Former Texas Longhorns defensive lineman Malcolm Roach can actually live his dream after being part of the original list of 53 men for the New Orleans Saints. A rookie agent who signed with the Saints after the 2020 NFL Draft, Roach survived court day, and NFL groups are expected to shrink from 80 to 53 players.
The local in Bat Rouge, Louisiana, didn’t hesitate to stop by to play for his favorite years of training. Joining a team where former Texas defensive player Malcolm Brown and former Longhorn open receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey would be his teammates, Roach was stunned to return to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, where he attended his youth games and helped Texas beat Georgia at the 2019 Sugar Bowl to crown a 10-game winning season in 2018.
At Thursday’s conference call with reporters, Saints head coach Sean Payton explained why Roach is on the 53-man list.
“Well, his physique, his athletic ability, ” said Payton. “Actually, it would be hard to say it obvious early because of the way we show up at the educational camp here. But I think he did several things, a strong player, we think he has intelligent motor skills and he’s one of the guys who understood, obviously, what we do very temporarily and one of the guys who made a first impression.
Last season in Texas, Roach recorded 40 tackles, losses and three catches. During his four-year career with the Longhorns, Roach totaled 130 tackles, 22. 5 tackles lost and eight catches in 44 games.
It’s not easy to succeed in the NFL as an uns recruited loose agent, but Roach proved it’s not impossible. In a Q&A consultation last July with Sam Shannon for the team’s official website, defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen said Roach. a user that the Saints would look at during the start of the educational camp.
“I think it has very good compatibility with what we do in terms of capacity. That’s one of the things that when we look at the kids we bring, is that they’ve obviously had smart educational careers, what do we do and how does that have compatibility?Nielsen says. ” I think he’s incredibly explosive, a smart player, I like him. His intelligence, he sees things when you watch his games in Texas. I think he’s also a smart pass advocate. Your game is not distorted one way or another. So when you can track down a player like that and look, he’s close to home now (born in Baton Rouge), he’s going to have a lot of motivation to be part of this football team. That’s something else that, man, it’s pretty cool. So I see things in him.
Roach did not take credit for the mini-camp or a typical off-season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nor did he show off his skills in the preseason games with which they were canceled, however Nielsen liked the player the Saints put under the microscope in August before deciding to bring him in.
“I may have told you a lot more if we were in education now, but we only attended meetings,” Nielsen said. “It’s been wonderful in the meetings. He asked the right questions. I like what I see of him, away and what I’ve noticed on the tape. He’s just another guy who, look, we’re going to know more after two weeks at camp, but I think we got the right guy here.
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