Photo by Evan Gulden
By Evan Gulden
Sports fans always love to make predictions about how their favorite team’s season is going to pan out. Whether it be soccer, baseball, basketball, or hockey, sports analysts are always hard at work trying to work out how a team’s season may go. But I’m going to focus on the most-watched sport in America–football. And I’m going to look specifically at–who else?–our home team.
Let’s start with the Saints’ offense.
The Saints have two players at what may be the most vital position on a football team–quarterback. Jameis Winston is returning for a second season with the Saints as the starter, after an injury last year took him off the field in week 7. If Jameis plays like he did during the seven weeks he was healthy, the Saints’ season should go well. As our backup quarterback, we have Andy Dalton, who is entering his 12th season in the NFL and was brought in this year to be a reliable backup to Jameis Winston. Dalton, who has been a journeyman QB after a nine-year career with the Cincinnati Bengals, was signed to the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears during the last two seasons.
The Saints have two great players at a position that has one of the highest turnover rates in the NFL–running back. Alvin Kamara is our RB1 and is a Pro-Bowl-caliber running back with five years of experience with the Saints. Mark Ingram, II is a solid player for the Saints to have as their RB2. Last season, Ingram returned after three seasons of playing for other teams like the Texans and Ravens. If our offensive line can create running lanes for these two, they can be a big part of our offense.
Last season, the Saints had serious issues at wide receiver. They didn’t have any great options for our quarterbacks, leading to lackluster production on offense. Michael Thomas is returning to the Saints’ offense. If he can produce at the same level he did before his injury, this will be huge for the offense. The Saints brought in veteran wide receiver Jarvis Landry from Cleveland to improve their wide receiver room. The Saints also drafted Chris Olave from Ohio State in the first round to make sure Jameis Winston has the right weapons to make for a great season.
The Saints are in a bit of an odd position with their tight ends. They have no great tight ends but aren’t in a bad spot. Adam Trautman is the Saints’ starting tight end but isn’t that great. Trautman isn’t bad–he just has the occasional drops but can make plays as well. Taysom Hill is the TE2 but seems to want to play quarterback when he is better suited for being a tight end and special teams positions. The Saints have Nick Vanett and Juwan Johnson at TE3 and TE4, respectively, with neither of them being great nor terrible.
The Saints offensive line isn’t bad, but just like our situation with our tight ends, they are not great. At left tackle, we have James Hurst, who isn’t bad, but we drafted Trevor Penning to play left tackle, but since Penning is injured, he can’t play. At left guard, we have Andrus Peat, who isn’t bad but not amazing. At center, we have Erik McCoy who we just extended for another five years at $12.75 million a year, making him one of the highest-paid centers in the league. At right guard, we have Cesar Ruiz who we drafted in the first round two years ago, but so far has had a lackluster career. At right tackle, we have Ryan Ramczyk who is a great veteran lineman and one of the best in the league. The offensive line needs to be able to protect Jameis long enough for him to be able to throw and also be able to open up holes for our running backs.
That wraps up our offense. The Saints offense has the potential to be really good if Jameis Winston can stay healthy, get the ball to our receivers, and if our offensive line can keep him protected and create holes for our running backs. Jameis has to move the ball and get it to our receivers, which may be complicated as he seems to hold onto the ball a bit too long.
Defense
To start the analysis of our defense, let’s look at our secondary. Our Centerback 1 (CB1) is Marshon Lattimore who is one of the best cornerbacks in the league and has served us well in the five seasons he’s been with us. Our CB2 is Paulson Adebo, who is entering his sophomore season after being drafted in the third round. Adebo has shown competence and should be a solid cornerback this season. Our CB3 is Bradley Roby who is entering his ninth season in the NFL and is an experienced cornerback. The Saints are in a good position when it comes to free safeties. We signed veteran free safety Tyran Mathieu from the Chiefs. Mathieu should put in work for us at free safety. Another good safety we have is P.J. Williams, who has been with us for seven seasons. The Saints also have good options at strong safety as well. Our SS1 is Marcus Maye who we signed off the Jets this offseason. Maye is a solid choice for our main strong safety. At SS2 and SS3 we have Justin Evans and Daniel Sorensen, respectively. They both should be fine backups if Marcus Maye is ever injured.
We are in a great position regarding our linebackers. Now, if our starting linebackers get injured, the Saints may be in a bad position. Our #1 MLB is Demario Davis, who is a criminally underrated linebacker. Demario plays on a pro-bowl level but gets constantly snubbed. If Demario can stay healthy, our defense will have a leader with great playmaking ability. Our #1 WLM is Pete Werner who was a rookie last year, but Pete has shown great potential in the games that he has played, earning him the starting role. Our #1 SLB is Kaden Elliss who isn’t that great, but he shouldn’t bring down the rest of the defense.
Our defensive line is pretty strong if they can stay healthy, and is led by pro-bowler Cameron Jordan. Our #1 LDE is Cameron Jordan, who had 12.5 sacks last year and has also racked up 100 sacks throughout his career. Jordan should put in work for us this season if he doesn’t get injured. Our #1 LDT is Shy Tuttle, who isn’t a bad defensive tackle, but not remarkable. Our #1 RDT is David Onyemata, who is a pretty decent defensive tackle if he can stay healthy and on the field. Our #1 RDE is Marcus Davenport, who is a pretty good defensive end, racking up nine sacks last season.
When looking at our defense and how it plays, it’s clear that the Saints have very few defensive problems. Our defense has always been top tier– it’s just that we haven’t had an offense to back them up. Our defense can make teams go three and out, but our offensive just isn’t able to capitalize on this. I believe the Saints can have a truly great season if the offense just steps up and moves the ball. If our defense is constantly being played without rest because our offense can’t score, they’re inevitably going to get tired and get scored on. The Saints need their offense to step up for Saints fans to have hopes of a playoff-bound season. Go, Saints!
