BEAU'S BLOG

Saints stealthily may have found the next Drew Brees

Glenn Guilbeau

BATON ROUGE

Rare is it when an NFL head coach can go to a Starbucks, go to a Subway, board a plane in a major airport, land in another airport and return home without being Tweeted, Facebooked, Instagrammed, Pinterested, Tumblred (They still have that one?), scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, diced, peppered, capped and topped (The last two are not the same thing at Waffle House.).

But Saints coach Sean Payton did just that last Monday when he went up to Fort Collins, Colorado, and worked out Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson.

"It just so happened that there was nothing on our workout with him," Payton said Friday night after drafting the 6-foot-2, 215-pound quarterback with the 11th pick of the third round and 75th overall. "And that was not a stealth move on our part. No, don't give me that much credit. It just happened to not be out there. There was nothing written about it."

And Payton and his staff are voracious readers, social media followers and have eaten at a Waffle House or two.

"We will have people that will look closely at the various teams, because if you look at the news outlets, which we do, you can keep track of every team," Payton said. "Here is Garrett Grayson. We know he's worked out for Cleveland. We know he's worked out for St. Louis. We know his private workouts, and all of that information literally sits in the room as you are looking at the picks ahead of you."

But the Saints snuck one in, and apparently got away with it without really trying.

"When you go out in the morning, there's a picture with the Starbucks lady, and then we are having lunch at the Subway place," Payton said. "And it's not only out there, but people have timelines if they really look at it with those people tweeting those pictures."

Few had the Saints going for a quarterback, though general manager Mickey Loomis did drop a hint last Wednesday that the Saints may draft one. Few had the Saints going for one like a Grayson as early as the third round, though. Yet, one day not too far from now, history may say that on April 27, 2015, the Saints worked out the next Drew Brees.

"We worked him out last week and kind of went under the radar," Payton said. "We were kind of hoping it would."

Payton obviously thought Grayson did very well in that workout. When told Friday night that Grayson said in a teleconference interview that he thought he did not do well, Payton said, "That's good news, too."

Grayson, the first quarterback taken in the draft after Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota went as the first two picks of the first round, became the earliest Saints quarterback pick in the regular draft since they took Archie Manning of Ole Miss with the second pick of the first round on January 28, 1971, right after the Patriots took Jim Plunkett of Stanford. (The Saints took Dave Wilson of Illinois with a first round selection in the Supplemental Draft in 1981.)

And to Payton, one of the best quarterback gurus in the NFL, Grayson was not just any quarterback.

"For us, there wasn't more than one (after the first two)," Payton said. "This was the player - if he was available. And if not, we probably would have went without drafting a quarterback."

A very accurate passer, Grayson finished fifth in the nation in passing efficiency at 166.2 as a senior in 2014 for Colorado State with 270 completions in 420 attempts for 4,006 yards and 32 touchdowns with seven interceptions. And that was despite two joint injuries in his throwing shoulder in the fourth week of the season. He has also broken his collarbone three times, but he has not missed a game since 2012.

"He's clean," Payton said. "We were conscious of his injury, and I've seen him play in games where he's been hit hard and actually looked like he might come out. But his durability has been pretty good."

Grayson throws anticipatory passes to receivers about to be open and has a very quick release, though he had to use a longer one last season because of the shoulder issues. He is hoping to return to the quicker launch soon.

"That is something that I am trying to tighten up because I know those defenses in the NFL are coming off the edge quick," Grayson said.

"We like his fit, his makeup," Payton said. "He is extremely athletic. He's got a good stature, and from guys who I have worked out over the years, he has a real good, quick release. He is a good decision maker so that is exciting for us."

Brees is 36.

"I think it would be different if all of a sudden we are taking a quarterback in the first round, and we had a different vision," Payton said. "But in our case, it is pretty clear. We love our starter."

Clearly, though, Brees is 36.

"It gives the young players behind him a chance to mature and develop," Payton said. "I understand the story, certainly, with where Drew is in his career."

Grayson too understands the story. Brett Favre was 35 when Green Bay drafted Aaron Rodgers out of California with the 24th pick of the first round in 2005. In 2008, Rodgers became the starter, and the rest is history.

"I'm coming to compete like a starter, like anybody should," Grayson said. "But I have no problem sitting behind a Hall of Famer like Drew Brees and learning, just like Aaron Rodgers did with Brett Favre. I'm not just saying this, this really is a dream come true for me."

RASCO SIGNS WITH PACKERS: LSU senior defensive end Jermauria Rasco of Evangel Christian in Shreveport has signed a free agent agreement with the Green Bay Packers, NFL Draft expert Mike Detillier of WWL Radio in New Orleans said Sunday.

On Saturday, four undrafted LSU players signed free agent deals — tailback Terrence Magee with Baltimore, fullback Connor Neighbors with Tennessee, safety Ronald Martin with Seattle and center Elliott Porter with Cleveland.