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With the New Orleans Saints entering their second-straight offseason of scouring every corner looking for a quarterback, Pro Football Focus college football analyst Anthony Treash released his predictions on what the franchise could do.
Treash looked at trade candidates and the free agent market, as well as the draft route. In a somewhat surprising manner, he predicted that the Saints would bring back a familiar face in free agent quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. In this case, Bridgewater would act as a stopgap veteran to help the newly-drafted Matt Corral get acclimated to life in the NFL.
On Bridgewater, this was Treash’s reasoning behind the acquisition:
“Bridgewater could be seen as a bridge quarterback for one of the teams drafting a rookie passer early in the 2022 NFL Draft. All of this year’s quarterback prospects could benefit from time to learn and develop before taking the reins of their respective offenses.
As we have seen with the Broncos, Panthers and Saints over the past three seasons, Bridgewater is a limited passer. He can hit underneath throws, but he isn’t going to lead an explosive passing offense. He has produced more turnover-worthy plays than big-time throws since 2019, with his best passing grade in that span being 71.4 in 2019 with New Orleans.”
It’s hard to see Bridgewater taking over the reins full time in New Orleans. While he did perform admirably in Drew Brees’ absence during a five-game stretch in 2019, he has shown over the last two seasons he may not have what it takes to lead a team to consistent wins. After going 5-0 in that run with the Saints, Bridgewater’s teams have gone 11-18 over the next two seasons.
New Orleans’ offense ranked 28th in total yards, 27th in yards per play, and 19th in points scored in 2021. The losses of Brees and Michael Thomas, and injuries to the offensive line gave way to a Saints offense that was nearly unrecognizable to those we’ve grown used to. Bringing on Bridgewater would further perpetuate those issues rather than solve them. However, the logic behind drafting Corral makes more sense. Treash wrote:
“Corral’s 2021 season took a nosedive midseason when injury struck the quarterback and his top wide receivers. Yes, the Ole Miss quarterback fought through his ailments and played, but the output wasn’t up to his standards. His 91.1 PFF grade through Week 7 was the fourth-highest in the FBS, but that mark fell to 70.6 from Week 8 on. Corral was in a very friendly offense at Ole Miss, and he operated it with pinpoint timing and accuracy while making plays through the air and on the ground.
As of now, Corral is widely viewed as a top-three quarterback and a first-round prospect in the 2022 NFL Draft class.”
The quarterback position is not this draft class’ strength, however, Corral is a player that would have fit well inside of Sean Payton’s offenses of old. Corral has a great arm that uses with deadly accuracy with short and medium throws. He is able to combine that with his mobility to help set himself apart from the pack. However, many draft analysts see Kenny Pickett as the choice in this draft, and if he is still around when the Saints pick at No. 18, he may be seen as a better fit than Corral.
This approach may be what’s best for developing a rookie quarterback, but it would still leave Bridgewater answering questions about when Corral is going to replace him all year. Wouldn’t it be easier if the Saints just committed to one or the other right away?
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