2020 vs 2011 Offense (1 Viewer)

[Winter]

I agree the interior line play was superior in 2011 and would give them a higher rating because of Brees' reliance on that part.

Another thing missing, and I can see why, is FB. We had Jed Collins, a rookie, in 2011. Currently we do not have a FB with Zach Line retiring. I hope we don't go into the season without one.

Collin's stats that year: 4 rushes for 4 yards, 2 td, & 11 catches for 50 yards and 2 td

Otherwise an interesting take on comparing the our best and what we have set up for 2020.

 

[Consigliere]

Everything I'm hearing is that Sanders is our slot receiver.

I thought we got Sanders to be the wide-out opposite MT. We need to legit WR's to spread the defense horizontally so we can work the middle with TE's and jokers (Hill, Harris, Kamara).

If Sanders is in the slot then who is outside of him?

 

[Saint Kamara]

The 2011 o-line was much better because of Nicks and Evans. All-pro guards are more important to Brees than anyone else on the o-line.

Payton could scheme up chips from the TE’s and RB’s to slow down edge rushers in 2011 to help the lower quality o-line on the edges.

But our tackles are considerably better than 2011. And our center is better.

So I think it's pretty close to a wash.

 

[Saint Kamara]

I thought we got Sanders to be the wide-out opposite MT. We need to legit WR's to spread the defense horizontally so we can work the middle with TE's and jokers (Hill, Harris, Kamara).

If Sanders is in the slot then who is outside of him?

Sanders in the slot and Thomas and Smith as boundary receivers. Sanders is almost exclusively a slot receiver. If you had to show someone who a prototypical slot receiver is, you'd show them Edelman or Sanders.

Thomas will also man the slot when Sanders isn't on the field. Then you got both Taysom and Cook that can handle the slot. So this is probably the strongest set of receivers that we've ever had as a group that can play the slot.

 

[Floridalsusaintsfan]

I think this is pretty good but you are asking for a significant jump from Taysom.

Pierre Thomas 2011 - 987 yards
Taysom Hill 2019 - 390 yards

Granted Taysom had 7 TDs to Thomas' 6, I think those have a good bit of variance. Kinda how we saw Kamara's TDs drop dramatically in one year. Especially when you have multiple options in the red zone.

PT would have had more td's but Payton chose to have Ingram run into the pile sevetal times.

 

[Saint Kamara]

I don't think you have to compare each RB and WR on the team. You find your playmakers in different areas of RB, WR and TE.

I guess you could, but TE#2 and #3 would get 0s in 2011. RB #3 and #4 would get 0s in 2020 (presumably).

You are correct.

You take your best players no matter what position, as each offense is going to be different in player personnel usage.

 

[Saint Kamara]

PT would have had more td's but Payton chose to have Ingram run into the pile sevetal times.

Yeah that was a frustrating start to Ingram's career as Payton wanted to show off his new toy on national TV in the opening game vs Green Bay. It cost us the game and the #1 seed, or at the very least a bye week.

 

[Zack Lee]

the thing to remember about 2011 is that we could score at will but it didn't get us anywhere in the end. San Francisco didn't even have a good offense but they were able to score more than us when it counted. We can actually be better with even average to slightly better than average defense if we play more ball control offense. Having a guy that can stretch the field actually helps with this because it opens more up underneath. And Drew doesn't have the same deep ball but he is still the smartest guy in the league and can pick you apart piece by piece if you protect him. We have to field a top O-line this year. I still think the O is missing one WR and one guard. We can get both in the draft.

 

[Stalwart385]

I thought we got Sanders to be the wide-out opposite MT. We need to legit WR's to spread the defense horizontally so we can work the middle with TE's and jokers (Hill, Harris, Kamara).

If Sanders is in the slot then who is outside of him?

I'd imagine TQS takes the Ginn role as the flanker in 3+ reciever sets. I'm really just going off reports saying Sanders is our slot option in the mold of Snead. I don't know if he has any real positional limitations and that's just his best fit. Thomas will move around, including in the slot, so I'm sure Sanders will to.

