If Drew stays, do you think Sean Payton has to change his offensive strategy?
Sean has drastically changed his offensive philosophy starting at least 3 years ago. Those seam routes that were the bread and butter of the Saints offense in 2009 / 2011 peak years are nearly absent. I dont remember the last time i saw 4 receiving targets running verticals up the seam and forcing a defense to pick their poison.
Its been at least 3 years since Sean has forced a defense to defend the entire field. 3 years ago i couldnt figure out why. Today, i've come to accept it is because Drew is no longer consistently accurate on those throws.
If you've not figured that out or noticed it last year or this year, i don't know what to tell you.
The AK plays we expext from satellite back, the screens we expect to see from big back, and other staples of the offense are becoming less and less effective because the back 7 can player closer to the LOS and not have a healthy respect for viable threat of deep balls.
So if any adjustment needs to be made, its stop with the cute crap and get more physical, because that tried and tired set of plays everyone expects are no longer effective when playing playoff caliper defenses.
That, and he desperately needs to fill some vacant WR roles that are integral to his full offense. Ever since Willie Snead got in the doghouse, that Lance Moore role his been vacant, and we lost 70 3rd down conversions per year from that WR role. The Stills/Meachem role has left a lot to be desired as well. Thomas fills the possession/Colston role. You could say Ginn fills the Devery role, but Ginn shouldnt be on this roster. TQS could probably fill the Stills/Meachem role, but between injury and learning curve, Sean and Drew dont trust him enough to feature him. Id scrap Ginn and putt Harris in the Devery role, but its a moot point if you can't get the ball to him in stride.
Dont have to change oline to become dominant in run game. Nearly all linemen are better at run blocking. That's simply a matter of mindset and commitment as a play caller. And using the right RB for the right type of run. Stop trying to make Bush/Kamara do Deuce/Ingram type runs when you have a healthy Murray averaging over 5 ypc