METAIRIE, La. (WGNO) – Saints head coach Kellen Moore held his weekly Monday press conference this afternoon, following the team’s week 11 bye week, and although the Black and Gold didn’t have a game to recap, New Orleans did have time to evaluate its young core.
Through the team’s first 10 games, two players stand out: Quarterback Tyler Shough and left tackle Kelvin Banks, Jr.
The bye week came at a perfect time for the team’s second round rookie.
During the Saints’ previous game against the Carolina Panthers, Shough threw a rookie franchise record 282 passing yards and two touchdowns and became the first rookie since 1981 to start and win a game for the Black and Gold, and the Louisville alum’s ability to perform on third down and in the red zone stood out.
“I think some of the things that showed up was make some plays on some hard downs, and I think that’s credit to Tyler and these guys on offense of making some plays. Third downs, red zone, two minute drives, those are hard situations, and those can be challenging. For him to make some big time plays in that, obviously credit to those guys. They extended drives and created some points,” Moore said.
Third down is also an area where Shough’s fellow rookie has shined this season.
The Saints investment drafting Banks ninth overall has been paying off. After facing three teams which are top 10 in the NFL in total sacks (Seahawks, Bills and Rams), the former Texas Longhorn has only allowed three sacks, and Moore only had one emotion when describing Banks’s play this year: joy.
“I feel awesome about Kelvin. He does a really good job of being assignment sound. He plays some really hard downs. The left tackles in this league have hard downs. They have third downs, where they’re one-on-one with really good rushers. It’s different than some of the other positions. so you’re playing some more challenging situations than other people. I thought he’s done just a really consistent job throughout this entire season. I feel really fortunate that we were able to, draft Kelvin. I think he’s going to be a big time left tackle for us for a really long time,” Moore added.
Banks will need to be at his best this weekend against Atlanta. The Falcons enter week 12 second in the NFL in team sacks with 34.
Click the video above to hear Moore’s full presser.
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