Sean Payton has coached the New Orleans Saints to a 7-9 record three out of the past four seasons. This season it’s all about to change. Payton is a great coach, in fact he is the second best head coach in the league. He’s got himself a HoF QB in Drew Brees who is a top three QB in the league. This duo won a Super Bowl in 2009 after a great season. I don’t know if they can do it again. What I’m saying is they are better than 7-9. New Orleans took the Panthers to their limits in week 14 but lost 41-38. That game showed what they are capable of, not playing defense. So they went out and tried their best to upgrade their defense. They added DT, Sheldon Rankins and S, Von Bell in the NFL Draft. Both could be effective this year. Michael Thomas in the second was a slam dunk of a pick. Those are my opening thoughts so now let’s get into it.
Offense:
I think Andrus Peat will improve from what the grade he earned from PFF. He was thought to be a solid offensive tackle prospect coming out of last years draft. The offensive line is very solid. Max Unger is a good center who they got from Seattle for Jimmy Graham. Jimmy Graham’s replacement is no other than Coby Fleener. I like Fleener. I think he can be very effective in this offense. This offense made Benjamin Watson relevant work last year so I think Fleener will be awesome. Fleener had a good year last year and will have a better season in 2016. The Saints are giving him $7M per over the next five years so they are going to have to make him work even though he is going to work. Brees is just going to be Brees this year and have stats that are at the top of the league. Mark Ingram is an ok back. He fits in perfectly with the offense who needs to run the ball. Their receiving core is what intrigues me. Brandin Cooks is going to be his versatile self. I think he can get up to around 85-95 catches this year. And if the offense can be as good as I think it will be he could get 100 catches. Brandon Coleman and Willie Snead were what this team needed last year. Marques Colston was terrible last year and these guys stepped up. Up in the screenshot it has Coleman and Snead as starters but I think Michael Thomas should/will start at receiver along with Cooks and Snead. This offense is very balanced it has a good running attack and could have themselves a top ten offense by the time the season is over.
Defense:
Defense:
So the defense starts out with the obvious, Cameron Jordan. I was shocked when i looked and found he is only 26 years old. I feel like I’ve been watching him forever. But anyways he is the cornerstone of that defense and will be for the foreseeable future. They went out and added Sheldon Rankins in the first round this year to beef up this line. Rankins was the best DT in his class (if you count DeForest Buckner as a DT Rankins would be number two). Delvin Braux is a nice corner. Last year Brandon Browner was a disaster opposite Breaux. I guess Belichick got that one right again. Browner was just embarrassingly bad. I like Stephone Anthony as middle linebacker but they are changing his positon to strong side linebacker for the upcoming season. That’s mostly because James Laurinaitis signed to play middle. But I do not like this line backing core. If they had taken Myles Jack in the first even with his knee because Jack is a stud and will be fine. Jack is going to be a top three linebacker in the league in like two years so they should have taken him in the first. Or instead of trading up for Von Bell in the second they could have traded up a little further for Reggie Ragland, or even Myles Jack. But the one thing I actually like about this defense is their safeties. Jarius Byrd, Kenny Vaccaro and now Von Bell is good. They say Von Bell can play some slot corner which is where I would play him when he isn’t playing safety to maximize him as a player. Byrd got paid a couple off seasons ago and Vaccaro is continuing to grow as a player so they are sticking to that there. If Byrd can be what they signed up for when he was in Buffalo they should be golden. And if Vaccaro can be a firm strong safety, they will be even better.
Conclusion:
I really like the Saint’s offense on paper but you never know once they get to August. Their defense is in shambles but could be halfway decent if they get production from Laurunaitis and some level of contribution from Ellerbe their linebackers will be fine but not good. But when it comes right down to it they do not have to have a high level defense to make the playoffs. If their offense can be as good as I think it can be (possibly top ten in the league) they will make playoffs. Their division intrigues me, Carolina is obviously the favorite with Atlanta lurking, while Tampa Bay could finish bottom five in the league or compete for a division title. I will get into Tampa later on in the summer but for now it’s the Saints. Right now I will go on the record saying that I do think the Saints will make the playoffs. The Saints can and will be good
Conclusion:
I really like the Saint’s offense on paper but you never know once they get to August. Their defense is in shambles but could be halfway decent if they get production from Laurunaitis and some level of contribution from Ellerbe their linebackers will be fine but not good. But when it comes right down to it they do not have to have a high level defense to make the playoffs. If their offense can be as good as I think it can be (possibly top ten in the league) they will make playoffs. Their division intrigues me, Carolina is obviously the favorite with Atlanta lurking, while Tampa Bay could finish bottom five in the league or compete for a division title. I will get into Tampa later on in the summer but for now it’s the Saints. Right now I will go on the record saying that I do think the Saints will make the playoffs. The Saints can and will be good