Coming into the 2017 off-season the Saints had a very specific list of needs that they needed to take care of if they ever wanted to have a chance to contend for a playoff spot. They had to address these needs through free agency and the draft to move into a position where at every spot on the roster they were ‘not bad’. One of the best kept secrets in team building is that you don’t need Pro Bowl caliber players everywhere, you just need players who are enough, so that the few studs you do have are allowed to shine. Here’s what the Saints needed to do going into the off-season:
- Address the blackhole opposite Cam Jordan and bring it to ‘ok’ levels at minimum
- Get some more speed and coverage ability in the front 7
- Add additional depth and talent to the Secondary, especially corner
- Improve the offensive line, especially right guard (due to Jahri’s age)
- Get a satelite back to improve the offense
The Saints accomplished everyone of those things this off-season, and they did so based on what was available to them. Some areas improved more than others, and that’s ok, but the important thing is that they did actually address each need appropriately, and even though the team traded their biggest weapon in Brandin Cooks, they added a player with a similar skillset (for their offense) in Ted Ginn Jr, and more importantly added a more critical and impactful (to THIS offense) weapon in Alvin Kamara. Each move made this off-season was passable and was made to directly improve one of those issues, but just to summarize here’s how they did it:
1: They added veteran DE/OLB Alex Okafor in free agency. Okafor has been a quality pass rusher throughout his NFL career (when healthy) and based on both build and production is best suited to the defensive end position rather than outside linebacker which he played in Arizona. Okafor is a speed rusher who can help bring additional pressure off the edge opposite Jordan, and even if the Saints decide to Onyemata in base or a move like that, just coming off the edge on third downs Okafor provides a tremendous upgrade over what they got from Paul Kruger and Kasim Edebali last year.
They also added rookie Trey ‘T-Rex’ Hendrickson in the draft. Hendrickson is an excellent athlete with very good burst off the line, tenacity, and excellent closing speed. He’s a little raw (as a result of coming from a smaller school) and doesn’t have the best frame for necessarily being a player who can set the edge in the run game. However, he is very likely going to be able to get pressure on the quarterback very early in his career if nothing else. With the talent along the rest of the front 4 that should be enough to help improve the unit as a whole.
2: The Saints added former Panthers linebacker and Luke Kuechly backup AJ Klein and drafted the god son of Coby Fleener and Dannel Ellerbe in Alex Anzalone (y’know…cuz he’s always hurt and looks like fabio). Klein has the necessary athleticism and instincts to play in coverage and make plays in space, and most importantly has shown an ability to call defenses and make plays from the middle linebacker position in a way that no Saints linebacker currently on the roster has. Despite an unfortunate nickname and an injury history that does much to reduce your confidence in him Anzalone is a heat-seeking missile when he’s on the football field. None of the injuries he was plagued with in college were chronic or structural so there is a real chance he could play in the NFL and be fine, of course that’s assuming the Saints don’t have their usual awful diagnose issues and poor rehabbing.
3: The Saints brought back Rafael Bush (sadly an instant upgrade over Jairus Byrd even though he had a decent year last year), and then drafted the top corner in the entire draft in Marshon Lattimore, and got the 3rd best safety in the draft in Marcus Williams. There isn’t a world where that isn’t a good thing. Both players will be depth players who are in the rotation as rookies, but they have the potential to become starters and difference makers sooner rather than later, you can’t ask for much more.
4: The Saints replaced Jahri Evans (who really surprised me by having a solid year last year) with Larry Warford who is an upgrade in every possible way at this point in their respective careers. Most importantly he’s a very good run blocker and if the Saints want to have a chance to compete they must regain the ability to run the ball when they want, and on whoever they want. Granted that doesn’t mean they will always run more, but if they’re better at it when they do decide to do it, it will increase the chances of committing to the run game more often. They also added an heir-apparent to Zack Strief who is also an excellent athlete and run blocker in Ryan Ramczyk. This helps their jumbo sets today, and keeps the line’s integrity strong going into the future, a great move conceptually if nothing else.
5: The Saints drafted Alvin Kamara out of Tennessee who happened to by number 2 option for this position behind Christian McCaffery. Kamara is basically Pierre Thomas with speed as a running back as he uses tremendous balance and vision to abuse defenders as he navigates his way up the field. This really has been the greatest missing component in the Saint’s offense the last few years, and adding a player who Payton and Brees can use as a chess piece to manipulate defenses and capitalize on mismatches is exactly what they needed.
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