Underhill article: “Saints moves are telling us what they felt the real problem with the team was last season” (129 Viewers)

[Vision]

Playing hypothetical of what kind of team we would’ve been, without injuries is a guess kind of stat as well

500 team with DA.

 

[Rexman100]

I don’t buy into the injuries excuse. It’s cool to say it, as a coping mechanism, but 4 out of the top 10 teams that lost the most points due to injuries, made the playoffs (Lions, Bucs, Steelers, and Texans). The main thing, when deciding if a team is good or not, is the depth chart. If your depth chart is underwhelming, then you are not a good team…….you are just a top heavy team. If you can’t build a competent roster, where guys can fill in, due to injuries, then you are lacking at assembling a roster. Good/great teams overcome obstacles. However, if I were to play the “injuries” game, then I would say we were going to be nothing more than an average team bc that was the ceiling that coach showed was his best. I only go by what facts have presented

Nah. The real problem is that they we were just one year into Klint Kubiaks system. A system that required a completely different type of Oline man. If we were in year three of KKs system we would’ve had three full drafts to fortify our roster, especially the o line. I agree that we are top heavy like every NFL team, but we are more top heavy due to the new system. I had said many times that Kks system chews up Olineman and RBs. And it sure did. We simply didn’t t have the Oline depth, especially at center, a position that we didn’t have a single backup penciled in.

 

[webster]

It was DA’s decision to not sign a seasoned veteran QB as a backup. Many teams make sure they have a veteran backup. We didn’t have to roll with Jazzy J and Rattler. Could’ve just kept one.

That decision by DA was his nail in the coffin. Who goes into a season without a backup qb on the roster?

 

[Randy Jones]

At the beginning of the season 24, the starting OL, skill positions and the defense were competitive. It was the backups that I believe were subpar particularly on the OL. Herron and Lemieux were walking wounded for instance. This should be an emphasis for the draft.

 

[Rexman100]

Defense didn’t have that many injuries and couldn’t tackle to save their lives.

The Dc / HC was fired. The d took a nosedive afterwards.

 

[Rexman100]

Allen was a terrible head coach, and I don't think that's a subject of debate at this point. The injury claim is just lame, but it does point to a lack of depth and weaknesses with FO. All teams deal with injuries, but good coaches can keep things stable or cover up deficiencies until they face a superior team. The Lions did this for half their season, and the Rams gave Philly their closest game after battling injuries through the year.

One offseason wasn’t enough time to fortify Klint Kubiaks system. For that system to work, you need to be two D at every OLine position. And the third string must be able to play multiple positions.

 

[guillermo]

This is the comment I left from that article:

I really don’t understand the perception coming from the front office. We can be competitive, but to do what?, win a playoff game?. We may be as close to Tampa as we are far from Detroit, the rams and Philly.

If we are doing a mixture of cleaning cap and roster while going for it, we should not be signing new players that are over 26 years old. We should be questioning extending veterans that will not be playing up to their cap value.

To me, we are improvising, not building towards a real competitive future.

 

[Domeination]

The big takeaway from this offseason so far is that Loomis thinks he’s been right all along, which does not give me great confidence going forward. Loomis didn’t even want to get rid of DA, but GB forced his hand on that. Now, he has indicated it will be back to business as usual—reup aging vets, push money on those contracts into the future (perpetuating the cycle), insist you can win now in a weak division instead of rebuilding (although that hasn’t worked at all so far). I do see two potential reasons for hope: (1) maybe Moore can draft better than DA (which we will just have to wait and see on); and (2) maybe Moore can coach better than DA (which I think is probable).

 

[Rexman100]

If they just thought it was injuries then why dd they fire DA?

Thats a good question. And the answer is to maintain fan optimism (ticket sales) by creating a false sense of hope that “next year is the year” Firing DA and hiring a completely new staff creates provides a sense of hope. But It’s mostly false, because you’re only as good as your roster.

 

[Lustmord]

IMO- it was coaching

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

Thats a good question. And the answer is to maintain fan optimism (ticket sales) by creating a false sense of hope that “next year is the year” Firing DA and hiring a completely new staff creates provides a sense of hope. But It’s mostly false, because you’re only as good as your roster.

If you recall, Loomis didn't want to. The firing was done at the behest of Mrs. Benson.

 

[Randy Jones]

This is the comment I left from that article:

I really don’t understand the perception coming from the front office. We can be competitive, but to do what?, win a playoff game?. We may be as close to Tampa as we are far from Detroit, the rams and Philly.

If we are doing a mixture of cleaning cap and roster while going for it, we should not be signing new players that are over 26 years old. We should be questioning extending veterans that will not be playing up to their cap value.

To me, we are improvising, not building towards a real competitive future.

It would seem reasonable to me that the Saints could be competitive and do more building for the future through the draft simultaneously by trading back to mid 1st round pickup some extra picks. I just dont see a 2025 championship run using free agency with other teams castoffs apart from one or two signings.

 

[AARPSaint]

As Roseanne Rosannadanna would say, “If it’s not one thing, it’s another.” Observing last season was painful, but it wasn’t just one thing.

1. A mediocre free agency period. Chase Young and Willie Gay, the latter of whom barely played. Salary cap restrictions reared their ugly head, limiting acquisitions.

2. A mediocre draft, with Fuaga as the only real success. McKinstry seems promising, though. And not enough picks due to the constant and toxic trading up.

3. Injuries concentrated on the offensive side. It’s one thing if injuries are scattered between offense and defense. Ask the Detroit staff what a plethora of injuries on defense does to a defensive unit, to cite a mirror image example to that of the Saints.

4. Terrifically disappointing play of the defense. Bad tackling , screwups, inadequate pass rush, lack of takeaways, and porous run defense were characteristic..

5. Coaching. No more needs to be said.

6. Related to coaching: lack of focus on the DL, including choice of coach. Allen was an elite DB coach but didn’t seem to value sufficiently or coach adequately the front seven.

Injuries were the main problem but not the only one. And there’s no doubt others can name some other problems with last year’s team.

 

[Rexman100]

The big takeaway from this offseason so far is that Loomis thinks he’s been right all along, which does not give me great confidence going forward. Loomis didn’t even want to get rid of DA, but GB forced his hand on that. Now, he has indicated it will be back to business as usual—reup aging vets, push money on those contracts into the future (perpetuating the cycle), insist you can win now in a weak division instead of rebuilding (although that hasn’t worked at all so far). I do see two potential reasons for hope: (1) maybe Moore can draft better than DA (which we will just have to wait and see on); and (2) maybe Moore can coach better than DA (which I think is probable).

I think what CKM will do is adapt to his system to the roster. For example don’t run a system that taxes a position group of which you have limited depth. Adapt play calling to suit a player. For example, don’t call passes over the middle to Olave. Don’t run naked bootlegs with Carr. I think the olines scheme will switch back to pass protection, as Carr is a better pure passer than Hurts and Prescott. It’s these type of move, I expect with CKM.

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

It would seem reasonable to me that the Saints could be competitive and do more building for the future through the draft simultaneously by trading back to mid 1st round pickup some extra picks. I just dont see a 2025 championship run using free agency with other teams castoffs apart from one or two signings.

That's all free agency is, though. Drew Brees was a cast off.