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Mickey Loomis clarifies Dennis Allen's statement on young players

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - OCTOBER 29: Rashid Shaheed #22 of the New Orleans Saints and Chris Olave #12 of the New Orleans Saints celebrate after Shaheed's receiving touchdown during the second quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 29, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - OCTOBER 29: Rashid Shaheed #22 of the New Orleans Saints and Chris Olave #12 of the New Orleans Saints celebrate after Shaheed's receiving touchdown during the second quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 29, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Dennis Allen recently said the New Orleans Saints don't have any great young players, instead saying they have "young guys who are developing." It was an odd comment for a head coach to make about his team, even when taken in context of the conversation.

So Saints general manager Mickey Loomis stepped in to expand on Allen's comments by comparing young players to Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis. Those two players didn't blossom into stars immediately.

Loomis pointed to the beginning of their careers, specifically the first four years where their tackles, sacks, and postseason honors were more pedestrian. It took some time but both Jordan and Davis developed into great players with the records and Pro Bowls to back it up. He then pointed to players such as Chris Olave, Bryan Bresee, Taliese Fuaga and Alontae Taylor as some of the players who could follow that same career arc.

While those players may not be stars yet, Loomis believes they could ascend and begin to get more accolades in the next four to five years similarly to Jordan and Davis.

Loomis ended up naming nearly every prominent young player on the team, but he understands they can't all be stars. "Will they all do that? No. That'd be unrealistic. We don't expect that. But certainly we have a lot of guys, and there's others as well, who have that opportunity."

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This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Mickey Loomis clarifies Dennis Allen's statement on young players