New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis joined Zach Strief and NFL legend Ron "Jaws" Jaworski on the Saints Radio Network on Tuesday night, discussing the play of Saints quarterback Taysom Hill and the impact that Covid-19 has on the NFL. Stan Van Gundy, New Orleans Pelicans coach, also joined the show as a special guest.
After sweeping the season series against their divisional Atlanta Falcons, the Saints (10-2) clinched a playoff spot and have now won nine straight games. Hill threw his first two NFL touchdown passes in the game and ran for 83 yards in an efficient performance.
"When you watch Taysom Hill, what comes to mind when you watch him at quarterback?" Loomis asked Jaworski.
"The brilliance of Sean Payton. I think it is absolutely amazing what he has done with his young man," Jaworski said, "I don't think people understand how hard the position is to play, and yes, he has some experience getting a few snaps each game when there is a package for him, and I think that certainly helped him, but to play at a consistent level that he has played at is just remarkable. I give a lot of that credit to Sean Payton, developing him the proper way. There are a lot of guys in this league that have great quarterback talent that never make it, it's up to the coach to set him up for success, and Sean Payton has done that."
Over the past two seasons, Sean Payton has led New Orleans to a perfect 8-0 record in games where Drew Brees has not played due to injury.
Jaworski spoke about the difficulties and challenges the NFL has endured during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"There is no groove right now. Everything changes everyday," Jaworski said, "You wake up in the morning, not only in the National Football League, in the NBA, in business, and you pivot. You don't know what each and every day brings. The effect that it has on the NFL, is you don't know what you're getting day-to-day and week-to-week. The competitive balance just isn't there, and that's affected and impacted every single team in the NFL."
Van Gundy talked about what made New Orleans and the Pelicans organization an attractive place to coach.
"There were quite a few NBA (head coach) openings, and it was the only job I even tried to get involved with," Van Gundy said, "It was a lot of things, and it was really the fact that it had the complete package. Obviously, roster-wise the young talent and the potential for that to develop was attractive. David Griffin's record of being able to build teams, and even what he has done in the first year (in New Orleans) personnel-wise, gave me great confidence in him. As I got into the process, I gained more confidence in the kind of culture that he wanted to build here. The ownership having such sustained success with the Saints, I think really attracted me. This is clearly an ownership group that understands what it takes in pro sports. I thought that was really attractive. Quite honestly, me and my wife weren't just going to go to any city,. We were going to go somewhere we wanted to live."
