Sunday, August 26, 2007

NFL Preview: Saints

New Orleans Saints

Cheers: After a rough 2005 season for obvious reasons, the Saints committed to bringing football back to New Orleans, and they did so in a big way. With Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush providing a great running game and Drew Brees leading the aerial attack, the Saints have one of the best offenses in football. Surprise performances from Marques Colston and Jahri Evans helped catapult the Saints from second to worst to almost first.

Jeers: Their defense, save a pretty good pass rush, stunk, and they sat on their hands a bit too much in the offseason. They got pretty fluky performances up the middle from Hollis Thomas and Mark Simoneau, and leaving those positions un-upgraded is asking for trouble. Their secondary got hurt by big plays last year, and they didn’t do enough to help them out either.

On second thought… they’re still one of the best teams in the NFC and a definite Super Bowl contender. The offense is so good, the defense only has to be marginal for the Saints to win games. They have a good coaching staff and they know how to get the most out of otherwise scrap heap players.

New guy who won’t meet expectations: Jason David. This was their big splash or whatever to improve the secondary, and he’s an average player. He’s not going to repair a bad patchwork secondary. He’s a fresh face, and after last year, that might be something to be excited about, but I don’t see the Saints defensive backfield being any better next year.

New guy who will meet expectations: Eric Johnson. If he can stay healthy, he’s a really good, underrated player. If there was one weak spot on the Saints’ offense last year, it was their lack of production from the TE position. Johnson is a legitimate receiving threat and he occasionally showed that before being shown the door.

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