I am proud of this offseason (1 Viewer)

[Louie18914]

Dennis Allen calling the defense is huge and means alot

Its his 2nd time in the Rodeo/ possible last chance and it seems he has a plan from recent experience that he is going to act upon

This is DAs defense and no one knows better than him how to use it.

He is in it to win it

 

[Jesse Custer]

I do not think they have built a Team around Winston more-so they have assembled a competitive Team with solid pieces.

Pretty much. As I've said since the end of last season, with the weapons present last season and no improvement in those weapons, no QB, no matter how talented, could be expected to succeed. This gives any QB, whether it's Winston or someone else, a fair shot.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

I may get flamed for this (not that I care), but this is Dennis Allen's team. I have no proof, but I would bet there was a little friction between some of the coaches and SP. He had that ability to get under your skin at times.
Shifting Hill from QB to TE and being on the field more often than not is a clear indicator that Allen wants to do things his way.
I like the fact the DA is our coach.

 

[Jesse Custer]

I like the fact the DA is our coach.

Given the aggressiveness I've been seeing in free agency and in the draft, so am I.

 

[RaginCajun83]

I’m happy that they picked two of the biggest needs of this team in the first round

 

[Cougar 2]

I may get flamed for this (not that I care), but this is Dennis Allen's team. I have no proof, but I would bet there was a little friction between some of the coaches and SP. He had that ability to get under your skin at times.
Shifting Hill from QB to TE and being on the field more often than not is a clear indicator that Allen wants to do things his way.
I like the fact the DA is our coach.

Agreed!

TBH, at first, I thought stayin “in house” n hiring Dennis Allen as HC would only give us “more of the same”!

We ain’t even played a down yet, n it’s all jus on paper, but I’ve been nuttn short of impressed wit wat DA has done so far!!!

He’s shown his knowledge of, n addressed team needs, esp on O! He also understands the teams “culture” n brought in the kind of players n coaches that “fit” dat culture!

No, he ain’t CSP. But he IS Dennis Allen!, n it’s CLEAR, for better r worse, as HC, he’s gonna do things HIS way!
N I’m excited to see wat the 2022 Saints do this season!!!

So do YOU, Coach!!!

 

[Lendro Furioso]

Loomis has assembled a great team on paper, one fully capable of contending, even. Now it's up to DA and the coaching staff to turn them into a winning team. I fully expect a learning curve as the team adjusts to the new reality sans-Sean Payton, but I hope we look like a contender by mid October. If we can string/scrape out some wins until the team hits their stride, we can be on our way.

Don't lose faith if we happen to not hit the ground running, remember we have new safeties on defense and essentially a whole new offense.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

Loomis has assembled a great team on paper, one fully capable of contending, even. Now it's up to DA and the coaching staff to turn them into a winning team. I fully expect a learning curve as the team adjusts to the new reality sans-Sean Payton, but I hope we look like a contender by mid October. If we can string/scrape out some wins until the team hits their stride, we can be on our way.

Don't lose faith if we happen to not hit the ground running, remember we have new safeties on defense and essentially a whole new offense.

We'd better hit the ground running in the first five games or we'll be in trouble.

 

[liveoakh]

genius of one Mickey Loomis.

Genius by half perhaps, But the Watson deal soured me on Loomis. Ireland would be a better GM, he is already picking all the draft talent. DA picked all the coaching talent, not Loomis. Loomis can go GM the Pells and we wouldn't miss a beat. I remember those Sean/Loomis drafts before Ireland.

All Loomis does is take all the credit, but the true Genius so far is Ireland and DA. A blind man can see that.

 

[BayouSAINTJoe]

Genius by half perhaps, But the Watson deal soured me on Loomis. Ireland would be a better GM, he is already picking all the draft talent. DA picked all the coaching talent, not Loomis. Loomis can go GM the Pells and we wouldn't miss a beat. I remember those Sean/Loomis drafts before Ireland.

All Loomis does is take all the credit, but the true Genius so far is Ireland and DA. A blind man can see that.

I'm still holding on to hope that we were in cahoots w/ Houston in an attempt to drive up the trade compensation to the Texans....it's the only thing that really makes sense to me. Everything about that move was against our norms.

