Rexman100
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Solid post, all truth.Gonna state some obvious stuff and kick the dead horse for a minute then get to my point.
In my years of fandom, I really can't remember having a roster so depleted. No stars, starters who would be rotational at best on other teams, and replacement level players for depth. You'd think that would mean we have tons of cap space and be drafting in the top 5 at worse. Instead we have to spend another winter playing the cap-game so we can get under by the deadline and 2024 had a LOT of bad teams. 5-12 barely got us in the top 10. To top it all off, here we are a week before the senior bowl and we still don't have a coach or know who will be on said coach's staff. (all the other teams looking for a HC have found their guy for better or worse, so we're last)
Back to the roster. The main things that stick out to me is how many of our starters are back-up level and how many of our back-ups actually deserve to be the back-ups of back-ups. And it all starts at the top. Our "stars". I heard Belichick say once that on defense, I need one elite player on each level of the defense. We have:
DL - Cam Jordan (Clearly past his prime and more of a roll player that flashes once ever few games)
LB - Demario Davis (Still playing above average, but it's clear his body isn't keeping up with his elite mind as much these days)
DB - Tyrann Mathieu (Same as Demario, except he's lost two steps to DD's one step. Similar to where Cam is at)
All of these guys are still "good" to have on your team. But they're no longer truly star players. Guys the other team has to game plan for. Time for the new "star" players to take the reigns...
DL - Carl Granderson (I have no qualms with Grando, he's solid and an huge asset, but to date, he's been a role player who flashes a few times every game. Not necessarily a "star" player. At least not yet.)
LB - Pete Werner (The pure definition of a role player)
DB - Kool Aid McKinstry or Alontae Taylor (Both remain to be seen, but neither appear to be the next Lattimore)
Other.... Bryan Breese (After a promising rookie season, Breese seems to have plateau'd, at lest for now. Many have mentioned that adding a strong IDL to line up next to him could unlock his potential and maybe he could elevate to "star". But IMO, "star" DLmen usually make the guy next to them better instead of needing them to help him be better)
On offense it's much the same...
OL - Telllese Fuaga (Too soon to put a "star" label on him but he did have a promising rookie season)
QB - Derek Carr (33 years old and has never been a "star". Good most of the time, great every once in a while in short spurts, but never elite overall nor in any specific metric)
RB - Alvin Kamara (30 years old next season and still a productive player when he gets some help from the rest of the offense, play caller, and OL. You'll see a run and think he's still got IT... then a dozen or so touches of meh. OL and passing game hasn't been his friend lately. Most telling is how his production seems to taper off pretty noticably as the season goes along. To me that's a sign of tired legs and as much as I hate to say it... decline due to age. I could be wrong.)
WR - Chris Olave (Very good receiver with WAY too many concussions. I've always thought of him as more of a "star #2 receiver" a 'la Chris Godwin.)
TE - None (two role players that go hot and cold and more cold than hot.)
Others - Rasheed Shaheed (elite kick returner at times. Other than that, he's a true deep speed receiver and like most of those guys not named Tyreek Hill, they live off low percentage pass plays. When they hit (~20-30% of the time) it's a home run and everybody calls them a "star". But the other 70% of the time, they just clear out the safety. NOTE: He'll be coming off his first major leg injury. Like most UDFA's, his career is based on one specific trait. His speed. If the injury slows him down even a half a step, then what made him special is gone and he could have a tough time keeping the train on the tracks.)
Special teams are solid, but still average. At least no stars. Sheed as a kick returner might make a case, but our punter is good-not-great, and our kicker is good. I'll take that as there have only been a handful of PKs a maybe a punter or two in the history of the league that anyone would put the "star" label on. (Soon as a kicker misses a critical FG, he's usually moved off the list. And they all miss critical FGs now and again.
We've seen some stars in my lifetime of being a Saints fan. Drew, prime MT, Prime Cam, Deuce, Colston, Sammy, Dome Patrol, Graham, Roaf, Jahri, Lattimore, *Marcus Williams, Horn, Pierre, Sproles, Devery, prime DD, Morten, Glover, Armstead, Ingram, VIlma, Carl Nicks, and even Morestead to name a few. But like the old country song I wonder, "who's gonna fill their shoes?"
Asking for another 2017 draft is probably asking too much and our cap situation says we're not likely to pull in an all-pro through free agency. But one thing is for certain, our "stars" are fading, and it's hard to find hope to replace them on our current roster. Teams don't compete for championships without having that caliber of guys sprinkled across their depth chart.
Guess I'll wrap up this keyboard rant and leave it with this. We need to find "stars" in the first two rounds of the next several drafts and hope to find a few gems in later rounds. And I'm for drafting "star" type players regardless of position and/or positional value. Build a useable team during free agency, and swing for the fences in the draft.
