The New Orleans Saints left the Superdome for the first time this season as champions, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 26-24 during the first week of the NFL preseason. While it was nice to see a lot of the returning players, like Chris Olave and Michael Thomas, it was also the first chance to see some of the rookies that we have spent months speculating about.
There were some great debuts, like Blake Grupe and Anfernee Orji, along with some debuts that did not go as well. While you can’t make a decision on how a player’s career will turn out based off of one preseason game, it’s also the only tangible in game play we have to go off of so far. Here’s the rookie report card for some notable debuts in the first game:
DT Bryan Bresee: B-minus
While Bresee didn’t find his way onto the stat sheet in his debut, it wasn’t all for a loss. He was able to find his way into the back field a couple of times with some nice pass rush moves. His most impactful play came in getting some pressure on a play that ended up in an interception. The stats will come, but was at least nice to see some moves put on guys in his first game.
WR A.T. Perry: A
Key stats: 6 catches, 70 yards, 1 touchdown
Perry had a great debut, catching all six targets and finding the endzone on a 29 yard pass from Jameis Winston. Perry is among the tallest receivers on the roster and could factor in as a solution to their redzone troubles from last season. Through one preseason game, he looked as good as you could asked him to. There have been some questions about his contested catch ability, but it was not an issue for him against the Chiefs.
AT Perry had a nice night pic.twitter.com/gVWVwKV1Hb
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) August 14, 2023
DE Isaiah Foskey: D
Foskey was a bit of a nonfactor against the Chiefs, nothing overly but also just not much of an impact. While Bresee didn’t log any stats, he was at least able to make his presence felt. Foskey was supposed to be one of the more polished draft picks the Saints made this season and while you can’t take that much away from a single preseason game, you would have wanted to see more out of him.
QB Jake Haener: B
Key stats: 10/17, 105, 1 TD, 1 INT
It wasn’t a great start for Haener, throwing an interception on his first pass as a Saint. He showed great composure to come back and show some confidence, not letting the pick throw him off very much. He ended up with a 2-yard connection with Ellis Merriweather for a touchdown pass. It was a nice enough debut for a player that isn’t going to find the field any time soon for the Saints.
Jake Haener to Ellis Merriweather for the TOUCHDOWN! ⚜️#Saints | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/dMSWuHJmsH
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 13, 2023
OL Nick Saldiveri: D+
Key stats: Allowed two pressures and two hurries, charged with a penalty
It was not a great start for the Saints draft pick who found time in the game at left guard. The backup offensive line depth as a whole did poorly and Saldiveri was no exception. His pass blocking needs some serious work as he was not very effective at keeping the pocket clean for Jameis Winston. He was called for a holding penalty in the second quarter on a Kendre Miller rushing attempt.
S Jordan Howden: B
Key stats: 3 tackles, 2 solo
As a safety, we didn’t see a ton out of Howden outside of not missing any tackles. He was targeted once and gave up the reception. Where he will make his money, at least for now, is special teams. He was in on a tackle on return coverage, which is good to see. He was also able to down a punt at the five-yard line. His lone real misstep came on an offsetting penalty as he was out of bounds on a kick.
RB Kendre Miller: N/A
Key stats: 4 rushes, 5 yards
We’ll keep a grade off of Miller since he wasn’t able to finish his debut after an injury took him out of the game. He wasn’t off to a great start before that, struggling to find any space behind the backup offensive line. His longest rush of the day was just two yards.
Kendre Miller vs Kansas City Chiefs, Preseason Week 2.
All rush attempts and targets. pic.twitter.com/YztRvSl291
— Zareh Kantzabedian (@ZKantzFF) August 15, 2023
RB Ellis Merriweather: B
Key stats: 9 rushes for 24 yards, 2 catches for 17 yards and a touchdown
Merriweather stepped up after the Miller injury and looked good. His first career touchdown came on the goal line pass from Haener. His per rush stats don’t jump off of the page but he had a couple of nice runs called back on penalties. He did a nice job in the receiving game with a 15 yard gain on a catch between the numbers and nice work after getting the ball.
LB Anfernee Orji: A
Key stats: 4 tackles, 3 solo, 1 QB hurry
Orji was one of the best defenders for the Saints on Sunday, doing some good stuff with limited snaps. He had three tackles with a quarterback hurry on just 16 defensive snaps. He was also able to come up with a tackle on special teams. To make the roster as a depth linebacker, special teams is a must. We’ll likely see some more of him during next Sunday’s matchup against the Chargers.
OL Alex Pihlstrom: B-
Key stats: 0 pressures, 0 hurries and 0 sacks allowed
Run blocking as a whole was pretty weak among the depth for the Saints, but Pihlstrom had a nice day in pass blocking snaps. He was able to keep a clean sheet and not allow a ton of discomfort to get to the passer from the center position. He also escaped without getting any penalties called on him.
K Blake Grupe: A
Key stats: 1/1 FG, 31 yards
Grupe had just one kick on Sunday and it just happened to come while time was expiring. A lot has been made of the kicker battle between Wil Lutz and Grupe and both backed it up against the Chiefs. While Grupe likely won’t beat out Lutz, he might have made a case for someone to sign him across the league.
SAINTS WIN!!!
Blake Grupe kicks a 31-yd FG to give the #Saints a 26-24 win vs the Chiefs pic.twitter.com/D4wmjQC8ix
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 13, 2023
