I had the opportunity to talk with Saints linebacker Isaiah Pryor and ask him some question regarding his experience so far with the Saints. Huge thank you to him for doing this and for being a super cool dude.
The first question that I have for you is why the New Orleans Saints? Going undrafted, what attracted you to sign with the Saints? Especially since you’re from Georgia being around Falcons fans, I’m curious what attracted you to the Saints.
“Honestly draft day was crazy. A lot of teams were calling. I figured I would go late or undrafted and before the 3rd day of the draft the saints called me expressing that they were extremely interested as making me a priority free agent.”
To add onto that, did you have any meetings with them building up to the draft? And if you did, did you get the sense that you’d end up in New Orleans based on those meetings?
“I had no prior meetings or conversations with them. However, the saints have always been one of my favorite teams. Especially since I went to Ohio state. I could see a pipeline and know a lot of people on the team already. Ultimately the saints made an offer I couldn’t refuse and it’s been great ever since.”
You’ve spent roughly three months in New Orleans, how’s it been adjusting to the culture and the city?
“New Orleans has been a blast. The fan base is extremely supportive, the people around here just want to have a good time, the culture and history is rich, unique, and quite frankly something I’ve never seen before.”
You’ve had the rookie camp and the mini camp to kind of get a feel for the Saints defensive scheme. How was your experience during those camps?
“Rookie and mini camp has also been fun. Just being here is a blessing and I have fun every single day learning from great coaches and playing with players that are just amazing to watch in person.”
You have experience at linebacker and safety along with some rover. Do you see yourself playing a mixed role with the Saints or are you mainly focused on one position? Is there a certain position you’re more naturally comfortable with playing between the two?
“As of right now I’m primarily playing linebacker and learning two different linebacker positions, however rolling back to safety is something I feel comfortable with as well. I don’t really favor one over the other.”
In the Saints locker room has there been a guy whose stood out as a leader or has helped you adjust to the NFL?
“I would say the main person that stands out in the locker room (mainly because he was there the whole mini camp) would be Cam Jordan. He is just a man that is true to who he is and walks around like he knows he is one of the best DL in the world as he should. Not in a cocky or condescending way but owning it and I admire that.”
I’m not sure how much you’ve interacted with Matt Rhea, but if you have, what are your impressions on his coaching style and his philosophy on training and recovery?
“This is actually very funny because we was my high school strength coach at IMG academy. So I know him very well and was surprised to find out he landed in New Orleans around the same time as me. He is a great strength coach, one of the best I’ve been around and his approach to the logistics of training and crunching the numbers to get the best performance is unmatched.”
Training camp is coming up, is there a certain guy on the offensive side of the ball you’re excited to go up against?
“I would say Jarvis Landry, not necessarily because I would be going against him but he is one of the most electrifying WRs in the league. From what I saw briefly from mini camp I’m super excited to watch him as well.”
What do you think makes you stand out from some of these other guys competing for a roster spot? What are some things you want to improve upon during training camp?
“I think what makes me stand out is exactly what you said, being able to play really 3 different positions and be in this rover body type. I think that’ll help me make an NFL roster hopefully. This along with me being a hard worker and determined to learn all that I can at any given opportunity. And as far as what to improve I would just say really diving head first into this rookie linebacker role and learn all that I can from this great organization.”
That’s all I got for you. I appreciate you doing this man. I’m wishing you the best of luck during training camp. Rooting for you!
Written by Kadin Janisch
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