photo credit: neworleanssaints.com
2012 Record: 7-9 (3rd in NFC South)
2012 Season Review: The New Orleans Saints 2012 season was doomed from the start when Commissioner Rodger Goodell slapped down an entire season suspension on head coach Sean Payton. What followed was a disappointing 0-4 start out of the gate, two interim head coaches (due to other suspensions), and a third place finish in the NFC South. Even as quarterback Drew Brees led the league with over 5,000 yards passing yet again, the Saints missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. The good news has to be that they will get their beloved leader back from suspension in 2013 and will certainly be looking for revenge.
Offseason Review: Key Additions- CB Keenan Lewis, TE Ben Watson, S Jim Leonhard, S Kenny Vaccaro (draft), OL Terron Armstead, DT John Jenkins (draft)….Departures- DT Sedrick Ellis, OT Jermon Bushrod, RB Chris Ivory, WR Devery Henderson….Final Analysis- The Saints top priority this offseason had to be somehow improving this historically bad defense, which ranked 31st against the pass and 32nd against the run last year. They absolutely had to focus on this secondary first and foremost, and I do think that they did a decent job of that. To strengthen the safety position they drafted Texas product Kenny Vaccaro with their first pick in the draft, along with signing Jim Leonhard. Their 2012 safeties, Malcom Jenkins and Roman Harper, were each just terrible last season to say the least, and change was definitely needed. I think that Vaccaro was a great pick at 15, and I fully expect either him or Leonhard to unseat Harper at the strong safety position very early in the season. Sticking with the secondary and the need for its improvement, New Orleans desperately needed another cornerback to play alongside Jabari Greer, who was inconsistent at times but overall, not very bad for them in 2012. They did a great job filling this void by adding the talented former-Steeler Keenan Lewis. In his first year as a starter in Pittsburgh Lewis played fantastic, and he should be a welcome addition to this secondary. The one area of concern that the Saints attempted to address but were hit with a great deal of bad luck came in the form of a rush linebacker. They re-signed the surprising Junior Galette and added former-Cowboy Victor Butler. But in training camp Butler suffered a season-ending injury thus leaving a major void at the position. With Will Smith also going down for the year recently it looks like the Saints could be stuck with the average Martez Wilson again starting this season alongside Galette. Finally, the Saints greatest concern on offense this offseason had to be patching up this below-average offensive line. They did a nice job achieving this by drafting a decent offensive tackle in Terron Armstead. He won’t start right away but he does provide depth to a position that was lacking talent. Overall the Saints made a nice effort trying to patch up their weaknesses from a year ago, but there are still a few issues on this defense that have me thoroughly concerned. Grade: C
Strengths: Despite missing their head coach and leader last season, the Saints still had the league’s best passing offense in my opinion. Quarterback Drew Brees had another ridiculous season as he threw for 5,177 yards, 43 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions. Obviously the interception total is a bit higher than you’d like to see, but the rest of the stats speak for themselves. His 5,177 yards were over 200 more than any other quarterback in the league, and his 43 touchdowns easily led the league as well. But Brees’ dominance and importance to the Saints extends way beyond the stat sheet as he’s an outstanding game manager and unquestioned vocal leader for them as well. Seriously, how many other quarterbacks in the league will you see in the center of a pregame circle screaming his lungs out to get his teammates pumped up? Brees can honestly do it all and is, in my opinion along with many others, the league’s best quarterback. But don’t think that he’s been able to rack up all of these impressive stats all by himself. Brees is surrounded by talented receiving options at every skill position, highlighted by his fourth-year tight end Jimmy Graham. In the past two seasons, statistically speaking, Graham has been among the best tight ends in the league, totaling 184 catches for 2,292 yards and 20 touchdowns in that period. Last year he was slightly hampered by wrist injury that required surgery in the offseason, but now that he’s healthy and in a contract year I fully expect him to be the league’s best tight end in 2013. The New Orleans weapons at receiver aren’t just any average Joes either. Both Marques Colston and Lance Moore are each consistent, reliable, and gifted wideouts who can each be penciled in for 1,000-plus yard seasons if they remain healthy. Finally, Brees’ best weapon in the passing game may come out of the backfield in the form of running back Darren Sproles. The play-making running back has been electrifying in this offense for the past two seasons, recording 161 receptions and 14 receiving touchdowns in that time frame. He isn’t much of a running back due to his small stature and the weakness of this offensive line, but he’s probably the best pass-catcher in the league out of the backfield. Just another weapon for this already unfairly talented passing offense.
Weaknesses: As good as this offense was in 2012 and figures to be this season, the Saints defensive unit has and will be equally just as terrible. They’ll be switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 under new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan because why not? It’s not like things can get any worse for them. Many of the same problems for this unit still remain, including the lack of a pass-rushing linebacker. A few months ago, New Orleans had four guys, Will Smith, Victor Butler, Junior Galette, and Martez Wilson, who could have formed a very nice outside linebacker platoon. But with Smith and Butler falling victim to season-ending injuries in that time, the Saints are left with the inexperienced Galette and Wilson to hold down the fort once again. Galette actually isn’t too bad and has played well in his time on the field for them, but I can’t trust Wilson to be an every-down player again for them this season. This unit will again struggle in 2013. I can’t say that I’ll be much more confident in this secondary going into the season either. Both safety Kenny Vaccaro and cornerback Keenan Lewis should be very productive and consistent for them throughout the year, but besides those two there are a ton of question marks. The other two safeties that will see major playing time this season are Malcom Jenkins and Roman Harper. Neither one of them was very impressive a year ago nor would I expect anything better than mediocrity from them again this year. The other cornerback will be the inconsistent Jabari Greer who may see some improvement after the addition of Lewis takes some of the burden off of him. Time will tell whether or not he’s capable of holding down the starting job and playing well this season.
Fantasy Breakout Player: With stud New England tight end Rob Gronkowksi currently battling an injury that will hold him out until who-knows how long, Jimmy Graham now becomes the NFL’s top tight end in both reality and fantasy. I’ve already extolled the dominance of Graham’s first three seasons in the league so I won’t go too much into detail on this but remember, Graham put up 85 catches for almost 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns last season while battling a lingering injury. Just imagine how dominant he can be this season while healthy and in a contract year. There’s concern as to who will be throwing him the ball this year so I believe that Graham should be the first tight end taken in every fantasy draft.
Best Case/Worst Case: Best Case- The Saints offense has their typical type of season, with maybe a little more production out of their running game. The defense is surprisingly average led by new acquisitions Keenan Lewis and Kenny Vaccaro in the secondary. The Saints win the division and make another super bowl appearance. Worst Case- The offense is still dominant and able to keep them in games, but the defense is somehow worse than expected. The front seven is unable to get any sort of pressure on the quarterback which doesn’t make things any easier for an average secondary. The Saints finish last in a talented NFC South and miss the playoffs for back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2008.
One Word to Describe This Preview for the Lazy: Revamped. The old crew is back together again for New Orleans this season, and they’re revamped and ready to wreak havoc on the rest of the NFL. Drew Brees and Sean Payton do not like losing and I expect each of them to come out guns blazing in 2013. Whether or not this team can take the next step to super bowl champion though remains to be seen. That will all rest on the production that they get from their mediocre defense this season.
Prediction: 10-6
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