Many New Orleans Saints were caught unawares in the closing minutes of the 2020 NFL Draft, when the Saints traded back into the seventh round to select a prospect only known to the cowbell-slinging fanatics at Mississippi State: quarterback Tommy Stevens.
But no Saints fan was as shocked as Stevens himself, except maybe Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Brady worked with Stevens as a graduate assistant at Penn State, before making the jump to the NFL as an assistant coach with the Saints.
He’d used that inside track to recruit Stevens as an undrafted free agent for the Panthers, selling his protege on a role as the next Taysom Hill — a vision the Saints shared.