NFL Crystal Ball: Saints Go Marching... Out?

New Orleans knew Carr banged up his throwing shoulder — but clearly had no concept of the severity, or they wouldn't have waited until pick 2.40 to draft Louisville's Tyler Shough. Now, while I never pretend to be some prospect evaluation extraordinaire, we know a few things about the +25 year old rookie. Shough spent six years playing CFB, and it wasn't until the very last one that he managed to eclipse 10 games played, 3,000 passing yards thrown, or 20 TD scored. Combine lackluster college production with late second-round draft capital and you can color me skeptical at best. 

And it's not like the Saints could claim to be one piece away anyway. They gave us a nice, long taste of the Carr-less offense in 2024 and the multitude of bottom-tier macros should inspire panic — 19.9 PPG, -0.05 EPA/play, 43% success rate, 1.7 first downs/drive. Woof.

Even in a best case scenario where the offense stays afloat, which for the record I highly doubt, NO's defense didn't stop anyone last year either. It's worth mentioning at this point the much-improved TB, CAR, and ATL offenses within the division — who all play on fast tracks, conducive to scoring.

Even if we grant a schematic boost for hiring Brandon Staley at defensive coordinator (who I like), a static offseason didn't properly address the issues within the unit itself.  New Orleans must now rely on several mid-round rookies to hit the ground running and carry a squad with the worst tackle rate in the NFL (47.9%) — not to mention several bottom-5 metrics to mirror the offense's putrid play: 379.9 yards/game, 5.8 yards/play, -0.03 EPA/play, 4.9 yards/carry, 11.7 yards/reception. 

Hard to be that bad in so many phases of the game and expect to win many (if any) games.

LAGHEZZA'S LEAN:

Made it all the way to the end without strolling down narrative street (stops for applause). There's a pink, or should I say burnt orange elephant in the room here — leading the league in losses comes with the instant bonus of drafting Texas University's QB Archie Manning and a chance to definitively answer your QB question for a decade.

Finally, the other truly terrible teams (CLE, NE, NYG, TEN) mostly took a step forward, making the SAINTS TO FINISH WITH WORST RECORD (+425) a massive value in my eyes.

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