I think this season has a better chance of resembling 2006 than being a down year (1 Viewer)

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Many are just sort of writing it off for the obvious reasons (Brees gone, Thomas out for a while, some suspensions, etc).

But the reality is.....on paper....we've still got a lot of talent and have shown an ability to get by with band aids for a while, at least during the regular seasons.

At this point, I really don't have any major aspirations for the team beyond seeing them get to the playoffs, but I'm also not thinking "immediate rebuild" either.

It took until August.....but I'm finally legitimately interested in seeing if Payton can get Winston turned around this season.

 

[T.Sneden84]

The unknowns have me excited not scared . Let’s go

 

[Meachemdat]

We are 1 legit CB away from having a super bowl contending team. If the Front Office really thinks this is a super bowl caliber team, then they absolutely have to get one via trade.

 

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The unknowns have me excited not scared . Let’s go

The unknowns never had me scared.....they simply had me disinterested since March 14th.

But now I finally feel a genuine curiosity in seeing how it will all go.

 

[rob22278]

At this point, I really don't have any major aspirations for the team beyond seeing them get to the playoffs, but I'm also not thinking "immediate rebuild" either.

The 06 team made the nfc championship game.

 

[LiterOCola]

We are 1 legit CB away from having a super bowl contending team. If the Front Office really thinks this is a super bowl caliber team, then they absolutely have to get one via trade.

Defensive line is also a huge question mark. The entire middle of the line is basically gone, Cam needs to prove last year was an anomaly and not the start of hitting the age wall, and one of Davenport/Turner needs to produce significantly more than 2 sacks in a season.

 

[Eman5805]

The unknowns have me excited not scared . Let’s go

Agreed. This will be an offense teams have to defend a totally different way than the last 5 years. They’ll need to actually watch our ‘06-‘11 film to get a better idea. Except they still isn’t enough because even in his prime a Brees deep throw never got crisp delivery unless his launch is clear and he can step into the throw.
Winston can and will uncork it 50 yards through the air on the run on a line.

I can’t wait.

 

[JackT.]

we have too many great players for this to be a rebuilding year. will we dominate offensively like before? Probably not but I do see a double digit win season. especially since we resigned Kwon. Our defense is going to be tight. I have a feeling that Malcom Roach is going to bust out this year.

 

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The 06 team made the nfc championship game.

Go back and reread the thread title...... It says a "better chance" of resembling 2006 than being a down year. I never said it was going to have the same general outcome.

There's a better chance that I will eat a hamburger today than I would if it was a Friday during Lent. That doesn't mean I'm going to eat a hamburger today.

 

[LaPlace DCL]

I've always been optimistic, it's just another year of Saints football. Plus we have to keep our division title streak going and would love for us to prove the doubters wrong.

 

[saint_drago]

Defensive line is also a huge question mark. The entire middle of the line is basically gone, Cam needs to prove last year was an anomaly and not the start of hitting the age wall, and one of Davenport/Turner needs to produce significantly more than 2 sacks in a season.

Yeah this is my biggest concern. If the D stinks we'll look back and think we should've seen it coming. It was already going to be hard to replace T Rex, Rankins, and Malcom Brown but then Onyemata had to go off and get himself suspended for a third of the season.

At least we have Ryan Nielsen. He's going to get the best out his guys. Let's just hope their best is good enough.

 

[Consigliere]

I would be excited if we had some legit WR's for Winston to chuck the ball downfield to. He got the gaudy stats in Tampa with some tall fast guys.

We have question-marks at DT and CB, which is unsettling. But it would still be exciting if we had multiple downfield threats. But we don't have that.

 

[Mississippi Saints Fan]

The question marks are QB, WR, Corner, and DT. We are good everywhere else. I think we end up with above average QB play. I think we manage at WR at DT. Cam can slide inside occasionally with the abundance of DE depth and Onyemata coming back eventually will solve the problem. The huge ? is at corner. The key will be keeping the pressure on the QBs. I think the success of the season depends on the younger guys stepping up and taking advantage of their opportunity.

 

[CajunSaint08]

We are 1 legit CB away from having a super bowl contending team. If the Front Office really thinks this is a super bowl caliber team, then they absolutely have to get one via trade.

You know what makes a great CB, an AWESOME defensive line. If they put pressure on the QB from the start, hit 'em often, pressure him throughout and stop the run, then an average CB will look dominant and a dominant CB will take over the secondary.

 

[Meachemdat]

Yeah this is my biggest concern. If the D stinks we'll look back and think we should've seen it coming. It was already going to be hard to replace T Rex, Rankins, and Malcom Brown but then Onyemata had to go off and get himself suspended for a third of the season.

At least we have Ryan Nielsen. He's going to get the best out his guys. Let's just hope their best is good enough.

We have a lot of young guys that have been waiting to see their turn.
I'm hoping we aren't as bad off as it looks on paper.

I'm more worried about CB-2 being an automatic completion currently.

I feel great about our Safeties and now that we have Kwon Back, feel amazing about our LB's.
I have a feeling the rotation of Turner, Granderson and Davenport is going to eat this season.