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Jared Cook has a great appreciation for how friendly the New Orelans Saints offense can be to a good tight end. He had one of his best seasons in his first year with the team, setting new personal-bests in touchdowns scored (9) and yards gained per catch (16.4). He also notch the second-highest marks of his career in yards per game (50.4) and catch rate (66.2%), hitting his stride with Drew Brees in the second half of the season.
But he’ll be the first to admit that it’s a tough playbook to pick up, especially for a rookie. That’s the task facing Tommy Stevens, a college quarterback at Mississippi State who is converting to tight end at Saints training camp. When asked if the transition is going to be hard on Stevens, all Cook could do was nod the affirmative.
“Pretty tough,” Cook said during Thursday’s media conference call after practice. “The first week he was kind of running with the quarterbacks and now he has transitioned a little bit full-time into the tight ends.”
Stevens exchanged his No. 1 jersey for one carrying No. 85, and he’ll likely spend the rest of training camp working on that position switch. It was kind of inevitable; the Saints drafted him as a possible backup or successor to Taysom Hill, a do-it-all threat who has both thrown and caught passes while chipping in as a blocker.
To Cook, the biggest test for Stevens will be a shift in attitude from the detached, always-aware quarterback to being someone who is always ready to scrap in the trenches: “So tight ends are all about the mindset. It is about what you bring to the table, how dirty you want to get your nose. And I think that’s one of the biggest things he has to get used to as playing tight end.”
This isn’t new territory for Stevens, which should help ease his transition. He ran many of the plays designed for Hill by former Saints assistant Joe Brady when they were both at Penn State, developing familiarity with the receiving end of the a passing offense. He caught 14 passes to gain 62 yards in college, scoring two touchdowns through the air. It’s not much, but it’s not a bad place for the 6-foot-5, 253 pounder to start from.
And that gives Cook some confidence, too. The way he sees it, once Stevens can attack each day with the right mindset, the rest will follow. He continued, “And then just technique stuff (will challenge Stevens). He catches the ball really well. It’s just all about blocking technique. It is about how you come out of your stance. It is about his releases off the line that he has to get used to.”
Cook mentioned that Stevens has been working individually with tight ends coach Dan Campbell — who himself played for the Saints in 2009 — and assistant coach Declan Doyle, doing what he can to get on the fast track for success. The Saints have tried to convert a few different players to tight end in recent years, like wide receiver Dan Arnold, defensive end Mitch Loewen, but maybe Stevens has what it takes to pull off a big change from quarterback.
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