Kellen Moore’s first preseason call came with a few expected absences and a couple of choices that raised eyebrows.
The New Orleans Saints already planned to sit their starters after the joint practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the decision to also hold out Bryce Lance, Vernon Broughton and Danny Stutsman stood out. After the game, some of that thinking came into focus.
According to WWL’s Jeff Nowak, Stutsman was treated like the starters because he has a defined role in the defense. He isn’t officially in the starting group, but he’s close enough to it to fall into that same bucket. The comparison on offense would be Noah Fant, though the difference in experience between the two makes Stutsman’s absence a little more surprising.
That role has shown up in camp, where Stutsman has taken the place of both Elliss and Werner in certain packages. He was a rotational piece last season, and this feels like the next step in his development.
Lance’s situation was easier to explain. Moore told reporters he was held out as a precaution because of a minor injury.
As a rookie, he needs every chance to get on the field, so this doesn’t sound like a player the Saints intend to park for long. He could still get work in the two joint practices coming up this week, and he should continue playing as the preseason goes on.
The Saints had their rookies on the field unless they were dealing with injury, and Lance has been building momentum in camp. He didn’t have a breakout preseason debut, but he did show enough to back up what the team has already seen.
Broughton was the trickiest of the three to read at first. He’s effectively a starter now with Bryan Bresee sidelined by injury, and that alone explains why he was handled like one. Still, there was a strong case for letting him play.
This is basically Broughton’s rookie season, since he played only one game last year. Live reps would have made sense. Instead, the Saints clearly felt they had seen enough from him in practice to keep him out of the game.
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