It’s expected that Trevor Siemian will be the starter for Sunday’s division home game vs the Falcons according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport. This may be a decision that some people will disagree with, but it’s one that we should trust in. Sean sees these guys everyday and knows more than any of us Saints fans. Now with Siemian starting, Taysom can stay at his flex role and be a weapon for the Saints which they are in desperate need of. Sean looked at his options and made the best possible decision for the Saints to win, and he felt Siemian was the guy to go with.
This could change next week too, Taysom is coming off a three week concussion injury and didn’t fully practice till Thursday. It makes sense that Sean wouldn’t want to start Hill since he’s been out. We’ll see how things play out this week and how Sean Payton approaches next week, but for now Siemian is the guy.
Out of all the guys available, Siemian has the most experience as a starting quarterback in the NFL. His first season starting in 2016 he started off 4-0 in his first four games as a starter and at one point was 7-2 as a starter. He won’t have the flashiest or biggest plays but he’ll manage a game and set his team up to win a game.
The offense I would presume will be similar to how it was with Brees in recent years. Not as many shots downfield but still enough to keep the opposing defense on their heels, they will rely heavily on the run game with both Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, and probably a lot more of Taysom Hill. Sean will win games by having Siemian be a game manager. Take time off the clock, set up these short to intermediate plays like they did against Tampa, and put up points while keeping their elite defense rested. It won’t be flashy, but it will be enough to win games.
Siemian is aged enough at the quarterback position to know to not turn the ball over, and under Sean Payton’s system all he has to do is protect the ball and put up points to win games. With the defense playing at a championship level, anything over 24 points most likely secured the game.
As we saw from Sunday’s game vs Tampa Bay, he can manage a game and get downfield, but how does he play when a team has a week of preparation for him and has a game plan for him? Siemian and the offense did struggle for the majority of the second half because Tampa made adjustments, so where does that leave the offense?
Sean will scheme up some plays to move the chains, possible screens to Kamara or Ingram and some possible short plays to Deonte in hopes of some yards after the catch. Sean will find a way to keep Siemian as comfortable as possible and by doing that it will allow him to manage the offense and take what the defense gives him. Gm that’s something that has been the quarterback motto in New Orleans since 2017, it was passed onto Winston and now Siemian will continue this style of offense.
Over the offseason whenever Payton was asked about the quarterback competition he would say that he likes Trevor Siemian and his competitive nature. Some reporters as well from training camp said that Siemian of the three had the prettiest and most consistent deep ball and we saw that on his 38 yard pass to Kevin White. So, while his arm isn’t like Jameis’ we can and probably will see some shots downfield. That part of the offense isn’t out of Sean’s game plan whether Siemian or Taysom throws it.
Siemian is 13-11 as a starter with a total of 5,848 yards with 31 passing touchdowns. With Siemian the starter, that should make Ian Book the game day backup in the scenario that Siemian gets injured.
Written By Kadin Janisch
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