- 1 day ago
Former Saints RT and Super Bowl champion Jon Stinchcomb joins WWL Radio to chat with hosts Steve Geller and Jeff Nowak, breaking down the 2026 draft class and the pair of Georgia Bulldog additions, the outlook for the team and a lot more.
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00:03john always appreciate your time thanks so much how you been doing been great enjoyed watching
00:08the draft thought the uh saints improved themselves and uh i look forward to seeing
00:13what these new prospects offer first off man i want to tell you a big congrats on being named
00:17the new color analyst for the georgia bulldog sports network i know you're following some
00:22legendary footsteps there you got to be excited about this coming season yeah i'm pumped you know
00:26i enjoy doing saints preseason tv and i'm a biased reporter so being able to talk about two teams
00:34that i love uh i'm looking forward to it's great opportunity for me and and i'll be able to follow
00:40the dogs and the saints and what more can you ask for uh we're going to go right into obviously
00:46the
00:47saints drafting two bulldogs on this draft going heavy on the georgia players with kristen miller
00:53oscar delt from your perspective uh what is it about kirby smarts program that makes these guys
00:57such plug and play uh pro athletes first they recruit really well you talk about starting with
01:03a nice piece of clay for the potter i mean you've recruited four and five star guys and you challenge
01:09them in practice on a daily basis and i think that's why the program has found the success that
01:13they have but it's demanding i mean it is a it's notoriously physical in practice and uh
01:21there kirby's going to call you out and make sure that you're given 100 at all times and i think
01:27that's what some players are coming to georgia for that very reason and they want to be pushed they
01:32want to get better they want to be able to maximize their skills and i think the saints picked up
01:37two of
01:37the better players that were available coming out of georgia this year yeah and what what are your
01:42thoughts on on christian christian miller he's kind of an interesting an interesting prospect definitely
01:47got a personality on him but he's a big boy uh you know obviously can stuff the run but what
01:52are
01:52your thoughts on christian well that's the first thing that i'm looking for if i if i want a defensive
01:56tackle he's got to be able to stop the run and the more he can add in the pass rush
02:02game the better
02:03and i think that defined that that's who kristin is kristin's a player that you know he he is physical
02:10and the run game has powerful hands made a lot of tackles for georgia against the run this year and
02:18flashed at times in in the passing game he's not a you know i remember when brzee came out of
02:24clemson
02:25and how he had that explosive first step and it was pass rush first and they're going to improve
02:31uh his run defense i think kristin is kind of set up in in the opposite form of uh i
02:39i expect him
02:40to be very physical and and a factor in the run game early on and be able to develop his
02:45skill set
02:46as a pass rusher i do think he's got the the abilities and some of the traits that you're
02:51looking for to be a better pass rusher but uh i think what defines him at this point and why
02:58you
02:59drafted him is that he's a physical player with a high upside that plays the run really well yeah you
03:04know one thing one thing christian said when we talked to him is you know he's he's excited to team
03:08up
03:08with brian he's been watching brian since since high school or since brian was in high school um
03:13and and it is an interesting pairing and i'm just curious you know as a as a former offensive lineman
03:18right you know when you have these very different skill sets uh on the interior defensive line
03:24across from you how difficult is that as a as an offensive lineman to kind of adjust on the fly
03:29when
03:29one guy might be a little bit more more athletic maybe able to rush the passer versus another guy who
03:34who is kind of just that that bowl inside like what what are those varying skill sets on the
03:38defensive line do for a defense and what are they what are the challenges they present for the
03:43offensive line i think that's the biggest challenge for an offensive lineman is each week and each team
03:48has this variety of players i mean one week you're going up against you know some huge monster and the
03:55next time it's someone smaller and quicker and when a team's able to offer a variety of looks and
04:03has uh players with different skill sets that they can utilize i think it makes them more dangerous
04:08and for a defensive front um you know i would expect kristin to be kind of between the guards and
04:15it would allow brzee to to play more between that guard tackle space and allow him to you know utilize
04:24some
04:24of that quickness and explosiveness he has as a pass rusher so you know if you're looking at nose tackle
04:31and three tech kristin's going to be able to absorb a lot of that you know double team action and
04:37interior play that would demand the strength and power that he offers and hopefully will allow
04:44brian to to free himself and and play with a little more space and you know it's always good when
04:51you
04:51create synergy between the two of them because i think they are different players that uh have high
04:57ceilings john and the other guy from the bulldogs tight end oscar dealt what can you say about him
05:02i know a lot of the knocks at least was uh getting drafted was the fact he didn't have many
05:07receptions
05:07but i feel like he does so much more uh than that and there's been a ton of talk to
05:12post draft of that
05:13there being some untapped potential with him i think that is exactly right it's untapped potential and
05:19i don't think it's his fault you look at how he was used this past year he was one of
05:25the more
05:25effective blockers if if anything george's offensive line went through some growing pains
05:31early in the year and so they relied on a sixth blocker in the lineup and many times that was
05:38oscar delp and because he was so effective as that edge uh edge blocker in in george's system
05:48um i don't think it availed the opportunities um to highlight his skill set because he is an adept
05:55pass catcher and uh really you look back to uh 2024 and some of the plays that he made down
06:04the field
06:05i think that highlights what the saints are hoping they can pull out of him is uh that dual threat
06:12option where you know if he's lined up in line he can be effective and help running backs get to
06:17the
06:18edge but also be a threat down the field which is something that you know you didn't see a lot
06:24of
06:24on film this past year but when given the opportunities i mean he is he's one of those
06:30players having watched him throughout his career that that is capable uh the numbers just didn't
06:37reflect it you know john today's nfl it seems like you know there's more of a push toward heavy
06:42personnel right you're seeing more two tight end packages even three tight end packages and the
06:46interesting thing to me is like in the past you would put all those big bodies out on the field
