The New Orleans Saints have placed wide receiver Michael Thomas on injured reserve. This continues an unfortunate trend for the wide receiver, though there’s hope he returns before the end of the season. There are two ways to go about filling Thomas’ role. You’re likely replacing his production with multiple players, but who’s going to step into his role.
New Orleans brought back Keith Kirkwood and Marquez Callaway after Thomas’ injury. The Saints philosophy is to typically lean on veteran players. Kirkwood had 209 receiving yards as a rookie with New Orleans, but that was in 2018. Callaway was the Saints lead receiver when Thomas missed a whole season. Callaway would be able to slot well into Thomas role.
However, neither Callaway or Kirkwood have Perry’s upside. The Saints should lean away from their typical reliance on veterans in favor of getting a bigger sample size of a young player. Thomas’ absence opens the door for A.T. Perry to show himself deserving of a bigger role. Perry is a rookie who registered his first catch and touchdown in last week’s game versus the Minnesota Vikings.
In this week’s opening press conference, Saints head coach Dennis Allen said “Mike’s position is the kind of position they see Perry playing” and expected a bigger role for Perry. This is the right call, as Perry deserves an opportunity to show if he can be a future asset for the Saints.
