What is the expiration date on our Offense? (1 Viewer)

[Saintree River]

How much longer do you think we will have a potent offense? I ask that because obviously we are going to pretty much start over on D. So how long of a Super Bowl window do we have? As long as Brees is a Saint I think we should be in contention on that side of the ball. I am not sure how much longer Reggie will stick around. But Colston should be around a while if we are smart. I think most of us agree that we won't win a Super Bowl with our current defense, but maybe with an offseason or two of good moves on the defensive side of the ball, we can be in the running every year. I would hate to see the D come around just in time for us to sign another Billy Joe Something at QB.

 

[SWJJ]

2006

 

[Scott B]

it will depend on the O-line.

 

[msusaintsfan]

Well if we are contending the next few years I don't see Reggie wanting to bolt. Well we need to think about our TE and WR situation cause Patten and Henderson and Miller are FA for sure, is Copper? That could be four players off of our O right there pretty soon.

The Deuce question may come up sooner rather than later and looking past any depth issues on the O-line so we could end up having major issues with the O sooner than we think.....but I don't want to think that way. I would rather think we will be the Giants from this year and come from nowhere and win it all.

The O can't be ignored and I don't think Payton will this offseason even though the D is first and foremost. I think the big splash that Payton and Loomis promised this offseason may have been shot up after today. Hopefully they saw that these guys who were tagged and perhaps targeted that they have other guys on the radar.

 

[St. PJ]

I think as long as Drew Brees is QB, and as long as the offensive line can protect him, we will always have a window opened halfway. We need major upgrades at DT, LB, S, and CB to be great on defense, but offense just needs another consistant WR and maybe a solid TE and some nastier, more physical offensive linemen. Pierre Thomas is ready. Reggie is nowhere near his ceiling, but would probably be best used in tandem with Deuce or Pierre, like in 2006. I think Deuce restructures and sticks around. Even if he doesn't, Pierre is the man. Wether it be both or just Pierre, the coaches need to rely on them to open everything up. Having someone to complement Colston and a healthy reliable tight end make us versatile. Drafting and developing OL in late rounds seems to be a little niche of our coaches and FO, so I think over the next few years the need to get more physical will be met. Offense is not a worry, and will be back to form with the addition of a good WR, versatile using Reggie in motion and at split end, and balanced running the right RB in Deuce and/or Thomas. I think Payton figured that out finally, so I am not going to worry.

 

[pennstater]

Good Question.

I think our offensive window is 4-5 more years of top 10 offense. Farve, Elway, and Marino all played long careers, but each had a heckava arm that could hold up.

But when the raiders went to the superbowl in 2002, how old was Rich Gannon and he could still put the ball anyway at his age.

I think our best shot at a superbowl will be in 2 years.

 

[duckjr78]

Realistic opinion: Most teams have a 5 year (Approx.) window. The Saints are going to be starting year three. 2006 was the beginning. 2009 will be the best shot.
SaintsFan opinion: There is plenty of time. This team is young on the offensive side of the ball. MC is already the man. Reggie will get more work in the slot, Meach will get to play, and so will Pierre Thomas. The O-line has replacemants (Goodwin/Alleman) lined up for all but one position. Our offense is a young tight end and backup running back away from going on a Colts type of offensive run. Look how long it to the Colts. They were high-scoring and dominant on offense for 6 years before they put the right D together to win it all. We could be talking about anytime in the next 6 years.

 

[Conrad]

It all depends on Drew Brees, like in Indianapolis with Manning he drives the ship and nor matter who comes or goes it falls to him.

 

[Great Dane]

We have an offense that is 1 injury away from mediocracy. Last season Deuce went down again and so did our play off hopes. I am not convinced about PT/RB combo so we need a healthy Deuce back. Brees is the key - without him we are looking at 4-12. I feel our O-line is just good enough to keep us in the next 3-4 years.

 

[St. Pike]

I am not a believer in the "window of opportunity" kind of person, but,...


Teams that have a sustainable winning seasons do it by establishing a strong core of players with smaller group suffling in and out of the line up. The core may or may not be in the so called "key" positions, but are players that drive the engine of success. (although contunituity at the QB sems to be common feature).

Just who are the core players??? most of us will not be privy to until way after the fact. For example, who could name the core group of guys for the NE Patriots back when they beat the Rams???? I would guess not many.


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[Consigliere]

The key to our offense is that we have "all three things" = (1) power running game with Deuce/Karney, (2) passing game with Brees, and (3) the slashing run / short pass to Bush. The O-line is important to all three things.

Our window of opportunity will last as long as we keep all three elements. Great Dane is right, we are one injury away from losing our 2006 form. In 2007, the O-line stunk for the first four games last year, so the offense stunk too. They then improved, but Deuce went out, so the year was done. As long as we keep Brees, Bush, and Deuce (or PT?) we should have a good offense.

 

[BigRonJon]

Our offense has a good nucleus of young talent who could be productive for several years. Drew has plenty of football ahead of him. Reggie, Jhari, Colston are going into year three. Jamal Brown and Mike Karney are young. Who knows how good PT can become.

With that being said, it gives us enough time to build a defense the right way. We need to be using the draft and bring in young talent, along with a few not-so-old veterans.

Think DYNASTY

 

[BoNcHiE]

Colston, Meachum, Brees, Bush, Karney, Brown, Evans, are all here for the long haul. The rest of the backup WR's and OL could come and go, but we'd still have the core skill players and OL talent.

We could keep this offense together for at least 4-5 more years.

 

[bender12212]

Colston, Meachum, Brees, Bush, Karney, Brown, Evans, are all here for the long haul. The rest of the backup WR's and OL could come and go, but we'd still have the core skill players and OL talent.

We could keep this offense together for at least 4-5 more years.

is meachum included in this core because of his stellar job at riding the bus? or did i miss the times he actually dressed out

 

[St. PJ]

We have an offense that is 1 injury away from mediocracy. Last season Deuce went down again and so did our play off hopes. I am not convinced about PT/RB combo so we need a healthy Deuce back. Brees is the key - without him we are looking at 4-12. I feel our O-line is just good enough to keep us in the next 3-4 years.

I think the problem last year was not Deuce being hurt. Sure, Deuce is integral in what we do, but the problem started in Chicago. When we played physical teams like Baltimore and Pittsburg, Washington and Carolina, we struggled against athletic and fast defenses. They had the answer to Drew Brees quick release and decision making. The correct remedy for this is to line up and play smashmouth, run it down your throat football. I don't think our offensive line is adept at that. With players like Allemon waiting in the wings we have the ability to do that. We need to be more physical at the line of scrimmage and rely more on power and less on misdirection. Chicago's Tampa 2 was the answer to our short high percentage pass routes. Indy and Tampa were quick enough up front to make that game ineffective, and Tennessee was very physical, especially at the line of scrimmage.

What this means, and what we should learn from it, is that when we play a defense that is adept at stopping what works against most other teams is that we should line up and run the ball right at them. Deuce going down didn't hinder us from doing this. The problem arose when Payton tried to get Reggie to do what Pierre Thomas should have been doing. If we insert Pierre in Deuces role and leave Reggie split out or in perpetual motion, we don't miss a beat. Reggie is not a bell cow. He may be a Brian Westbrook in development, and last season may have been the attempt to develop him. Hindsight is 20/20, but I do believe it took Payton and Co. too long to figure out that Reggie was best utilized the way we used him in the last month of 2006 and that against physical playoff calibur teams, the answer is using Deuce or Pierre to open up the deep ball when our short bread and butter passing game is met by athletic linebackers.