Here’s what I don’t get re Saints ranking predictions (2 Viewers)

[RebSaint]

Just for "scale", how many "could bes" did we have in the 08 offseason?

2008 New Orleans Saints Roster & Players | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Check out the 2008 New Orleans Saints Roster, Players , Starters and more on Pro-Football-Reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Without going into a player-by-player comparison, and with the understanding that hindsight is 20/20-- I only see a handful of "could bes" including Sederick Ellis and Jason David, who turned out to be colossal busts. Carl Nicks was a rookie but handled himself well from the get-go.

But just a few takaways--

Coach SP and DB were still "could bes" in the context of winning a championship, but they were clearly on the ascendancy.

The rest of the roster is stacked with either players who were established vets or young players clearly on the ascent.

Numerous players on the roster, too had already been to the NFC Championship game and had playoff experience. Just by way of an example, I think it's pretty obvious then and now that Jeremy Shockey was a much better player than Juwan Johnson, and it's not even close. The team also had two solid, contributing book-end DEs in Charles Grant and Will Smith. The Saints now have an aging Cameron Jordan and a bunch of could-bes. Now, I hope Chase Young or Carl Granderson or someone else steps up, but the point is that this team has a crap-ton of questions surrounding coaches and players that previous teams did not.

 

[Artifactual]

Would that be the same coach of the Saints that by that time had multiple playoff appearances, had already gone to 2 NFC championship games, won a SB, etc?

To be factually correct Allen has only been HC for 2 Seasons to this point.

SP didn't accomplish in his first 2 seasons what you stated above.
In year 1 he took the Saints to the NFC Championship Game with Drew Brees at QB.
In year 2 he regressed and failed to make the playoffs.

 

[dtc]

Off the top of my head

Lost Mike, Ram and Maye
Gained Young and Gay

You can argue semantics but that is difficult to call an even swap much less an improvement. Other teams are only adding in the offseason.

Ram was hurt and not himself. MIke was nothing like he used to be and Maye was never good here anyway so replacing those 3 with average players in their starting roles is an improvement.

 

[Artifactual]

Ram was hurt and not himself. MIke was nothing like he used to be and Gay was never good here anyway so replacing those 3 with average players in their starting roles is an improvement.

I think you have your Gays mixed up.

 

[dtc]

2008 New Orleans Saints Roster & Players | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Check out the 2008 New Orleans Saints Roster, Players , Starters and more on Pro-Football-Reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Without going into a player-by-player comparison, and with the understanding that hindsight is 20/20-- I only see a handful of "could bes" including Sederick Ellis and Jason David, who turned out to be colossal busts. Carl Nicks was a rookie but handled himself well from the get-go.

But just a few takaways--

Coach SP and DB were still "could bes" in the context of winning a championship, but they were clearly on the ascendancy.

The rest of the roster is stacked with either players who were established vets or young players clearly on the ascent.

Numerous players on the roster, too had already been to the NFC Championship game and had playoff experience. Just by way of an example, I think it's pretty obvious then and now that Jeremy Shockey was a much better player than Juwan Johnson, and it's not even close. The team also had two solid, contributing book-end DEs in Charles Grant and Will Smith. The Saints now have an aging Cameron Jordan and a bunch of could-bes. Now, I hope Chase Young or Carl Granderson or someone else steps up, but the point is that this team has a crap-ton of questions surrounding coaches and players that previous teams did not.

The year you're talking about people complained that Grant was fat, old and washed up despite the fact he was asked to play control rather than pressure.

 

[evilsaint]

Would that be the same coach of the Saints that by that time had multiple playoff appearances, had already gone to 2 NFC championship games, won a SB, etc?

Legit curious? Hardly, it's the same old tired trope of pointing out the fact that CSP wasn't perfect but somehow that makes DA look.....better.....it doesn't.....it just makes folks look foolish when they make that argument...

The plain fact is DA has never taken a team to the playoffs in 6 years and has an overall record of .343.....so no, I guess I didn't have the same "energy" because there really is no comparing a coach who has already proven they can win a championship and one who has yet to even make the playoffs (even after a season with a very favorable schedule in the NFL's worst division).....

The coach that had to be physically restrained from the meds cabinet. The coach who is responsible for squandering most of the prime of the best thing we'll ever see at QB. What's his playoff record? I swear as much as DA seems like a guy with no game, it sure seems like he's knocking down Moms and WAGs all over NOLA to read some of the posts on this board.

 

[sfidc3]

To be factually correct Allen has only been HC for 2 Seasons to this point.

SP didn't accomplish in his first 2 seasons what you stated above.
In year 1 he took the Saints to the NFC Championship Game with Drew Brees at QB.
In year 2 he regressed and failed to make the playoffs.

Year 1 he took a Saints team that was 3-13 the year before to the NFC championship game.....after nearly 40 years the Saints had one single playoff victory up to that point.....I would say that CSP earned the right to have a few down seasons....if you believe DA has earned that right you are delusional.....

