Don’t look now, or you might miss Mason Tipton. The New Orleans Saints rookie is quickly climbing the depth chart after a strong start to training camp. After emerging as a favorite target of his quarterbacks on the third- and fourth-string offenses and now he’s earning looks with the higher-ranked units. He brings a similar athletic profile to Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed at a listed 5-foot-11, 187 pounds with credible 4.3 speed.
The Saints clearly liked what they saw from Tipton in college because they guaranteed $110,000 of his rookie contract. But it’s safe to say he’s blown past their initial expectations. You don’t see many undrafted rookies added to the media availability list to start the second week of training camp.
Dennis Allen has seen players like Tipton break out before, but his comparison is kind of unique. He pointed to one of his former players on the defensive side of the ball as an example of someone who thrived in similar circumstances.
“I was telling someone the other day,” Allen began, speaking with local media after Monday’s practice session, “I had Chris Harris in Denver. 2011, we had the lockout, and nobody knew who Chris Harris was. He was an undrafted free agent out of Kansas. But every day he showed up out there, he worked his tail off, competed at the highest level, and every day he did something to catch your eye. Next thing you know you’re two or three weeks into training camp, and he’s done something to deserve another opportunity to get more opportunities. I like some of the things I’m seeing out of him.”
Harris formally retired from the NFL earlier this year with an impressive list of achievements on his resume. He won a place on the Pro Bowl roster four times and was recognized as a first team All-Pro in 2016, also winning a Super Bowl ring with the Broncos. The Pro Football Hall of Fame honored him on their All-Decade team for the 2010s. That’s a high standard to chase, but as Allen said, he and Tipton had similarly humble starts upon turning pro.
Allen added that the Saints want to fully explore Tipton’s skill set, to see if he can be more than just a deep threat or decoy downfield. The more he can do to help the team the better his chances of making the roster. Things are fairly open after the top four spots (being Olave, Shaheed, Cedrick Wilson Jr., and A.T. Perry) and other young pros like Bub Means aren’t necessarily secure just because they were picked in the final rounds of this year’s draft.
We’ve seen undrafted wideouts make the team before. Look at Shaheed, and before him guys like Marquez Callaway and Deonte Harty. Tipton is certainly on the right track. He just needs to keep it up.
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