New Orleans Saints: 4 players who had us talking after Day 9 of camp
New Orleans Saints who popped – No. 2: Payton Turner
It was a surprise when the Saints opted to spend their first-round pick of this year’s draft on Payton Turner, a lesser-known name out of Houston. The Saints had a similar player in the form of Marcus Davenport (whose fifth-year option they shockingly picked up) and they had far bigger needs than defensive end.
Yet, Turner was the pick and even though the Saints might have reached to nab him, he’s showing up big in training camp thus far.
Physically run drill for the Saints, who are in full pads today. Two standout plays by the defense: Rookie DE Payton Turner moving well laterally to keep Alvin Kamara from breaking loose around the corner; DT Malcolm Roach with a run stuff in the backfield
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) August 7, 2021
Mike Triplett’s tweet above pays compliments to both Turner and Roach (who we discussed earlier). With Turner, Triplett discussed how Turner kept Alvin Kamara contained, which is no easy feat by any means.
Nick Underhill had the tweet of the day regarding Turner, noting that he’s “really come to life since the pads came out” and this is exactly what Saints fans want to hear. Turner was likely brought in to challenge Davenport and light a fire under him and we’ve seen that it’s been working so far.
Payton Turner has really come to life since the pads came out
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) August 7, 2021
Not only that, but Turner is playing extremely well too. Could it be possible that both Davenport and Turner start on the d-line and become the next dynamic duo? One can only hope.