METAIRIE, La. -- We’re not even two full days into the New Orleans Saints’ rookie minicamp. So, it’s too early for coach Sean Payton to get carried away with the on-field performance of any rookies. And it’s far too early for us to read too much into any of Payton’s comments.

But Payton’s praise for two players, in particular, stood out to me on Saturday -- first-round offensive tackle Andrus Peat and fifth-round cornerback Damian Swann.

With Peat, both Payton and offensive line coach Bret Ingalls marveled at the combination of size and athleticism they’ve seen up close now from the 6-foot-7, 316-pounder from Stanford.

“Man, absolutely,” Payton said when asked about Ingalls’ comments about how fluid Peat is. “You see it on film, you see it in the workouts. Then when he’s actually here, you see his size and then you see his athleticism. It’s pretty impressive.

“You’ll feel when you guys get a chance to be around him. His size, his length, he’s a quick study, he’s smart, an impressive young player. Really impressive.”

Payton said Peat will primarily start out as a right tackle when the full roster begins installing together in OTAs later this month. But he expects Peat to also cross-train at his college position of left tackle, which Peat has been doing so far in rookie camp.

As for Swann, Payton actually brought him up while he was being asked about another player -- fellow cornerback P.J. Williams, who was drafted two rounds ahead of Swann.

When asked if Williams will compete for the nickelback job, Payton said, “He’s competing. And this Swann’s competing. Both of these guys. [And Canadian Football League pickup Delvin] Breaux. Those guys have all stood out here. I’d say Swann, specifically, and Breaux.”

Payton followed up by saying that, “P.J. has picked things up. I think he’s a guy that will have a chance to compete at nickel. And with 70 percent of the snaps being in nickel, that really is the new base.”

Payton said Swann (from Georgia) and Williams (from Florida State) will compete for roles inside, while Breaux will work more on the outside.