NFL Preseason Best Bets for August 10: The Saints Are Marching in

New Orleans’ Quarterback Plan

It is decisive to know how each head coach plans to deploy his quarterbacks because they will largely dictate the level of success that their respective offense will enjoy.

For the Saints, Spencer Rattler will start.

The reported expectation is that he will play at least a quarter. He might play two quarters. Rookie Tyler Shough is expected to follow him. Jake Haener would then follow Shough.

One of the reasons why I like New Orleans is that its quarterbacks will be vastly better than the Chargers’ quarterbacks.

Spencer Rattler

Today’s starting quarterback for the Saints benefits from having received extensive experience in last year’s regular season against starting defenders.

That experience helped him mature along with wide receivers who likewise grew from the additional roles they played when starters Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave were both sidelined for the majority of the season.

Rattler, in Training Camp, is continuing to improve alongside his wide receivers — Mason Tipton, for example, who is eliciting hype this Summer, and Bub Means, who is beating strong coverage to make great plays — with whom he’ll continue to enjoy a flourishing connection today.

On Friday, for example, Rattler led a nine-play, 65-yard opening drive that he concluded by throwing a wonderful touchdown pass.

Tyler Shough

New Orleans’ second-round draft pick was a steal in the sense that merely his age kept him from being drafted earlier.

Of course, he’s no worse for being 25 years old. Training camp reports agree that he is growing significantly. One underrated feature of his game is his mobility, which allows him to elude defenders and to make good plays despite facing pressure.

In practice, reports rave about the effortlessness with which he completes tight-window pass attempts. He has a good arm and good accuracy.

Jake Haener

Haener is also going to be effective today.

If you look at Haener’s numbers in last year’s regular season, it’s easy to dismiss him. He made one career start, and his stat line was quite poor in it.

But if you actually look at every drop-back in that start, you’ll find the reality to be quite different from what the stat line suggests. He dealt with heavy pressure and threw accurate passes that were dropped.

He evidently has the ability to consistently remain composed and throw lasers at his targets.

Chargers’ Quarterback Plan

It’s been reported that the Chargers’ starting quarterback, Justin Herbert, won’t see the field.

Instead, for Los Angeles, Taylor Heinicke, Trey Lance, and DJ Uiagalelei will see action at quarterback.

Overrated Trey Lance

Unlike Rattler, Heinicke’s regular-season efforts have removed him from consideration for a starting job with an NFL team.

While Heinicke is subpar, it’s Trey Lance who I want to focus on.

People are high on Trey Lance after the respectable stat line that he managed against Detroit’s defense in the Hall of Fame Game. In that game, Lance was 13-for-20 with 120 yards and two touchdowns.

However, we need to put this performance in perspective.

Stick Figures and Bust Narratives: Lance Still Can’t Measure Up

Lance’s opponent in that game got to regroup and play a second game. Against Atlanta, the Lions allowed journeyman quarterback Easton Stick to complete 15 of 18 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown.

Moreover, Stick’s backup, Emory Jones, who struggled with accuracy issues in college, completed four of five passes for 49 yards.

Jones and Stick thus outperformed Lance, which says a lot about Lance and more than negates any excitement that one can reasonably derive from his stat line against the Lions.

So, let’s not revise our preconceptions about Lance: we must expect him to be the same old bust.

In last year’s Training Camp, when he played for Dallas, he was horrible, as reports of his poor, inaccurate passes indicate. Hence, he could not beat out Cooper Rush for the second-string job, although Dallas decided to move on from Rush, too.

DJ Uiagalelei and Wide Receivers

I find the presence of Uiagalelei on an NFL team, even more so than that of Lance, to be inexplicable.

This is a guy who struggled at the Division I level. He played a major role in Florida State’s demise, as he threw more interceptions than touchdowns.

One can’t expect him to perform any better against an NFL defense.

He won’t get help from what is still a weak Chargers wide receiving group, which the Chargers have tried to strengthen but now have to deal with underperformers like Tre Harris, who is having a significant problem with drops.

The Defenses

Defensively, the Chargers struggled mightily down the stretch last year, as evident, for example, in the combined total of 67 points that they allowed to Tampa Bay and Denver.

The Chargers wanted to beef up their pass rush, for which they rely extensively on veterans who, along with Herbert, will presumably see little to no action tonight.

Their backups will obviously play worse, and their poor performance tonight will accord with what their defense showed as a whole in its most recent regular-season games.

Staley’s Scheme Sparks Saints’ Defensive Havoc

Conversely, reports in New Orleans’ training camp have been very positive regarding the implementation of Brandon Staley’s new scheme for the team’s defense.

Defenders are playing at a higher level, as evident, for example, in the havoc that they’re creating.

The new defensive coordinator will be eager tonight to have his players thrive — preparation in preseason games is especially crucial when there’s a new coordinator. The motivation will be there and, as practices have shown, also the execution.

Takeaway

The Chargers scored a lot of points against Detroit, but they relied on poor turnovers from the Lions in order to do so.

Expect their point total to drop dramatically against a motivated and able Saints defense, whose success will complement that of New Orleans’ offense, which will be spearheaded today by a superior group of quarterbacks.

New Orleans Saints Pk (+100)

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