Which player besides (DREW BREES) will have the largest impact on the Saints having a winning season (1 Viewer)

[cmire1]

It is my belief it will be Sheldon Rankins. He will make our defensive line better. He will make our linebackers better. And he will make our defensive backs better. Our defense will shine this year and he will be the reason in his second year from game one.

 

[bobad]

Will Lutz or Cam Jordan

 

[NOLove]

I think Jordan will lead the team in sacks and quietly lead the defense. Like Brees, there's no replacing him.

 

[cantguardhim]

Health

 

[Shotgunred]

Toss up between Delvin Breaux and Cam Jordan. We need a lot from both.

 

[duckjr78]

I'll go out on a limb and say Klein.

Having a NFL caliber MLB to play 3 downs and get everyone lined up correctly is going to be worth a massive amount, IMHO. One of the reasons we have looked at this defense and seen talent but very few results is due to the Anthony (rookie & perhaps not the quickest diagnoticator) and Roberston (situational LB & ST's player) lead middle of the defense.

Nothing against those two guys, but when you really look at the talent on the defense and then try to narrow down why it could be so bad, I believe it comes down to that position.

Even though Klein most likely isn't a transcendent player, he still represents a massive upgrade over the last two/three years at that position. I would love (hate?) to see his WAR-type stat filling in for Kuechly vs. our last 3 years of MLB play, lol.

 

[bigdog]

I'll go out on a limb and say Klein.

Having a NFL caliber MLB to play 3 downs and get everyone lined up correctly is going to be worth a massive amount, IMHO. One of the reasons we have looked at this defense and seen talent but very few results is due to the Anthony (rookie & perhaps not the quickest diagnoticator) and Roberston (situational LB & ST's player) lead middle of the defense.

Nothing against those two guys, but when you really look at the talent on the defense and then try to narrow down why it could be so bad, I believe it comes down to that position.

Even though Klein most likely isn't a transcendent player, he still represents a massive upgrade over the last two/three years at that position. I would love (hate?) to see his WAR-type stat filling in for Kuechly vs. our last 3 years of MLB play, lol.

Agree with this. Klein will most likely be the QB on the defensive side of the ball so his impact will be huge. That is assuming Klein is the starting MLB.

 

[sammymvpknight]

I'm too scared to consider the thought about this defense without Cam Jordan. He is one of the best players in the league but may have a shortened career because the years of carrying this putrid defense on his back. Brees is the most important player in the Saints, but Jordan is also absolutely essential.

 

[tak]

If this were basketball that would be an easy question to answer. But this is football; arguably the most team involved sport. No one individual outside of the Qb really has that capability. Even the Qb needs help to be an impact player. So I'll just stick with the obvious and say that our entire defense has to step up for us to do well this year.

 

[duckjr78]

Agree with this. Klein will most likely be the QB on the defensive side of the ball so his impact will be huge. That is assuming Klein is the starting MLB.

I truly believe that this team has Super Bowl talent and I feel like Klein will be worth a full win over the course of the season vs. last year's MLB play, all by himself.

Breaux - Very well could have been a 1st round pick had he been able to play at LSU
PJ Williams - 3rd round pick, due to off field issues
Lattimore - top 15 pick
Vaccarro - 1st round pick
Bell - 2nd round pick
Williams - 2nd round pick
Jordan - top 15 pick
Fairley - top 15 pick
Rankins - top 15 pick
Okafor - 4th round pick
Klein - 5th round pick
Ellerbe - UDFA
Anzalone - 3rd round pick, due to injuries
Anthony - 1st round pick

There is talent on this defense. This isn't a parts and pieces D like the one from '06 or even '09. This is one that has been crafted with the goal to make a final run or two getting Brees in position to win it all.

Klein could very well be the one to get them lined up correctly so they can do as much damage as possible.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

Lutz

 

[mondoburger]

neat hot take. but no. if rankins is the saints second best player next season that is big trouble for the black and gold.

Spare me the "biggest impact" does not mean best player argument. How do you measure impact? How the team plays with that player on the field vs how the team plays without that player on the field?
Id be willing to bet that barring injury - the following saints will have a bigger "impact" than rankins: Cam jordan, micheal thomas, mark ingram, armstead, unger, snead, vacarro, and breaux.

 

[saintsmarchin]

The least impact I'm hoping is Thomas Morstead...

if we ain't punting
we winning.

 

[Deucesharper]

Going out on a limb. I think Fleener steps up. Opposing D's have a lot of spots to cover. Should be an exciting year. I think our D will be in the top half. That will make a big difference.

 

[tenordas]

Going out on a limb. I think Fleener steps up. Opposing D's have a lot of spots to cover. Should be an exciting year. I think our D will be in the top half. That will make a big difference.

If our offense continues to have the same sort of production it has had since Brees came to us, then we'll be in the Super Bowl if our D is in the top half of the league. That would be true for every year since we won in '09.

Here's hoping Loomis/Payton have finally found the right combination of players to make that happen...