The adjustment from college football to the NFL is never easy, especially for quarterbacks. This is a lesson former Colorado State Rams signal caller Garrett Grayson has had to learn the hard way in his first year in the league. After a rough rookie season and an even more tumultuous offseason, with rumors swirling of the Saints showing interest in other young quarterbacks in the draft, Grayson’s future in New Orleans is starting to look much more promising.
The first sign of trust and belief in the former Ram was shown during the draft, where the Saints opted to not take a quarterback in the 2016 class, despite rumors swirling that they would. Now with OTAs in full swing, Grayson’s coach is also taking notice of his potential heir apparent to Drew Brees.
Reports have varied on how Grayson adapted and picked up the playbook in his first year. But there has certainly been a consensus on the improvements he’s shown early in year two. Per ESPN’s Saints reporter Mike Triplett Grayson himself has said “It’s a night-and-day difference,” from his rookie season.
Its easy for him to say, sure. But, Grayson’s head coach agrees. Per Barry Hirstius, Sean Payton said: “Yesterday, I would say that he had one of his better practices since he’s been here. But again, we’re really only three days in. He’s been real attentive. He’s in good shape and I think the biggest thing is just the mental element of the process happening quicker and him knowing where to go and not spending so much time worrying on how to call it.”
The road is still long to becoming a reliable NFL backup or starter, but this upcoming season is going to be big for the former Rams quarterback. Grayson himself understands this quite well.
“I think everyone, including myself, wants to see (me) kind of take that next step in Year 2,” Grayson explained. “Just be confident in everything I do. Take command of the guys.”
Payton also emphasized the importance of this offseason, and in particular, the preseason games.
“We’ll see,” Payton said of Grayson’s growth. “I think the preseason will be important this year (to) get a good evaluation of how he’s doing.”
While the plan for Grayson is to eventually take over for Brees, the former CSU gun-slinger has been able to learn from one of the all-time greats in his first full year with the team.
“Taking that year and kind of learning how Drew handled everything, seeing his film study, how he went about his daily work (helped),” Grayson said. “And now getting some extra reps, it’s been big for me to just take more command of the guys and just be confident and know that they can see the confidence come out in me.”
It’ll be interesting to see Grayson’s progress in the preseason. Last year he was only the third-stringer on the Saints depth chart, so reps were limited even in practice. This year he’ll need to establish himself as the backup to show the improvements and potential that Ram Nation knows he has in him. So far so good.
