Saints OTA observations: Who stood out, play of the day, where guys are lining up, more

Notes and observations from Tuesday’s organized team activity.

ATTENDANCE: Did not see at Saints OTA: CB Marshon Lattimore, RT Ryan Ramczyk, DE Chase Young, RB Alvin Kamara, RB Jamaal Williams, WR Stanley Morgan Jr., DT Nathan Shepherd, DE Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE Nathan Latu, LB Jaylan Ford, LB Nephi Sewell. (CB Kool-Aid McKinstry on bike.)

DE Cameron Jordan, DT Bryan Bresee, S Jordan Howden, OT Oli Udoh, OL Mark Evans, QB Nathan Peterman, TE Tommy Hudson either worked off to the side or were limited in action during Tuesday’s OTA.

TAYSOM UP: The Saints have a clear plan for Taysom Hill … and it’s a little bit of everything. But it also looks smart. Hill started out working out in the backfield with the other running backs and fullbacks. He took handoffs and ran routes from the position. But he then also got some work in with the tight ends.

It seems clear that in this offense his days of practicing and playing as a quarterback are now over. And that probably should be the case. The team has plenty of players at that position and Hill is going to be at his best as a multifaceted weapon. This offense is always at its best with versatile offensive weapons, and Hill should be one of them.

MOTIONING: Didn’t take long for the Saints to start using motion. This is the team’s first organized team activity and New Orleans is already leaning into using motion. I don’t think we saw that early on in camp in previous years. So, if that’s part of the early base install then things are going to only build from here. We saw a few basic things, nothing super exotic, but it exists and it’s another clear sign that things are going to be different on offense.

OFFENSIVE LINE MOTION: Taliese Fuaga again worked at left tackle, which meant that Trevor Penning got his reps on the right side of the line. The line from left to right was Fuaga, Nick Saldiveri, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz and Penning.

The second line was Landon Young, Shane Lemieux, Lucas Patrick, Kyle Hergel and Justin Herron. Lemieux also got some reps with the starters at left guard.

It’s hard to judge how someone is playing or how things are going without pads, but Penning didn’t look lost or out of his depth. We’ll see how things build from here but nothing stood out as drastically negative.

QUARTERBACK ROTATION: Derek Carr served as the starter, with Jake Haener as the second quarterback and Spencer Rattler third. Nathan Peterman was present at practice, but he had his calf wrapped and was an observer.

Haener looked really good. He appeared confident, hit his throws and was accurate. His best moment might have come on a bootleg when he rolled out and hit tight end Dallin Holker down the field for a nice gain.

Rattler was a little shakier than he was at rookie camp. He stared down WR Kyle Sheets on one play and got his pass jumped and intercepted by LB Isaiah Stalbird. He also had a throw that was high to RB Jacob Kibodi that almost got intercepted.

Rattler missed high on another throw to Jermaine Jackson, but Jackson is 5-foot-7.

BAD FORMATION: We heard OC Klint Kubiak tear into his guys today a bit for lining up the wrong way coming out of a huddle. Kubiak might not say a lot, but the fire is there.

SAFETY LOOK: Tyrann Mathieu was the starting safety along with Johnathan Abram. Not much to glean from this since Jordan Howden did not particiate in team drills despite being present.

During walkthrough, though, Howden came on after Abram.

CORNER LOOK: No Lattimore or McKinstry meant that Alontae Taylor and Paulson Adebo were the starting cornerbacks. But when the team went to a nickel look, Taylor moved inside and Rejzohn Wright lined up as the outside corner.

SPECIAL GUEST: Kubiak’s father, Gary, was in attendance. Gary Kubiak served as the Broncos offensive coordinator under Mike Shanahan for two decades and then worked as the head coach of the Houston Texans and Broncos.

CARR LIGHT: Carr completed 6 of 7 passes and looked to be in command. His best throw might have been one where he hit Chris Olave through a tight window with Taylor in coverage.

A lot of his throws were shorter passes where he was taking what was open. But Carr also had another good pass to Olave on the outside during his first set. One of his other completions came on a short curl over the middle to Hill after Hill motioned out of the backfield.

STANDING OUT: Both of New Orleans’ less heralded tight ends made plays. Rookie Dallin Holker and Michael Jacobson made a ton of plays. Holker made four catches and Jacobson had three.

Jacobson, a former basketball player, is a good athlete with the right size profile. After spending last year on the practice squad, he’s hit the ground running early on.

Holker was the second tight end on the field during team drills after Johnson. Many of the players at that position, like Foster Moreau, did not seem to participate in team drills.

GOOD RANGE: Don’t have a ton to say about Willie Gay Jr. yet, but the linebacker is quick and has good range. He worked alongside Demario Davis and Pete Werner while the Saints were in base packages for most of the day -- and it looked like he was the guy being leaned upon more in coverage. He also stayed with the 1s during the brief nickel snaps we saw. He moved down to pick up running backs out of the backfield.

BIG BOOM: It looks like Lou Hedley has been working on his game. The punter hung several punts for 4.7 seconds or more, and he was far more consistent than he was in training camp last year. He had a good day.

2-DEEP: A look at the depth chart:

QB Derek Carr, Jake Haener, Spencer Rattler

LT Taliese Fuaga, Landon Young

LG Nick Saldiveri/Shane Lemieux, Lemieux/Nouri Nouili

C Erik McCoy, Lucas Patrick

RG Cesar Ruiz, Kyle Hergel

RT Trevor Penning, Justin Herron

DE Carl Granderson, Isaiah Foskey

DE Payton Turner, Niko Lalos

DT Khalen Saunders, Jack Heflin

DT Kendal Vickers, Khristian Boyd

LB Demario Davis, D’Marco Jackson

LB Pete Werner, Khaleke Hudson

LB Willie Gay Jr., Anfernee Orji

CB Paulson Adebo, Shemar Jean-Charles

CB Alontae Taylor, Rezjohn Wright/Faion Hicks

S Tyrann Mathieu, Will Harris

S Johnathan Abram, J.T. Gray

*-Bryan Bresee, Jordan Howden did not appear to participate in any team drills

PLAY OF THE DAY: A.T. Perry had an incredible one-handed catch when he reached up and speared a Haener throw that was a little high with Jean-Charles in tight coverage.

PLAY OF THE DAY 2: Olave made a great catch down the sideline on a deep throw from Haener that fell in just over Wright.