 

[liveoakh]

I'm still holding on to hope that we were in cahoots w/ Houston in an attempt to drive up the trade compensation to the Texans....it's the only thing that really makes sense to me. Everything about that move was against our norms.

Loomis was so bought in on that deal, he had Ms. Gayle go meet Watson to normalize a man w/ 22 sexual harassment accusations, yet to be herd in civil court. That Watson wants to litagate and clear his name. They are talking about a year suspension now. We dodged a bullet.

 

[Hedon James]

Listen, full disclaimer. I wanted us to land Watson if nothing more than realizing the fact that if you can snag an elite QB in the NFC you are the new version of the Patriots. With the landscape of the QB talent mostly shifted to the AFC...a great team w/ a great coach, above average QB talent and drafting ability can be perennial NFC/SB representatives. Jameis Winston is the biggest lottery ticket from a sketchy 2015 draft QB options (Falcons have their own in Mariotta) and if he truly has a second act as Sean Payton mentions, and can play up to his #1 draft pedigree...WE ARE GOLDEN.

If they haven't done anything, they've built a team around Jameis that is almost SB or bust or, at very least deep playoff contention level worthy. This is a team that won 9 games with four different QB's as starters and about a worst luck season you can have. Hurricane adversity, injury adversity, like that was a bonkers season.

(snipped)

13-14 wins is my call here and a SB appearance wouldn't surprise me but #1 or #2 seed...absolutely expected. Who Dat!

Solid analysis EJW! I'm not quite as optimistic as you, but I am right there behind you. The bolded sentence is the key lynchpin of the argument, IMO. This team went 1-5 with Siemian & Book (3rd & 4th string QBs) having significant playing time...I'll give Siemian credit for the 1st win against TB, as he extended/continued the winning game plan for the majority of the game minutes after JW2 got injured.

In games that JW2 or TH7 started, we went 8-3. That's a 73% win ratio, which extrapolates to a 12-win season over 17 games. When you consider the injuries & covid issues to starters and coaching staffs, it's almost unbelievable. And I haven't even touched upon the depleted WR corp for the ENTIRE season. CSP is known for his aerial attack, which was tremendously stunted for the entire season!

So I see 3 main "areas of concern" or "point of emphasis" when looking at the 2022 season:

• We need JW2 to be at least the same guy as last season. If he's more, it's a bonus; if he's less, we need Dalton to be at least as effective as TH7 was last year.
• We need the WR corp to play at least in the top half of the league. I see this as almost guaranteed. MT is back, and while he may not be the MT we know to start the season, he'll be better than anything we had last year. Which is perfect for his situation....we don't NEED him to be the MT who catches 140+ for 1,500+ yards. Having Olave & Landry on the field with him will draw coverage away from him and allow him to regain his CGM form in a slow & steady fashion. Added bonus...this is a 3-headed monster in the WR corp now....we're no longer "screwed" if one guy is down for an extended period. We've got built-in fallbacks now, and the train keeps a rollin'!
• We need Coach DA (CDA?) to be at least average and not overthink himself. My ONLY complaint with CSP was that he was an offensive genius, and he knew it, and was over-confident in his genius. Which sometimes resulted in boneheaded or too-cutesy play calls at inopportune moments, because he was too smart to make that call, so the defense wouldn't expect it, which is exactly why he did it. GRRRRR! CDA is surrounded by the best of the best remaining CSP coaches. Let them do what they know how to do, and just manage the game on Sunday. Perhaps we'll lose some "big strike/big play" opportunities, but we won't make too many stupid mistakes that we think we're "smart enough to overcome" later. CSP hated turnovers on the field, resulting in lost possessions, but I felt his playcalling resulted in "lost drives" a little too often. If CDA can avoid this, I think it will help mitigate the "loss of genius" in coaching. JMO...

The defense is of slight concern, but mostly intact from last year. We've lost some key pieces, but replaced those pieces with similar pieces (at least on paper, they're similar). My biggest concern with the defense is ability to gel those new pieces early in the season, which I'm confident will happen. And we have greater "depth & breadth" than we had last year. In my mind, this is a given, it's only a matter of "when."

