New Orleans Saints: 4 players who need to have a great training camp

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Tre’Quan Smith, New Orleans Saints (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

New Orleans Saints who need a great camp – No. 3: Tre’Quan Smith

To say the Saints’ wide receiver corps is lackluster would be an understatement. Michael Thomas is the only name that most people outside of New Orleans would be able to name but hopefully, this is the year that Tre’Quan Smith steps up and becomes a bigger name.

A strong camp would be the perfect way for Smith to enter his fourth season with the Saints. He’s the favorite to be the No. 2 wide receiver this season but when Thomas went down with an injury last year, Smith didn’t add much to the offense. Yes, the team still had Emmanuel Sanders, but Smith still wasn’t impressive.

I could have listed this entry as ‘a receiver not named Michael Thomas’ but truthfully, it’s time for Smith to step up and show he was worthy of being a third-round selection. In his final year at UCF, he exploded onto the scene for 1,171 yards and 13 touchdowns, which is what attracted the Saints to him.

Smith has a lot riding on the 2021 season with the biggest incentive for him being a nice chunk of change next offseason. Teams will pay average receivers a heap of money and Smith can capitalize on that with just one solid season. He needs to show up big in training camp.