The first overall pick from the 2019 NBA Draft is showing his skills as an NFL quarterback. Monday morning, Zion Williamson, who landed with the Pelicans in late June, made an appearance at training camp for the New Orleans Saints. As a new resident of NOLA, Williamson was making the rounds and meeting other respected figures.
Williamson’s time at the practice session wasn’t simply limited to a simple meet-and-greet and shaking hands with running back Alvin Kamara or head coach Sean Payton as the rookie was also added to the training camp battle put on by quarterback Drew Brees. Throughout training camp, Brees has been building camaraderie within the quarterback room by putting together a series of accuracy competitions that have been dubbed “the Saints QB Challenge.” Some of these battles involve throwing footballs at stationary targets, such as Gatorade bottles, while others involve hitting pictures of Brees attached to a golf cart.
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For Williamson, he was tasked with shooting three baskets, including a three-point shot, before attempting two passes with a football. One throw was from 30 yards while the other was 50 yards. Both tosses with the pigskin had to either hit the backboard or go into the hoop in order to register points.
💪 @ZionWilliamson and @AlvinKamara in the #SaintsQBs challenge! #SaintsCamp pic.twitter.com/G0oqYiiwl0
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) July 30, 2019
Obviously, the former Duke star performed admirably during the basketball portion of the challenge. His first two shots went in, giving him a total of four points, but the three-point attempt bounced off the rim.
The passes, on the other hand, were less successful. Williamson certainly had the arm strength on both of his attempts as he easily launched the football 30 and 50 yards, but the lefty needed to work on his accuracy.
The first pass went wide right while the other bounced off the backboard. Still, his ability to launch a pass 50 yards from a standstill rivals that of some of the NFL’s top quarterbacks.
To cap off the day, Williamson and Brees did reveal that all of the participants in this QB Challenge would be receiving a pair of his brand new signature shoe from Jordan. He may not have won the competition, but Williamson did find some new fans.
Each practice during New Orleans Saints training camp has brought about a different test of skill, and Brees has continued to find ways to make the challenge entertaining. bringing the Pelicans’ rookie into the mix was certainly one way to mix up the competition, but what will he think of next?
