Canadian Saint Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 So I thought we could have a thread to talk about the team before the official start of the season? Basically what do you see on the roster and how you see the season playing out? Defense: In the Sean Payton era, the defense has always lagged behind the offense. It's also not a surprise. We're talking about one of the best HC and QB duos in NFL history. I may be drinking the kool-aid, but this D for me has the personnel to be top-10 and maybe even top-5. Overall I look at this unit and I see a deep and well rounded D. The D-line is anchored by Cameron Jordan with a fresh contract extension. I think the addition of Malcolm Brown will play a big role, a top notch NT can really hurt opposing offenses, and Brown has been a consistent force in the middle. What I love about the D-line is depth. Jordan, Onyemata, Brown and Davenport should be starters, but behind them you have guys like MEJ, Stallworth, Hendrickson and the return of Rankins. The big guys in the trenches should have enough rest, and we should have packages for most situations The LB corps, with the addition of Alonso, has some pretty nice depth to it. Anzalone, Davis and Klein should be starters, but I suspect due to injury/packages, Alonso and Robertson see decent time. The secondary to me is a little ridiculous. The sheer amount of talent we have top to bottom is absurd in my opinion. Our starters should be Lattimore and Apple. Safetys Marcus Williams and Vonn Bell return looking to take another step in their development. Where we really shine is the depth and flexibility of this unit. Our NB's should be Patrick Robinson and PJ Williams. We have Crawley to back up one of our outside CBs. CGJ and Hampton both back up Williams and Bell. It should give DA a ton of weapons to make this secondary pretty good. Prediction: I think we'll see a top 10 unit under DA this season. I think our run D will be top 5. I think our pass D will be top 15. Player to watch: Lattimore. I think this past offseason will make a difference. Lattimore started slow last season which he credited to a subpar offseason. I don't think is the case this offseason. I think he'll take a step in development and really solidify himself a top CB in the NFC. Needs to step up: Davenport. We can talk about costs, positional analysis, tools whatever until the cows come home. At the end of the day production matters. Before his injury last season, Davenport looked great. Constant pressure, good against the run and produced sacks. This preseason he has looked less than stellar. He looked timid and a little sluggish. He was outshined by Hendrickson(whom I love). For this D to reach its potential, he needs to find his game. I think he has the ability, I just wish he had a more confidence inspiring preseason. Surprise: I think there are a few players that can do this, but one I'll go for is LB Kaden Elliss. I thought he showed good ability in coverage as a rookie, which is difficult. Now do I think he's a starter right away? No. Probably not this season. However, I wouldn't be surprised by the end of the season he's out there in passing downs. He's got the tools and the mental ability to do so. Offense: The offense is less of a question mark as a whole. Which shouldn't be a surprise. Under Payton and Brees, 9/10 we'll have a top 5 offense. It will be interesting to see how McCoy integrates with NFL D's, but I have faith. Payton is pretty hard on rookie O-linemen, and he never keeps one in if they can't perform. I think the biggest addition to this offense with be TE Jared Cook. His ability to stretch the field and run routes is going to be open things up quite a bit. After Thomas and Kamara, we were missing that 3rd consistent target on offense and I think Cook does that. He'll warrant attention and leave opposing D's with a pick your poison scenario. It should really give guys like Hill, Ginn, Kirkwood etc. opportunities to make plays (granted they blanket MT and Kamara which is no sure thing. The limiting factor for this offense is health. And specifically, O-line health. I love Armstead. When healthy is a top 10 LT in the NFL, which is no easy feat. Problem is, his health. He's going to miss games. There will be 4-6 games he'll be out with a muscle injury. Our back up OT is Omameh. It's either he plays RT while Ram switches to LT, or move Peat to LT and put Easton at LG. It's a question we'll have answered this season. Regardless, I think while we won't see a more explosive offense, I think we see a far more efficient one. Less needing 3rd and 9 and more short yardage situations. I wouldn't be shocked to see Brees break his completion % again. Player to watch: Kamara. Stud. One of the best in the league. Without Ingram, Kamara gets to be the lead back. He gets to take the majority of plays and I suspect won't leave the field too often. He's also playing for a contract extension. I think he does really well this season and puts up some ridiculous numbers. Needs to step up: Smith/Carr/Kirkwood. The other WRs. With the weapons we have on the field, when they get in plays, they needs to execute. This means not dropping catchable passes. Don't blow assignments. Don't run the wrong route. These guys have a chance to put up some really nice numbers, they need to help our offense when they get a chance. Surprise: McCoy. Kind of a cop out answer I guess. I think he'll show some good things. I don't think he'll be a like for like replacement for Unger, and the C in a Payton offense is quite important (see pre-Unger few years), but I also know Payton doesn't tolerate subpar line play. So for him to win the C position early in camp is impressive. Prediction: Probably the most boring prediction, this is a top 3 offense in the NFL. Top 5 in both rushing and passing. Kamara > 1000 yards rushing. MT > 1200 yards receiving. Cook > 800 yards receiving. Brees > 43 TD 8 INT. Overall: To me this is a super bowl winning team. Top to bottom I think we have the roster that can get us there. We have the head coach to get us there. I look at the starters and I don't see a gaping hole. For example, last season we had a legitimate ? in the TE spot. Throughout the roster, I see at worst average starters. I think we have depth up and down the roster. As long as we execute and stay healthy, I think we will go deep into the post season. The part about health is important. Our biggest weakness is if we get hurt. Barring that, I think we're in for an awesome season. Prediction: 13-3 (L: Atlanta, Carolina and Seattle) and a superbowl berth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 