Training camp has finally begun, and with it comes the anticipation of the regular season’s long-awaited arrival. Hope and expectations have been building in NOLA, across the country and around the world. But when many teams are in Super Bowl or bust mode, disappointment surely follows for some.
With that in mind, here are some predictions I believe will play out this year:
– Mark Ingram will finish the season with more carries, yards and touchdowns than Khiry Robinson. With Robinson increasingly becoming people’s “sleeper of the year”, his expectations have risen a lot. However, he’ll likely start the season off with less touches than Thomas or Ingram, and I don’t see that changing often through the season barring (another) Ingram meltdown or injury.
– Colston leads all Saints receivers not named Jimmy Graham in targets/catches. Much is made of the young blood in New Orleans’ passing game, with the emergence of Kenny Stills and the arrival of Brandin Cooks. But what’s overlooked is that despite Stills making a name for himself last year, he had less than half of the targets and catches as Colston did. Combine Lance Moore’s and Kenny Stills’ catches and it still falls short of Colston’s. Sproles (whose role many see Cooks replicating) did have a huge number of targets and receptions though; even then, Colston had more. History tells me that even with a reduced workload, Colston will put up significant numbers.
– Keenan Lewis won’t match or exceed last year’s interception total (4). Here’s a guy who totalled one INT in his previous 4 seasons in the NFL. He proved last year that he does have ball skills and can be a playmaker in the flashiest sense of the word. However, he’ll be sharing the defensive backfield with Jairus Byrd, a well-known ball hawk. Guys like Champ Bailey (50+ career INTs) and Stanley Jean-Baptiste (an ex-receiver in college) will also make it tough for Lewis to match his 2013 interception total.
– Terron Armstead will give up no more than 5 sacks all season. See? I’m not all doom and gloom. If Armstead manages to limit the number of sacks he’s personally responsible for to 5 or less, that constitutes a major win for the Saints. Keep in mind that LTs such as Jordan Gross, Trent Williams, Nate Solder and Jake Long each gave up more than 5 sacks last year. Armstead’s athleticism and development of his technique (which isn’t as raw as you’d think) will be the key to that.
– Jimmy Graham will finish the season with more yards than he did last year (1,215) but less touchdowns (16) too. I can’t really explain my thought process here, other than looking back at his 2011 production and seeing a return to those numbers (more yards, less touchdowns).
– Junior Galette will not exceed his 2013 sack total (12). This is no knock on the guy, who blossomed as a ferocious #bodybag pass-rusher last year. I believe that with the return of Victor Butler, that number is sure to reduce slightly. It’ll be (somewhat) good news for the Saints, as Galette has the option to void his final cap-friendly year of his contract if he manages 12 or more sacks.
So there you have it. My Ralph-esque predictions. For what it’s worth, I also predict the Saints will march on to the Super Bowl. Just not on the back of career years for each of the 53 guys than don the black and gold.
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