Exciting Players to Watch for in 2014

Today I’m going to be discussing what I’m most excited to see coming into the 2014 season. I will be discussing one or two things on each side of the ball. When it comes to special teams, It won’t necessarily be me being “excited” for it due to the kickoff rules as they stand, but more curiosity; but we’ll get to that.

First things first; In New Orleans, it all starts with that high-octane offense led by the man with the plan, Drew Brees. With that being said, I’m not really excited to see Brees in action and I hope you don’t mistake this for me taking him for granted because I most certainly am not. I just feel like there are other areas on that offense to be slightly more excited for. For me, 2 things come before Brees, and they come in a tie. The running game. I said it last year that I thought the 2013 runningbacks would resemble the 2009 runningbacks, and boy was I mistaken. Ranked pretty low in the running game, the Saints relied on their passing game again, and it got them through. Anyways, back to the 2014 core. I like Khiry Robinson. A LOT. I think he has much to prove and he shows that in the way he runs. While I personally believe there’s too much power in that backfield, I think it can work out and I hope it does. Pierre Thomas is Pierre Thomas, Mr. Reliable, the PT Bruiser. Possibly one of the most underrated backs in the league, this dude does nothing but grind out the tough yards and it never ceases to amaze me how little respect he gets. Now, for the wild-card. Mark Ingram. He was on my “Making the Leap” series last year, and for good reason. I’m thinking about doing a follow-up to that and putting him on there again because while he showed flashes of brilliance at the end of the year last year, he still lacked consistency. I’m hoping so bad that he is motivated to prove everyone wrong and work for that contract extension this year.

The second part of my offense is Brandin Cooks. You may be thinking “Why would you want to see a receiver and not Brees?”. Well, I don’t think he will be just a receiver. I believe in my heart of hearts that Brandin Cooks will be the New Orleans Saints’ version of Percy Harvin. He has the electrifying speed, playmaking abilities, and I believe Sean Payton sees that and when he was at 20 overall, I can ONLY imagine Payton and Loomis were licking their chops. It would be the perfect fit for Cooks. Mr. X-Factor. I believe due to his character, he would gladly step into that role and excel, also. This could prove to be a very good year for the Saints offense if everything clicks.

You know how they say “Defense wins championships”? I believe that whole-heartedly because look what just happened with Seattle. That defense was unlike anything I’ve seen in a very long time and it won them a Super Bowl. The 2009 defense (I know I go back to this year a lot, I probably seem like a old-timey Cowboys fan by now) obviously played an integral role in the Saints lone Super Bowl victory. With the addition of Byrd and the return of Butler and P-Rob, I see no reason why the Saints can’t have a top 3 defense after last year’s 6th ranked defense with Malcom Jenkins, Roman Harper, and Corey White. I’m excited to see what Victor Butler can do in his first year back from tearing an ACL. I feel like there was a lot more hype than there should have been surrounding Victor Butler when the Saints signed him due in full to Rob Ryan being his defensive coordinator in Dallas. I’m excited to see how much he learned and how it translates taking minimal snaps with the Saints defense last year.

For special teams, I’m more curious as I mentioned earlier, than excited. I’m curious as to whether Tavaris Cadet can step into the role of kick returner more effectively. I’ve never really been a fan of Cadet returning kicks or punts, just because I think Darren Sproles did it better. I think he would be much more beneficial in the backfield, but only if there wasn’t so many other better backs. With that being said, I’m not sure that I would risk Brandin Cooks or Kenny Stills back there because they are good receivers with very bright futures. I don’t know who else I would put back there if I were Sean Payton or Mickey Loomis…Maybe Patrick Robinson? He has good speed and he’s pretty small so he can weave in and out of defenders more easily and I feel like he would be a good fit there and then play nickel corner behind Champ Bailey.

2014 will be an exciting year for the Saints for many reasons, and these are just a couple that I would like to see. I’d like to know what you think about these and share any that you have.