One word describes the New Orleans Saints off-season,
active! The Saints are one of my favorite teams to watch in the NFL mainly because
of Drew Brees. He is the true definitions of a franchise quarterback, with his
ability to make players around him better and cover their deficiencies. Brees has been an elite quarterback since he
joined the Saints. The past few seasons have been tough on the Saints fans and organization.
Could all that change in 2017?
The NFC South is a wide-open division. All four teams
have good quarterbacks and offenses. Neither team has a dominant defense; the
Panthers seem to be the closest to it. Even with this division having the last
two NFC Super bowl representatives, no team is considerably better than the
other three. That means that the Saints have just a good a chance as any team
at winning this division.
As usual the Saints ranked in the top five on offense
(yards per game and points per game) in 2016. Drew Brees threw for another
5000 yards, at one point, reaching 5000 yards seem unachievable but he churns
them out like butter. It doesn’t matter who Brees throws the ball to he is efficient
and doesn’t mind getting into a shootouts.
The Saints traded away young stud receiver Brandon Cooks
to the Patriots for a first round pick after signing Ted Gin Jr. With Drew Bree’s
history of developing wide receivers, the Cooks move was a good one for the
Saints. Michel Thomas had a great rookie season and appears to be a legit
number one wide receiver. He also gives them a big bodied receiver that they
have missed since the departure of Marques Colston. Willie Snead had another
solid season last year. With the addition of Ginn this offense won’t miss Cook
at all.
Another key addition is Adrian Peterson. Five years ago,
putting Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson on the same team would have only
happened on NFL Madden. Peterson’s contract situation made him expendable in Minnesota,
now he will be moving the chains for the Saints. Until Peterson shows that he
can no longer get it done, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Sean
Payton’s offense doesn’t need a great running back like Peterson, also he has
never had a great running back like Peterson. If Peterson has anything left in the
tank he will be a welcomed addition to a backfield that has Mark Ingram coming
off a 1000 yard season. Offensively the
Saints are poised to be as dangerous as ever, but they have to get something from
that defense.
The
Saints ranked 27th in yards allowed per game and 31st in
points allowed per game in 2016. They also gave up a league high 273.8 yards
passing a game, while allowing a 98.1 average quarterback rating. To say they
must improve this defense is an understatement. This front office was well
aware of their defensive issues and dedicated the entire offense to trying to
remedy this problem.
The Saints added linebackers A.J Klein and Manti Te’o via free agency. Klein was a
solid linebacker for the Panthers on a rotational basis. He filled in good for
Luke Kuechly when he was having his troubles with concussions. Klein is expected
to start for the Saints at inside linebacker. He is definitely an upgrade over the JAGs (Just A Guy) they had playing there last season. Te’o and rookie
linebacker Alex Anzalone could hold down the other two line backing spots. At the
very least, the Saints have upgraded the depth at the linebacker position, with
the hopes of finding three quality starters by the end of training camp.
Upgrading their linebacker unit was a priority this off-season but it wasn’t
even their worst positional group for this defense. The secondary holds the belt for title!
I’ve
already mentioned the league high 273.8 passing yards allowed per game. The
Saints secondary has to play better in 2017. With Matt Ryan, Cam Newton, and Jameis
Winston are on the Saints schedule 6 times, these young defensive backs have to
be ready to rise to that challenge.
The
Saints rookie cornerback Marshone Lattimore was considered the best cornerback
in this year’s draft. He has the ability to be a shutdown corner on the outside
and boy do the Saints need one. Lattimore may be the one bright spot in this
secondary. Safety Kenny Vaccaro, the Saints first round pick in 2013 had a good
rookie year. Since then Vaccaro has been inconsistent and a liability in
coverage. Let’s hope his drop in production was the result of having bad personnel
around him and he isn’t a bust. Jaruis Byrd has been a good safety in this league
for some time now. He will be 30 years old, they will eventually have to find someone
to replace him, but in the meantime he is the best they have at the position. Marcus
Williams is a safety the Saints selected in the second round. He may replace
Vaccaro or Bryd at some point, but they had better hope he can come in and be
effective in year one. Vonn Bell is another player to keep an eye on with this
Saints team. Look for him and Williams to get many opportunities this season. With
a pass defense this bad no players spot is safe and the best player will play the
most time on this defensive unit.
Nick
Fairley’s heart condition leaves the Saints with a hole to fill on the defensive
front. Cameron Jordan is a solid pass rusher off the edge. It’s hard to gauge
just how good Jordan is because the rest of this defense has been so bad. The Saints
have to find three starting defensive linemen beside Jordan, and they will have
to establish a rotation after those starters. It doesn’t look good for this
defense and 2017 might be another terrible year. I’m not sure the additions
made are enough to put this defense in the top 20. Drew Brees hasn’t
disappointed yet so the offense is set. If the Saints get a marginal
improvement from their defense they can win this division and get back into the
playoffs. The NFC playoffs just aren’t the same without Drew Brees and I hope
they can make one more run before Bress has to hang up the cleats.
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