If you haven’t heard yet the New Orleans Saints starting Center Max Unger has suffered an injury to his foot and is likely not going to be back until the end of the preseason (Sean Payton recently said they are aiming for the third game for his return). Initially there were reports that Unger could be going on the PUP list and would be gone until nearly the middle of the season. Right after the injury was announced there some REALLY stupid and frankly irresponsible ‘reports’ that the Saints and the Eagles might consider a trade involving Mark Ingram. It was ridiculous on many levels and I won’t even put a link to it because I won’t promote that kind of trash reporting (trust me, it was garbage). Of course, shortly thereafter the reports were completely shot down (duh) and clarification was given on Unger’s situation. It’s a recurring injury that they tried to let him rehab and heal, and eventually they decided it needed to have the surgery. I’m neither a doctor and won’t attempt to play one here and make up my own diagnosis, but the whole situation with Unger really is a perfect representation of where the Saints are in 2017.
Just like Unger’s injury the Saints are in a position where they aren’t great, but also not NEARLY as bad off as many try to make them out to be. They have made moves to try and fix the roster the last few years, and while some haven’t worked, they have addressed that and made the necessary changes to give themselves a chance. The part where the parallels are really strong though happens to be the reactions. When fans first heard Unger was down there was panic and talks about Drew Brees dying, but the Saints have done enough to shore up the offensive line that they can absorb and injury like this (at least in the short term). Senio Kelemete has shown consistently he is a quality backup and ok spot starter for the team, and originally he was a backup center for the Saints so even if Unger missed a couple of games the team isn’t close to being out of options. Personally my favorite part are the reactions of other fanbases, and even national media members who show repeatedly they have a very limited understanding of the Saints organization and how the team is constructed. The idea that the Saints would trade their TOP running back for a backup center right after going to great effort to significantly improve their offensive line is simply laughable. All of the reports and various hot takes about the Unger situation, trading Mark Ingram, and drafting Alvin Kamara show that clearly those who don’t spend a lot of time covering the team and studying them don’t know much about the Saints.
In 2017 the Saints prospects are very much like Unger’s injury. When we look at being 7-9 the last 3 years, the awful defenses, and all of the disappointment its easy to panic. But, when you take a closer look at the team as a whole, and the bigger picture there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. That said, Unger could never be 100% all year and never fully recover from the ankle, and the Saints could get devastated by injuries again or simply fail to gel together as we hope they will (on the defensive side). It’s certainly possible. But, its just as possible that Unger comes back just fine to start the season, and the Saints roll out a ‘new’ (read: returning to their roots) offense that leverages an inside-out approach and a balanced attack to punish defenses and protect an improving defense. The same approach should be taken for both the 2017 Saints and Max Unger, wait and see what happens, but be cautiously optimistic.
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