Saints: 3 reasons why Drew Brees will eclipse 5,000 passing yards
By Jake Rajala
Backup Tight Ends
The Saints pose one of the best tight end groups in the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era. We all know that Jared Cook fits excellent in the Saints scheme, but the Saints provide great depth behind Cook.
Josh Hill and Taysom Hill combined for almost 500 receiving yards last year, which is pretty solid for tight end yardage behind the No. 1 spot. The Saints added another tight end this offseason named Adam Trautman.
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Adam Trautman is a third-round pick, who should slot in as a No. 2 TE but may produce immediately. Most tight ends take a year or two to polish their receiving ability before they play at a high level, but not Trautman.
The two best things going for Trautman is that Adam caught many balls in college, but he’s also fitting into a Sean Payton designed offense with Drew Brees throwing him the ball.
Trautman ran the fastest 3-cone at the whole combine with a time of 6.78. That time was faster than Michael Thomas’s 3-cone (6.8) and Vernon Davis’s 3-cone ( 7.00). I can’t wait to see Trautman flex his athleticism against the opponent’s outside linebacker and backup safety.
Trautman’s profile screams YAC (yards after catch) for Drew Brees and company. Brees got 250 receiving yards out of a quarterback (Taysom Hill)last year.
Expect Trautman to haul in at least 600 receiving yards in his rookie year, especially as he grows down the season, and teams are forced to hone in on Sanders and Thomas.
With Trautman taking more reps as the No. 2 TE, Taysom Hill should have more designed jet sweeps for himself which count as passing yards for Drew Brees. I expect Taysom Hill to crank out more plays in space, as he grows into the receiving role from last year.