 

[Consigliere]

I'd imagine TQS takes the Ginn role as the flanker in 3+ reciever sets. I'm really just going off reports saying Sanders is our slot option in the mold of Snead. I don't know if he has any real positional limitations and that's just his best fit. Thomas will move around, including in the slot, so I'm sure Sanders will to.

But that's the problem. We need to get our 5 best playmakers on the field. And I hate to give one of those spots to TQS. I want all 5 to be dangerous.

If Sanders plays flanker then we get MT, AK, DC, and one of TH/DH also. That's 5 playmakers.

 

[Stalwart385]

But that's the problem. We need to get our 5 best playmakers on the field. And I hate to give one of those spots to TQS. I want all 5 to be dangerous.

If Sanders plays flanker then we get MT, AK, DC, and one of TH/DH also. That's 5 playmakers.

They are going to run several different formations and variations of formations.

11 Personnel will probably be the most common but Taysom makes it even more blurry than normal. You have Thomas, Sanders, TQS, Kamara and Cook traditionally in 11. In that setup, I see Sanders as the slot based on what our reports are saying.

Taysom is a Joker that can sub in for TQS, possibly changing it to 21 or 12 personnel or still being 11, hard to say. Even taking TQS off the field, all of our TEs and RBs get put out wide by Payton. Sanders can be put in the slot if any of them are. Of course, Sanders will go out wide also. Especially because you still want to give Thomas slot snaps. Harris would almost certainly be a flanker if he gets more playing time.

I think the point is that Sanders can fill that true slot WR role that we haven't had in a while. He isn't limited to it though, and things are never that simple.

 

[Saint Spud]

On a scale of 1 to 10, rating each of the top 11 principles of each offense. This is based on a combination of quality of play and quantity of contribution.

2011
Brees........... 10.0
O Line............ 8.5
Sproles.......... 9.0
P. Thomas...... 8.0
Ingram........... 4.0
Ivory............... 3.0
Colston.......... 9.0
Moore............ 6.5
Meachem....... 6.0
Henderson..... 5.0
Graham........ 10.0

Total............. 79.0



2020 (Projected)

Brees........... 9.5
O Line.......... 8.5
Kamara........ 9.0
Murray......... 5.0
Thomas......10.0
Sanders....... 7.5
Smith........... 4.0
Harris........... 4.0
Cook............ 7.5
T. Hill............ 8.0
J.Hill............. 3.5

Total........... 76.5

Good stuff.

Id raise the 2011 OLine to at least 9/9.5 (guard play was ridiculous).

For this year, I may flip Cook and Taysom. If Graham was a 10 (I have no problem with that), I’d probably push Cook a little closer.

Also, I don’t know that I put Sproles and Kamara at the same level. Maybe raise Kamara 0.5 and lower Sproles 0.5. Or just drop Sproles to an 8.


And I may drop Brees to a 9. Really splitting hairs with all that, though. Agree for the most part.

 

[saint_drago]

If the 2011 was a 8.5 then 2020 should be at around 7. That '11 line should probably be 9-10.

 

[Stalwart385]

If the 2011 was a 8.5 then 2020 should be at around 7. That '11 line should probably be 9-10.

I don't think the lines compare too far off in overall talent.

Nicks and Evans were dominant at Guard. That's comparable to Ram and Armstead at tackle.

Strief was a good tackle. I don't think McCoy is too far behind from that level, we'll see.

DeLaPunte and Bushrod are comparable to what we have in Warford and Peat.

Typically Tackle play is preferred over Guard play. I think our offense with Brees may make that an exception, so I could see a debatable knock to the current squad. Health in the current squad is more of an issue also. I wouldn't dramatically drop the grade though.

 

[Que Que 6]

I don’t think 2020 Drew is going to be a 9.5.

I know. Who really thinks that about DB? That would be my dream, though. I like facts and my eyeballs. And Kamara a 9? He can do it. But PT (with 1/4 talent) left it ALL on the field every game. Has there ever been a negative PT thread?

But BTW, 2011 was one of best offenses of all time. NFL history, not Saints. If AK is a 9 and Cook is utilized properly (8/9), yes we could be in that territory.