IMO, JW2 will be similar to the guy who went 5-2 last year (I'll give him the 1st TB win, as he set the tone early and we were well in control of that game when he went out, allowing Siemian to simply finish it out). Dalton will be similar to TH7....he doesn't have TH7 legs, but his arm & accuracy is closer to JW2 than TH7 was, which will be IMPORTANT with this years WR corp. I expect the WR corp will be a VAST improvement over last years. Just getting MT back, at less than all-pro form, is a huge step forward. Throw in a promising rookie Olave and a proven chain mover like Landry, and we MAY be looking at 3 one thousand yard receivers this year, if the QBs do their part. And as mentioned above, I think the coaching will be a push.....less CSP "highlights", but fewer CSP "lost drives".

If everything pans out like I expect, as outlined above, I'm thinking 11-6 or 12-5 is the most likely outcome. I'll be thrilled with that in the new era of Saints football! Although a deep run in the playoffs would also be greatly appreciated, but not surprise me.

 

[rsmith2783]

Listen, full disclaimer. I wanted us to land Watson if nothing more than realizing the fact that if you can snag an elite QB in the NFC you are the new version of the Patriots. With the landscape of the QB talent mostly shifted to the AFC...a great team w/ a great coach, above average QB talent and drafting ability can be perennial NFC/SB representatives. Jameis Winston is the biggest lottery ticket from a sketchy 2015 draft QB options (Falcons have their own in Mariotta) and if he truly has a second act as Sean Payton mentions, and can play up to his #1 draft pedigree...WE ARE GOLDEN.

If they haven't done anything, they've built a team around Jameis that is almost SB or bust or, at very least deep playoff contention level worthy. This is a team that won 9 games with four different QB's as starters and about a worst luck season you can have. Hurricane adversity, injury adversity, like that was a bonkers season.

Winston for a full 16 games is damn near 13 wins signed sealed and delivered and they've gone an upgraded their weakest position by far in WR in a huge way. The defense has two new pieces at Safety, and that's a legitimate question mark but the talents they brought in should be be a top 5-8 safety unit, though the jury is still out on if they can be as good as their predecessors together. Still, something as simple as getting Will Lutz back maybe adds a game or two last year if you have a Kicker.


The 2022-2023 narrative is simple, this is a team that people are going to write off and they are going to have a 9 game winning streak to start the season and everyone's saying "Wow surprise team look at record a year ago, yada yada yada" When truth is this was a team that shouldn't have been picking 16. We got a bonus year with good draft positioning and we tried to maximize by getting 3 top 50 picks because good teams usually draft in the high 20's and may have 1 top 50 selection.

Allen as a HC and Kamara are the two question marks but if the depth chart behind this team can shake forward a #2 runner and Allen has truly learned from his Raiders run.we ARE FN....STACKED.

Another random question mark...is a good deal rides on Olave/Penning being hits. They don't have to be all pro's but if either one of them struggles...I feel like Penning more....it could set them back a bit. Alontae Taylor may prove to be a luxury pick or a golden pick because you can never have enough good corners. Remember 09 we were down to aged versions of Chris McCallister Mike McKenzie and boundary corner Malcolm Jenkins (ouch). Nothing can derail a defense more than injuries at corner. Otherwise, we did a good job at taking advantage of the fruits delivered by a rare down year to make a dominant roster even better with young cheap talent.

13-14 wins is my call here and a SB appearance wouldn't surprise me but #1 or #2 seed...absolutely expected. Who Dat!

Back in 2017, you were the only one to predict that the Saints would return to the playoffs. I'd take this prediction.

 

[sfidc3]

Genius by half perhaps, But the Watson deal soured me on Loomis. Ireland would be a better GM, he is already picking all the draft talent. DA picked all the coaching talent, not Loomis. Loomis can go GM the Pells and we wouldn't miss a beat. I remember those Sean/Loomis drafts before Ireland.

All Loomis does is take all the credit, but the true Genius so far is Ireland and DA. A blind man can see that.

Watson was my choice to replace Brees as long as a few years ago so I was excited at the prospect of trying to get him here....but as time wore on with the "negotiations" I started to really just want them to bring JW back, it worked out in the end.

I disagree with your assertion that we wouldn't miss a beat with Loomis gone, he is the money guy, he works that cap magic, no other team in the NFL can do the things that he does routinely, he is not really a personnel guy....I think that is Jeff Ireland and staff's job with input from DA....

 

[Moon]