Payton will name Winston his starting QB when he’s ready

METAIRIE – We’ve seen enough.

But has Sean Payton seen enough?

The New Orleans Saints quarterback competition continues – at least officially.

It doesn’t end officially until Payton names either Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill the starter for the regular season.

Payton has said he’ll let us know when a decision is made, that a decision will come in time for the season opener September 12, that a decision could come before the preseason finale against Arizona on Saturday in the Caesars Superdome.

Or not.

Has he seen enough?

Stay tuned.

The most visible evidence presented by the two candidates has come from the first two preseason games. After quarterback performances that were essentially a wash in a 17-14 loss at Baltimore on August 14, things were far less competitive in the 23-21 victory against Jacksonville on Monday night in the Superdome.

Winston was nearly flawless, completing 9 of 10 passes for 123 yards with touchdown passes of 43 and 29 yards to Marquez Callaway. Hill relieved and completed 11 of 20 for 138 yards and a 14-yard touchdown to Lil’Jordan Humphrey.

If the decision were based exclusively on how Winston and Hill played in that game Winston would have been named the starter Monday night, perhaps as early as halftime.

In fact if the decision were to be made by local media, the Who Dat Nation or outside reporters and spectators who witnessed the nationally televised game, Winston probably would have been chosen by acclimation.

On Twitter he essentially was, but there’s only one vote that counts and it belongs to Payton.

Payton played quarterback once upon a time. He has coached quarterbacks, coordinated offenses and been a very successful head coach for a long time now.

His approach to this decision is different than that of the rest of us.

His conclusion will be based on all sorts of evidence, most of which we’re not privy to. That includes off-season work, analysis of every practice snap, analysis of every snap in preseason games as well as impressions of both quarterbacks that predate 2021.

He’s also considering each quarterback’s detailed grasp of his offense, their ability to not only make good decisions but to do so rapidly and efficiently, as well as their ability to lead an offense and an entire team to its maximum potential by their demeanor and character on the field and behind closed doors.

The Saints still have that last preseason game to play as well as more than two weeks of practice until the season opener against Green Bay in the Superdome.

Perhaps what happens in the preseason finale will be factored into Payton’s decision, perhaps not.

Perhaps Payton has made up his mind and just isn’t ready to share his choice. Perhaps he sees no value in making such an important decision when there is still time to gather more evidence.

Payton has tried to be fair to both quarterbacks by giving each one a start in these first two preseason games – Hill against the Ravens and Winston against the Jaguars. The coach has been similarly equitable in the distribution of first-team reps in practice since training camp started nearly four weeks ago.

It’s worth noting that standout tackles Ryan Ramczyk and Terron Armstead didn’t play in the first game but did play in the second.

So the luck of the draw was beneficial to Winston, though neither quarterback had the advantage of playing with Alvin Kamara.

There are a couple of schools of thought that have found their way into the public discourse about this competition. One favors Winston, one favors Hill.

One is that as long as the competition is close, which most (but not all) observers seem to think, Winston has an inherent advantage; if Hill starts, the Saints sacrifice all the other roles he can fill while Winston stands on the sideline, but it Winston starts, both players contribute as Hill returns to his Swiss Army Knife role.

That’s a practical consideration that is not illogical.

The other school of thought is that Payton is determined to prove to the world that the lump of quarterback clay that he claimed off waivers from Green Bay almost exactly four years ago has been molded by Payton into a top-flight quarterback despite countless skeptics saying it would never happen.

Such a mindset would not be inconsistent with Payton’s personality. He is extremely confident in his abilities – and rightfully so. He also has a stubborn streak in him – as do all football coaches.

But when speculating about the choice, it’s easy to do the one thing Payton wants to avoid doing in making his choice – over-think.

It’s likely that the bottom line on Payton’s thought process is this simple: Which quarterback is more likely to lead the Saints to more victories?

It’s unnecessary for Payton to make a decision before the preseason finale. It’s unnecessary for him to announce his decision as soon as he makes (or made) it.

Payton has seen a lot more evidence than anyone else, but that doesn’t mean he’ll come to a different conclusion than the rest of us.