NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 2021 WIN PREDICTION

BY ADAM GREENE

It’s a new era for the New Orleans Saints as they will go to battle this season without Drew Brees (on purpose) for the first time since 2006. Stepping into the Hall of Famer’s shoes will be either Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill, depending on how much peyote Sean Payton has ingested this offseason. Most of us are guessing Winston, considering Hill is a glorified sideshow and the most boring gimmick in the NFL.

All is not lost. In an nine-game stretch from 2019, Payton went 8-1 when starting a QB other than Brees and the lone loss was 24-21 to the Philadelphia Eagles in a comeback that fell short. Payton, for all his ego-driven foibles, is an excellent coach.

Winston has more talent and is worth the risk. In his last season as a starter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he led the league in passing yards, but also interceptions – notching the first 30 TD – 30 INT season in NFL history. But if you half those picks and get a 5,000 yard, 30 TD, 15 INT season out of Winston, you’re probably in the playoff hunt.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Last season: 12-4, 1^st place, NFC South

2021 odds: over 9 wins -120, under 9 wins -110

2021 NFL Draft: Payton Turner, Edge, Houston – Round 1, Pete Werner, LB, Ohio State – Round 2, Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford – Round 3, Ian Book, QB, Notre Dame – Round 4, Landon Young, OT, Kentucky – Round 6, Kawaan Baker, WR, South Alabama – Round 7

UDFAs: Trill Williams, Safety – Syracuse, Dylan Soehner, TE – Iowa State, Nolan Cooney, P – Syracuse, Mike Brown, OL – West Virginia, Bryce Thompson, CB – Tennessee, Stevie Scott III, RB – Indiana, Shaq Smith, LB – Maryland, Eric Burrell, Safety – Wisconsin, Josiah Bronson, DT – Washington, Alex Hoffman, OL – Carroll College, Larence Woods, CB – Truman State

Acquisitions: Nick Vannett, TE – Free Agent, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Edge – Free Agent, Alex Armah, FB – Free Agent

Key Losses: Drew Brees – Retired, Emmanuel Sanders – WR, Janoris Jenkins – CB, Jared Cook – TE, Nick Easton – LG, Malcolm Brown – DL, Thomas Morestead – P, Sheldon Rankins – DL, Craig Robertson – LB, D.J. Swearinger – Safety, Michael Burton – FB, Bennie Fowler – WR, Alex Anzalone – LB, Trey Hendrickson – Edge, Jake Kumerow – WR

PRESUMED STARTERS

QB: Jameis Winston

RB: Alvin Kamara

WR: Michael Thomas

WR: Tre’Quan Smith

WR: Deonte Harris

TE: Adam Trautman

FB: Alex Armah

LT: Terron Armstead

LG: Andrus Peat

C: Erik McCoy

RG: Cesar Ruiz

RT: Ryan Ramczyk

LDE: Cameron Jordan

LDT: Malcolm Roach

RDT: David Onyemata

RDE: Marcus Davenport

OLB: Pete Werner

MLB: Demario Davis

OLB: Chase Hansen

CB: C.J. Gardner-Johnson

CB: Marshon Lattimore

SS: Malcolm Jenkins

FS: Marcus Williams

K: Wil Lutz

P: Blake Gillikin

FORECAST

While Payton has won without Brees before, the team always played with the knowledge that their first ballot Hall of Famer was coming back. There is no rescue this time. The Saints do have a relatively easy schedule as a defending division champ, mainly due to the gap between the top two NFC South teams (NO and Tampa ) and the rest  (ATL and CAR).

They have a tough opener with Green Bay in the Superdome if Aaron Rodgers suits up for the Packers. If it’s Jordan Love, then New Orleans could be looking at a very exciting 4-1 or 5-0 start that will quickly hit a brick wall when the team arrives at the middle of the schedule.

Final Record Prediction: 9-8

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