The coach that had to be physically restrained from the meds cabinet. The coach who is responsible for squandering most of the prime of the best thing we'll ever see at QB. What's his playoff record? I swear as much as DA seems like a guy with no game, it sure seems like he's knocking down Moms and WAGs all over NOLA to read some of the posts on this board.

And yet it continues, as you continue to be "legit curious" LMAO.......His playoff record is 9-8....he took the Saints to the playoffs 9 times over 16 seasons.....and won more playoff games than we have had appearances up to that point, the Saints total playoff record over nearly 40 years was 1-4, before CSP got here.....Yet here we are continuing to disparage (he wasn't perfect, nobody is claiming he was) the best coach, by far, in Saints history, to somehow make DA seem somehow comparable? It's total nonsense....

 

[Rexman100]

The coach that had to be physically restrained from the meds cabinet. The coach who is responsible for squandering most of the prime of the best thing we'll ever see at QB. What's his playoff record? I swear as much as DA seems like a guy with no game, it sure seems like he's knocking down Moms and WAGs all over NOLA to read some of the posts on this board.

Saint fans when they are bored, tend to be the snake that eats its own tail.

 

[sfidc3]

Saint fans when they are bored, tend to be the snake that eats its own tail.

Some Saints fan seem very accepting of mediocrity, to the point where they defend it to ridiculous lengths....

 

[SaintFanInATLHell2019]

The first 5 or so games of our schedule are tough. If we can manage a winning record in those games, the expectations will be reset way higher. If we start out 2-4 or something like that, the prognosticators will come out and talk about how right they are, but it won’t mean the season is over. It’s just how the talking heads play the game.

3-3 is the floor. The Saints cannot afford to even lose one division game in that stretch and still expect to be in it in the end.

SFIAH

 

[Snakehead]

Off the top of my head

Lost Mike, Ram and Maye
Gained Young and Gay

You can argue semantics but that is difficult to call an even swap much less an improvement. Other teams are only adding in the offseason.

We didn't lose MT. Dude's been nonexistent since 2019. The WRs got better after he got injured and left the team. I'd say that's a positive.

 

[Saint KayBee]

I do not disagree with most what you say, it’s largely a matter of half full/half empty IMO.

Your posts, pursuant to the glass half full/empty analogy, are closer to “I CRUSHED THIS GLASS IN MY BARE HANDS, NOW GAZE UPON THE SHARDS I HAVE LEFT SCATTERED AROUND” than they are even half-empty

Just a couple of arguments:
Peat was our best lineman last year, maybe along with McCoy.
Pass rush is a major concern, Young alone can’t turn it around. Foskey and Turner never contributed, so we can’t count them as an improvement.
TEs, idk, there was plenty of people expecting us to draft one.
Overall, the offense is a question mark with a bigger one about the OL. We can expect it to be way more efficient with Kubiak, but roster-wise I’m not that happy about how the offseason went. Fuaga is the only real upgrade. They’re betting everything on the new coaches, while more additions would help IMO. We used to tinker a lot to upgrade our offense any way we could

There have been question marks at multiple points in time about the state of the Saints’ OL and/or pass rush, and they’ve never been worse than “that was disappointing and a consistent thing to overcome,” yet somehow the bottom has never completely fallen out without a hurricane’s help… but if yours were the only opinions I read about this team, I’d think we were staring down a tenth straight 3-14 campaign.

 

[Artifactual]

Would that be the same coach of the Saints That by that time had multiple playoff appearances, had already gone to 2 NFC championship games, won a SB, etc?

To be Factually Correct Allen has only been HC for 2 Seasons to this point.

SP didn't accomplish in his first 2 seasons what you stated above.
In year 1 he took the Saints to the NFC Championship Game with Drew Brees at QB.
In year 2 he regressed and failed to make the playoffs.

Year 1 he took a Saints team that was 3-13 the year before to the NFC championship game.....after nearly 40 years the Saints had one single playoff victory up to that point.....I would say that CSP earned the right to have a few down seasons....if you believe DA has earned that right you are delusional.....

Let's see if we can get this straight.

You made a completely erroneous statement.

I entered the conversation and pointed out that What You Stated Is Not Factually Correct.

You replied to my post by going off rail with different praise for CSP instead of admitting what you said was not true and taking ownership of it.

Then you have the gall to call me delusional.

Really? SMH

 

[evilsaint]

I'm just saying, SP has plenty of warts to go with his obvious proficiencies. If we're honest, he's should have been a Richard, and not a Sean. Additionally, a big credit to SP is his turning it around, albeit to no ultimate success, after the 7-9 wasteland, which was in no small part due to the arrival of DA. I mean, I'm not sold, nor do I think anybody should be, really, but the vitriol is embarrassing and unwarranted. Nuance. Try it out.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

It seems Saints fans are more optimistic than those who are not. The pro-football preview magazines should be coming out any day. I suspect they will project the Saints to finish third in the division and to have a losing season.

The coaching coaches can only help. But overall the talent on the team is mediocre. To those who disagree and believe we will win nine or more games, this is the time to take a trip to the casino and place a bet.