One of the biggest questions surrounding the New Orleans Saints to start the season is how will they replace the production they thought they’d receive from Jordyn Tyson. They’ll be without their first round pick for at least the first four weeks of the season, but the team is seemingly comfortable with what they have. Kellen Moore made it seem like they’re going to lean on rookies Barion Brown and Bryce Lance more than expected.
Tyson’s injury was expected to keep him out for roughly two months, so the mandated four weeks for injured reserve should be viewed as a minimum, not the expectation. Honestly, the expectation should be for him to miss more than four games, with how cautious the Saints approached his hamstring the first time.
We’ve previously looked at how Juwan Johnson could step in from a production standpoint. However, part of replacing Tyson is also figuring out how the wide receiver room is going to fill out. Right now, it seems they’re going to lean on the other two rookie receivers they drafted.
This feels like a bad idea even if Barion Brown and Bryce Lance did have a strong camp
Chris Olave and DeVaughn Vele are clearly the leaders of the room while Tyson is out. The questions start with the fact that the only other receivers on the active roster are Brown and Lance, who have a combined 0 NFL snaps to their name.
Despite the inexperience, Moore definitely seems to believe those guys are up for the challenge. “Bryce and Barion had an excellent training camp,” Moore told reporters.
Obviously, because Lance and Brown went from young players who could develop and possibly make plays as rookies to players the Saints need to make plays as rookies. That’s a huge responsibility shift, and it demands they not be training camp darlings for the sake of the passing game.
Not only does this all point to the Saints leaning on a pair of rookies, it, most importantly, has the team with just four wide receivers. Kevin Austin Jr. made the initial 53 man roster but was quickly waived. When he was brought back, as expected, the Saints surprisingly put him on the practice squad.
Therein lies the question in strategy. It seems their Saints are considering rolling with four receivers on the active roster and calling up a guy from the practice squad weekly.
They have Austin and Cedric Tillman on the practice squad, but teams can only call a player up on game day twice before they must be put on the active roster.
If Tyson is out for more than four games, the Saints’ hand will be forced. Time will tell if they’re hoping Tyson beats the timeline, and the Saints don’t have to add a fifth receiver to the roster before he returns.
Until then, Brown and Lance are going to be big parts of the offense. They won't need to be the second best receiver, like Tyson, but there is newfound weight on their shoulders.
Add us as a preferred source on Google