06:50to run the ball in you know with what sean mcveigh and the rams did and what i think a
06:55lot more teams
06:55are going to start doing now is they're putting those big bodies out there they're putting those
06:58three tight ends out there because they want to throw the ball they want to get the other team in
07:01in base personnel with heavy bodies and then and then send those guys out there um and that requires
07:07guys tight ends who can not only block and sell the run but also go out there and be
07:11be weapons out down the field i'm just curious do you think that's what the saints are planning to do
07:17a little bit with with oscar and with noah fan and with juan johnson and how do you think that
07:22could
07:22affect their offense this year i think it's all about creating mismatches and opportunities and
07:27every coordinator is looking for an advantage and you know as you look at tight ends it's almost
07:34become a misnomer uh you can thank jimmy graham and company for that because how many times do they
07:41really line up as a slot receiver and you're saying all right are you going to play with a
07:46linebacker over him because you you want somebody physical in the run game or are you going to drop
07:52down a safety or is it a nickel corner that you're bringing in because you think it's sub personnel
07:56so when you have tight ends that are able to do both so you have like the slot wide receiver
08:03tight end
08:03and then you have the in line put your hand in the dirt tight end who also plays like that
08:09fullback
08:10motion between the tackles bumper and so you know most teams have a quote-unquote tight end
08:17uh or two that fill those spaces in in different capacities and we've seen that you you look at the
08:25skill sets from like a foster moreau versus a juan johnson and how they're used and and you see that
08:32you know yes they fall under the category of tight end but how they're deployed in the matches and the
08:39ask for that particular player is different so these coordinators are trying to create those
08:45advantages and personnel and spacing and and pre-snap motions and all the various things that
08:53they're throwing at a defense but yes because of their body type i think it challenges a defense to
08:59figure out what kind of personnel you're going to play with when you have two or three of the big
09:03bodies out on the field john you know very well that the saints are really honed in and locked in
09:09on
09:10addressing the offensive line always uh they did this year with jeremiah wright a big guy at auburn
09:176333 331 a big mountain of a man there uh with the current state of the interior line though how
09:22do you
09:23think how quickly can he adjust to the speed of nfl defensive tackles yeah i mean i think you you
09:30draft
09:31him hoping that there's not an immediate need that he's going to be on the field i mean hopefully
09:39he's that number six guy that provides that depth and swing position because we've invested so much
09:46one through the draft but obviously uh pretty substantial free agent add this offseason as well
09:52so looking at it you know when you draft a guy in the third round you obviously like his his
09:58skill set
09:58but uh but you're hoping that it's not a day one starter because really that's more of an indictment
10:04of of the guys that you already have in house and uh having having seen jeremiah play some this
10:11season when we're looking at auburn film uh talented guy big body uh plays with like he plays heavy but
10:20doesn't have heavy feet which for those out there he can anchor well against the the bull rush and some
10:26of
10:26those bigger defensive tackles but he also can get out in space and move and uh that's what you like
10:33about him and and hope that it translates well because you know i i think part of the thing is
10:39you're building an offense now that tyler shuck is the man and you recognize what you're what you have
10:47in hand there trying to build around him and make sure that you keep him safe and give him the
10:51weapons
10:52that he needs to be successful yeah you kind of brought it up there and you know kind of take
10:55a
10:56broader look at this saints team and heading into the 2026 season i'm curious what you think about
11:01this because because to me it's like we look at the last five seasons and and how it's gone and
11:06they're just since drew left there just has not been a ton of a ton of realistic optimism of hey
11:12like
11:12this team should be good this team should be heading in the right direction it always kind of seemed like
11:16hey you're kind of leveling off maybe you get to the middle maybe you fight your way to the playoffs
11:20with
11:2010 wins whatever they won nine games in uh in da second season it just felt like pulling teeth the
11:26whole way it seems to me like that's shifting like it seems like you know there's been a commitment to
11:32rebuilding the roster and and bringing in kind of high floor players um to making a lot of draft picks
11:38they made 17 draft picks over the last two seasons and also it feels like you've hit the quarterback
11:42i'm curious do you think that that's a real thing is that just me imagining it or is there kind
11:49of
11:49a sense of trending in the right direction that just hasn't been there for this team for the last
11:54several years yeah i think this i think before kellen even walked through the door you looked at
12:00it you realize for a couple years i think from from my perspective that new orleans thought they
12:07were closer than they probably were to being at that elite level and injury injuries had a lot to do
12:14with it and you look at the roster and because they were so cash strapped with how they've approached
12:20the the salary cap you could you could field a pretty good pretty solid competitive first string but
12:28as guys got hurt there just wasn't the depth that some of the better teams had out there and
12:33especially during da's tenure uh as we started racking up injuries you didn't have the depth there
12:41was such drop off between uh the starter and the next guy that it it showed how lean the the
12:50cupboards
12:51had become uh for stockpiling talent and now that you're kind of on the other side of that and and
12:59have eaten some of the dead weight dead money loss uh that the saints had faced over these past few
13:06years and invested in draft picks and hit on them so uh i think now you're looking at a roster
13:12that
13:13you're going okay i i see where the growth is i see where opportunity is and there is reason for
13:18optimism
13:19to think that they're pointed in the right direction and are starting to put pieces in place that will
13:25make them competitive john definitely appreciate your insights on the game the players and uh looking
13:31forward to hearing you georgia football now being the color analyst are you still going to get to do
13:34the preseason games for the saints that's my hope uh i usually don't find out till june
13:41my understanding is those two will not conflict so as long as they're willing i would love to
13:47john stinchcomb saints super bowl champ appreciate the time you have a great weekend john thanks john
13:52i appreciate it who dat who dat
13:56you
13:56you
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