Saints Tight End Situation Remains Troublesome

“Man I really hope Benjamin Watson doesn’t go down.”

That’s a statement that you may have thought prior to 2015 no New Orleans Saints fan would ever say.

But after the recent rash of injuries and no-shows for the tight end group, it’s what they should be thinking.

The Saints started off their training camp this year with four tight ends on their roster that is spearheaded by Watson and followed by Josh Hill, Orson Charles, and Jack Tabb.

Even then I was a tad nervous about the depth considering Watson was the only proven veteran with Hill hoping to hold off Charles for the #2 spot and Tabb being an undrafted free agent rookie.

Aug 24, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Cincinnati Bengals tight end Kevin Brock (83) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The situation got a little better when they added Kevin Brock to the roster after losing out on the bid to sign veteran Jermaine Gresham.

But the injuries and no-shows I mentioned have ended up making the group seem even more decimated than when they started camp with.

Watson has been the only consistent feature of camp making athletic catches and showing that he can be a reliable receiving threat.

Hill has unfortunately been the no-show with little to no mention of him during practices and then eventually nursing a suspected injury that’s caused him to miss practices and also being held out of the Black and Gold scrimmage today.

I say unfortunately because a lot of expectations have been placed on Hill mainly to the heaping praise put on him by some of the media as well as head coach Sean Payton.

May 28, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints tight end Josh Hill (89) during organized team activities at the New Orleans Saints Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

But as NOLA.com’s Katherine Terrell noted close to a week ago, Brock has actually taken the spotlight away from Hill to an extent.

Charles has also done the same and was credited during the scrimmage as making one particularly outstanding catch while being covered.

Tabb has been the main one the injury bug has bitten after going down yesterday in practice, according to WWL-TV’s Lyons Yellin, “screaming” while grabbing his knee.

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He had to be carted off the field eventually and although Payton refuses to address injuries in camp, it doesn’t take a medical degree to know screaming + clutching your knee + trainer cart usually = a serious injury in the ACL or MCL area.

After the scrimmage it was found that the Saints were working out several tight ends and according to a report by The Advocate’s Nick Underhill, one is said to be undrafted free agent Jean Sifrin.

Sifrin is a former tight end from UMass who was already said to be against the bricks being in his late 20’s (27) as well as deciding to leave school prior to his senior year.

Feb 20, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; University of Massachusetts tight end Jean Sifrin catches a pass during the 2015 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

He went undrafted this year and ended up signing with the Indianapolis Colts but was released the first week of June during OTA’s.

The website for UMass states that for 2014 Sifrin played in 11 games where he caught 42 passes for 642 yards and 6 touchdowns.

The website also says Sifrin was awarded “the No. 7 Play of the Day on ESPN’s SportsCenter for his acrobatic one-handed touchdown grab against Colorado.”