TAKING STOCK: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

BY ADAM GREENE

For the New Orleans Saints, their first post-Sean Payton era season left much to be desired. Dennis Allen and his coaches, along with whatever quarterback they could push out onto the field on any given day, did keep the Saints in playoff contention right down to the wire, but that had more to do with the sorry state of the NFC South than it did his talent as a coach or the ability of his team.

New Orleans opened the year with a one-point win over the Atlanta Falcons and didn’t taste victory again until Oct. 9, knocking off the Seattle Seahawks in a shootout. That was followed by two more losses, a shutout win over the Las Vegas Raiders, then two more defeats. You’ll never guess what happened then. That’s right, a 27-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams and their disastrous QB situation, then two consecutive losses. After their bye in Week 14, New Orleans was 4-9. But, hey, they had four games to go and, for the most part, made the most of them. Going 3-1 down the final stretch. They did stumble in their finale, losing a 10-7 game to the Carolina Panthers that had Scott Hanson running out of apologies on NFL Red Zone any time he had to toss to it.

But, hey, there were bright spots. Two of their seven wins came against playoff teams, including a shocking 20-10 victory over the eventual NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles. To be fair, Jalen Hurts was out injured and Gardner Minshew was starting for Philly.

Andy Dalton went 6-8 as a starter, completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 2,871 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Jameis Winston was 1-2, with a 63.5 completion percentage, 858 yards, four TDs and five picks. Alvin Kamara rushed for 897 yards and two touchdowns and caught 57 passes for 57 yards and two scores. Rookie Chris Olave caught 72 passes for 1,042 yards and four touchdowns. Cam Jordan led the defense with 8.5 sacks to go with 66 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, two passes defended and two forced fumbles. Demario Davis had 109 tackles, 10 for a loss, six passes defended and one fumble recovery. Tyrann Mathieu had three interceptions with 91 tackles, three for a loss, eight passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

2022-23 Record: 7-10

Playoffs: N/A

2023 Super Bowl Odds: +5000

2023 NFC Championship Odds: +1400

2023 NFC South Odds: +125

NOW WHAT?

Everything they accomplish this season will be predicated on how successful free agent acquisition Derek Carr, fresh from being cut by the Las Vegas Raiders, is at running their offense. Andy Dalton is gone, but Jameis Winston remains on the roster as a backup. Alvin Kamara was on the trade block last season leading up to the trade deadline and is likely still standing on it waving his arms, so he might not be on the team when the season starts. Still, in spite of all that, on paper (and maybe for just this one season), the Saints appear to be the best team in the NFC South.

How that final record looks, before the team inevitably loses as a home underdog in the NFC Wild Card Round, will be determined by how quickly the Saints can get out of the blocks. There’s a good chance no team on the planet has an easier first six weeks of the season than New Orleans. They open hosting the Tennessee Titans, then play at the Carolina Panthers, at the Jordan Love led Green Bay Packers before Hell freezes over, then they have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield (probably) at home, at the New England Patriots and their whole mess, before playing at the Houston Texans. That could easily be a 6-0 start. It’ll more likely be 5-1 or 4-2, but it’ll be a healthy jump.

Over their final 11 games, they’ll face off against four 2022 playoff teams and one of those is the Bucs, which barely counts. Not that they won’t have tough games outside of those. As I wrote in my Los Angeles Rams Taking Stock, I think they’ll be better than a lot of punditry thinks and the Saints face them on Dec. 21. New Orleans plays the Lions in Detroit on Dec. 3. I don’t see how this team wins more than 10 games, but it’ll probably just take a 9-8 finish to win the division. Hell, 8-9 won it last season.

THE DRAFT

The Saints used their mid first rounder wisely, grabbing Bryan Breese, defensive tackle out of Clemson. In the second, they took one of my favorite edge rushers, Isaiah Foskey from Notre Dame, then added a solid runner in Kendre Miller from TCU in Round Three. In the fourth, they took David Carr’s buddy Jake Haener from Fresno State, and he’ll like cost Jameis Winston a job at some point. With some decent picks the rest of the way, New Orleans earned an A- draft grade from me.

FREE AGENCY

In addition to Carr, the team didn’t add a whole lot in free agency. They brought in defensive end Nathan Shepherd from the New York Jets, defensive tackle Khalen Saunders from the Kansas City Chiefs, tight end Foster Moreau from the Las Vegas Raiders, cornerback Lonnie Johnson from the Titans, guard Ray Price from the Arizona Cardinals, wide receiver Bryan Edwards from the Chiefs, guard Tre Turner from the Washington Commanders and guard Max Garcia from the Cardinals.

NFC SOUTH

The NFC South isn’t quite a garbage fire, as the Carolina Panthers have improved their future dramatically this offseason. It just won’t pay off with a playoff appearance this season. The Atlanta Falcons don’t seem to have done enough really to get better at all and there’s no way the Bucs don’t take a significant step back. The division is there for the taking and, as of right now, the Saints seem the only team capable of doing it.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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