Saints may have settled their fullback competition by waiving Zander Horvath

The Saints may have settled their fullback competition by waiving Zander Horvath. But is Adam Prentice’s job really safe from Taysom Hill?

Training camp isn’t over just yet, but the New Orleans Saints may have already settled their fullback competition. Zander Horvath was let go on Tuesday, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill.

Horvath followed running backs coach Derrick Foster to New Orleans from the Los Angeles Chargers, and he initially seemed to have an edge over Adam Prentice, who the Saints re-signed this offseason after he tested free agency. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak asks a lot of his fullbacks in blocking for their teammates while also running routes and occasionally catching passes, and Prentice has emerged as a better option.

That’s a little surprising after Prentice’s rough 2023 season. He had a costly fumble and some dropped passes last year, but credit to him for stepping up in the face of competition. But he isn’t out of the woods yet. Taysom Hill has taken more snaps at fullback this summer than in the past and Prentice must convince the coaching staff they still need a full-time fullback even with Hill in the mix to a greater degree. We’ll keep an eye on him through the next two preseason games.

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Saints sign a new fullback, but he isn’t new to their coaching staff

The Saints signed a new fullback, but he isn’t new to their coaching staff. Meet Zander Horvath:

The New Orleans Saints signed a new fullback, but he isn’t new to their coaching staff. Meet Zander Horvath, formerly of Purdue, whose addition was announced on Thursday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire.

Horvath, 25, played college football at Purdue before turning pro with the Los Angeles Chargers, who picked him in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft. He measured out exceptionally well in the pre-draft process with a 9.83 Relative Athletic Score (a metric which often lines up with attributes the Saints value). He weighed in at 6-foot-2 and 228 pounds but has been listed at 232 and 235 with different teams.

Former Chargers running backs coach Derrick Foster worked with him closely in L.A., so there’s an obvious connection with Foster holding the same position on staff these days in New Orleans. Horvath was waived during roster cuts last August and briefly landed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Chargers brought him back to their practice squad to close out the season. He wasn’t re-signed after that.

He wasn’t the only player the Saints tried out on Thursday; the wire also reports 232-pound running back Qadree Ollison as a participant. He’s a former Atlanta Falcons draft pick (fifth round in 2019) who was teammates with Horvath on the Steelers for a few months last season. The Saints must have liked what they saw from Horvath better.

This might mean the end of the road for Adam Prentice. The incumbent Saints fullback is a restricted free agent but he’s coming off a down year with dropped passes, blown blocking assignments, and a very unfortunate fumble. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is going to be asking different things of his fullback than Pete Carmichael asked of Prentice last season, so they might look for someone else to push Horvath for the job in training camp.

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Klint Kubiak-Derrick Foster pairing can maximize Saints’ running backs

The Klint Kubiak-Derrick Foster pairing should ensure Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller’s versatility is maximized in 2024:

As the New Orleans Saints fill out the offensive coaching staff, they have closed in on Derrick Foster as their running backs coach. Foster comes over to New Orleans after three years with the Los Angeles Chargers in the same position. He’ll be working under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, and the pairing has the potential to elevate the running backs room.

The versatility of Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller can be maximized by this coaching duo. In Foster’s two years in Los Angeles, running back Austin Ekeler led the league in total touchdowns (rushing and receiving). His tutelage will likely leave a larger impression on Miller as a young player, but Kamara will benefit as well from a coach familiar with using a versatile player, such as Kamara.

Kubiak has a similar level of expertise. He worked with Christian McCaffrey, this year’s leader in touchdowns, on the San Francisco 49ers. Seeing Kyle Shanahan get the most out of McCaffrey’s many talents has to have taught him some things in how to best deploy Kamara.

The combination of Kubiak installing a running back-friendly scheme and familiarity with dual-threat playmakers should help the Saints maximize the talents at the position. Expect more catches and touchdowns for both Kamara and Miller in 2024.

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Saints expected to hire former Chargers RB coach Derrick Foster

The Saints are expected to hire former Chargers running backs coach Derrick Foster, adding more youth and new insight to their coaching staff:

This could be a big get: Derrick Foster is expected to be hired as the New Orleans Saints’ new running backs coach, as first reported by Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports.

Foster, 38, spent the last three years in that position with the Los Angeles Chargers, where he helped develop Austin Ekeler into the NFL’s top scoring threat; no player scored more touchdowns (44) over the last three years put together.

Before he came to the NFL, Foster coached running backs at Iowa from 2018 to 2020 and also worked at Samford, Northwestern State in Louisiana, and Tennessee.

Now, he’ll be working with Alvin Kamara. The Saints fielded one of the league’s least-effective rushing attacks in 2023 and it falls on Foster and new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to get more out of their personnel; not just Kamara but also second-year pro Kendre Miller and veteran backup Jamaal Williams. They can’t rely on Taysom Hill being the team’s most explosive runner again in 2024.

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Report: Chargers expected to hire Derrick Foster as running backs coach

The Los Angeles Chargers will have a new running backs coach.

The Chargers coaching staff is nearly complete.

According to AL.com’s Matt Zenitz, Los Angeles is expected to hire former Iowa running backs coach Derrick Foster in the same role.

Hired back in 2018, Foster led a running back group that included first-team All-Big Ten running back Tyler Goodson this past season.

Foster served as running backs coach and running game coordinator at Samford University in 2015 and 2016.

He has also coached wide receivers and running backs at Tennessee, Northwestern State University, and Valdosta State University.