if we aren't going to play them.