A.T. Perry’s arrow is trending upward for the New Orleans Saints at the right time. The second-year Perry stole the show versus the Arizona Cardinals in their first preseason game on Saturday night. At Sunday’s training camp practice, Perry came back and had a strong practice.
That’s back-to-back good performances for a player who struggled at the start of training camp. Conversations about the third receiving option haven’t included Perry. This is why he needed a good performance in the first preseason game of the year. He delivered.
Dennis Allen acknowledging Perry as a willing blocker may be the most positive statement he’s made about Perry since the game. In Klint Kubiak’s offensive system, blocking is important for receivers out in space, and earning reliability in the role could help Perry hold onto his position on the depth chart behind Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed.
Perry entered the offseason on an upward trajectory. He became a part of the offense in the last eight games of his rookie year after Michael Thomas went down with an injury, and capped his debut with two touchdown catches in the season finale. It was expected he’d be a big factor in the Saints offense.
He offered a frame the Saints lacked (at a listed 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds), but the beginning of camp put those expectations in doubt. After a strong preseason debut and a follow up practice the next day, he could be trending back to the A.T. Perry we saw at the end of 2023.