It’s hard for me to see 13-3 right now with our schedule. Although some teams that look strong right now might not be that great when we play them. But on the flip side, Carolina and Atlanta have 11-5 potential any given year. Anything less than 11-5 will be a disappointment for me. 13-3 would be nice, but I don’t think it’s likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raves Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 I think you're overselling Bree's production. I'm thinking probably closer to 37 TD 11 INT, a little closer to his career averages. Also have to agree with Jlowe, 13-3 will be tough. I think we have another slow start, 1-2 losing both early road games, before rattling off 8 in a row, dropping the @ Atlanta game, and then finally the @ Carolina game to end the season as I think we'll have the division locked up by that point. So I guess I have us at 12-4. I think anywhere between 10-6 and 13-3 should be reasonable expectations for this season barring injuries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid Iowa Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 From what I've heard, Brees has been more focused than ever, considering the end of last season, and the fact that this could be his last season, and in better shape than ever. Now we all know Father Time plays no favorites, but he's done everything he can control to be at the best he can be. Accuracy shouldn't change. The only issue I see is his ability to get the ball 40 yards down field, and on time. He'll carve up any D within 25 yards of scrimmage. That's where Payton comes in with creativity. We had several guys last year suffering the "Sophomore Slump" and with the way the season ended, I'll be we see these guys playing with a different purpose than last season. I'd hate to go up against our front 7 on D. I think these guys are nasty, and DA knows them all!! He'll be able to dial up the nastiest looks and blitzes that nobody has seen before, and he'll trust his personnel to execute. My only concerns are depth at O-line and TE. Other than those 2 positions, I can't think of a better situation we've had to make a Super Bowl run and Victory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammymvpknight Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 I think 13-3 is very possible. Why? Because I think that the Saints will be better than every team they face this season. But I still expect to lose week 1...per tradition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartica4Real Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 It was a miracle play in the divisional. Last year the refs in the conference championship. My season prediction is this time we lose in the Super Bowl because of a penalty/lack of penalty AND a miracle play. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 8 hours ago, Spartica4Real said: It was a miracle play in the divisional. Last year the refs in the conference championship. My season prediction is this time we lose in the Super Bowl because of a penalty/lack of penalty AND a miracle play. Wouldn’t surprise me a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raves Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 10 hours ago, Spartica4Real said: It was a miracle play in the divisional. Last year the refs in the conference championship. My season prediction is this time we lose in the Super Bowl because of a penalty/lack of penalty AND a miracle play. I'll say it's the same play. We are up 5 on the Chiefs with 3 seconds left in the game, Mahomes throws a 60 yard Hail Mary with Hill pushing Lattimore in the back as he goes up for the pick causing him to tip it into Hill's hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 In all seriousness though, if it happens again for the third year in a row, I’m done with football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 9 hours ago, Raves said: I'll say it's the same play. We are up 5 on the Chiefs with 3 seconds left in the game, Mahomes throws a 60 yard Hail Mary with Hill pushing Lattimore in the back as he goes up for the pick causing him to tip it into Hill's hands. Should be an easy review... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raves Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 2 hours ago, Dome said: Should be an easy review... Pretty sure that when reviewing a TD they can't review penalties outside of targeting right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dome Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 6 minutes ago, Raves said: Pretty sure that when reviewing a TD they can't review penalties outside of targeting right? IDK... it would be absolutely beyond stupid to change the rule about OPI/DPI being reviewable if they're not going to take that into consideration for scoring plays... but it is the NFL lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raves Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 1 minute ago, Dome said: IDK... it would be absolutely beyond stupid to change the rule about OPI/DPI being reviewable if they're not going to take that into consideration for scoring plays... but it is the NFL lol Or maybe it's just not "conclusive" enough for them to make the call. Either way it's some reasoning to screw us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolaexpat Posted September 8, 2019 Share Posted September 8, 2019 On 9/4/2019 at 11:11 AM, sammymvpknight said: I think 13-3 is very possible. Why? Because I think that the Saints will be better than every team they face this season. But I still expect to lose week 1...per tradition. I think we win week 1 this year. Not because we won't start slowly but because BOB is still somehow on the Texans' sideline. Maybe the game is closer than it should be? I don't know. Every year is so different. I fully expect us to drop the next 2, though. Historically we're not great at playing west coast teams on their turf and we drew the two toughest in that division back to back on the road. To make up for winning the first one, maybe LAR is close and then SEA shuts us out or something truly stupid so we can all wonder if the season is over for good (before we go on our usual 10-win tear...) 🤔. Anyway. Football is back! Our schedule is touch this year so 11-5 would be a huge win for us. I like 13-3 better though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jlowe22 Posted September 9, 2019 Share Posted September 9, 2019 Atlanta and Tampa look like garbage again. Carolina too I guess, considering they were at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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