METAIRIE, La. (BRPROUD) — The New Orleans Saints get their first look at the 2023 No. 1 overall NFL draft pick, quarterback Byrce Young, Monday night.
Young had some growing pains in the Panthers’ Week 1 loss to the Falcons, going 20-38 for 146 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions.
The 2021 Heisman Trophy winner is known for his playmaking ability or how Saints Head Coach Dennis Allen referred to it as playground football. With his skillset, the Saints are treating Young like a veteran rather than a rookie.
“I know that we’re dealing with a young, talented, talented team, obviously with a quarterback like Bryce,” Saints linebacker Pete Werner said. “This is a team that you need to be on point and you need to, especially with a quarterback like this and how he’s got that big play ability. You got to you got to go out and execute.”
“I thought he was extremely accurate,” Allen said. “I thought he was extremely intelligent, made really good decisions. I thought one of the best things that he did was his ability to create, for lack of a better term, some of the playground football that he’s able to create on the field I thought was one of his one of his best assets. So we’re going to treat him with the respect that deserves.”
The Saints’ defense will also have a similar challenge that they had against the Titans in stopping the Panthers’ rushing attack. Carolina’s 1-2 punch of Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders combined for 132 of the Panthers’ 154 rushing yards in week 1.
“That’s something we harp on and something we take very seriously stopping the run,” Saints defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon said. “That’s how you have fun, you know, stop the run you can have fun, rush the passer. And that’s what we expect to do to stop this team.”
The Saints have only lost once to a rookie quarterback picked first overall since 2000, that quarterback was Jameis Winston who is now the backup quarterback in New Orleans.
