New Orleans Saints: 3 studs, 2 duds in dominant victory over Bucs

Dud No. 1: Tre’Quan Smith

The Saints’ third-round pick in 2018, the expectations for Tre’Quan Smith were rather high coming into the season. He’s missed the majority of the season and has yet to really get it going as he did as a rookie.

Until the return of Keith Kirkwood, which could be as early as next week, Smith will still be the team’s third-string receiver.

But, the Saints’ third-string receiver is really the fifth-most targeted player behind the top two, Jared Cook, and Alvin Kamara. Even the team’s backup tight end, Josh Hill, had a better outing against the lacking Bucs secondary.

Smith was only targeted once while Brees finished the game with 35 attempts. This could’ve been the week that he erupted as the clear-cut No. 2 receiver after Ginn Jr. entered Week 11 with the league’s sixth-most drops.

However, he stumbled, and it’ll be interesting how much run he sees against the Panthers next week.