The Saints are 1-3, riddled with injuries, and have yet to face the ‘meat’ of their schedule yet. These are all indisputable facts and I’m not going to try to refute, why would I? In fact it is the EXACT situation in which the Saints find themselves that I am writing about. The Saints are not a very good football team and any hope they had of being one went out the window when what feels like half their roster ended up on IR (it’s not that far off). The question then becomes how on earth do we expect a coach who has gone 7-9 in back to back seasons to win and ‘save’ the season with arguably a worse roster, that is the question we are here to answer today.
Let me be clear on something before I get into things, the Saints are simply not going to make a miracle run to the playoffs. They are too hurt, too discombobulated from a talent stand point, and simply too young at too many spots to have a real chance. The Saints aren’t just on their way to another losing season, they are in direct contention for the number 2 pick (c’mon… Cleveland is going first). On the surface this puts the season in the category of ‘lost’, another year of Drew Brees HOF brilliance wasted. Here is the part where I get all ‘perspective’ on you guys and where I stop being all negative and melancholy… which I’m just not that good at.
When I say that Payton found the way to salvage the season I’m not talking about wins. BUT, what I am talking about is real tangible benefit to this team and this organization. The reality is that the Saints are pretty unlikely to win more than 4 or 5 games this year and that pretty much guarantees they will be a top 5 pick in next year’s draft. That isn’t a bad thing, but it isn’t a good one either, and tanking for draft picks rarely works. Just ask the 76ers how well that is working out for them. But do you know what does work and has been proven to consistently be the key to building a winner? Developing young talent. Now we can all debate about the quality of the Saints position coaches, and in some cases I’m likely to agree with the majority (spoiler alert: they suck), but regardless of that something odd happened in Sunday’s game against the Chargers.
I’m not just referring to the glorious and miraculous choke job conducted by the Chargers, but instead I’m referring to the fact that Payton may have finally started doing what I’ve been begging him to do since Delvin Breaux broke his leg (and the Saints season died with it) and that is PLAY THE YOUNG GUYS!!!!
At this point the season isn’t about how many games you lose or win, but that doesn’t mean you throw in the towel. What it means is you play every single talented young athlete you have, you plays the guys who Sean Payton has consistently been reluctant to play in favor of ‘more experienced’ players. On Sunday the Saints benched Jairus Byrd for Vonn Bell, and while there were rookie struggles, he also showed flashes of a player who can be the Saints future at the position. They played Daniel Lasco in his first snaps as a RB and he showed hands and a level of burst and shiftiness that they have lacked at the position in his few plays. They played David Onyemata who has started to show flashes, Ken Crawley who just may not turn back into a pumpkin after all, and of course you have the quiet emergence of Michael Thomas as a more and more trusted cog in the offense.
This isn’t to say you just play young players with no regards to a game plan, and it doesn’t mean you play them regardless of performance (sorry De’Vante). What it means is you don’t pull them the second they make a mistake, it means you give them a chance to actually develop. This is the biggest difference between Sean Payton and Bill Bellichick (on the field, not as a ‘GM’), regardless of what some fans may think both are absolutely brilliant when it comes to game plans and play design. What separates them is that Bellichick has consistently been willing to play his younger players throughout the season. He lets them get seasoned, get experience and develop into the players they become. This is something he has done consistently, and they have cost him games over the years in that process, but it’s also won them rings and kept the Patriots at the pinnacle of the NFL.
Vonn Bell forced one of the fumbles that helped the Saints make their incredible comeback. Ken Crawley in just 4 weeks has gone from unmitigated disaster to a player who just might be worth keeping. Lasco and Onyemata have the attributes of elite players, and only time and reps will let us see if they will ever be anything more than potential. Erik Harris also has some physical gifts, and the Saints need to either play Stephone Anthony to see if he can become a player worthy of the 31st pick, or trade him before everyone realizes he isn’t. Fairley, Vacarro, Jordan, Breaux, and Stupar are all veterans that still have a LOT of tread left on the tires and can help others develop. Tyeler Davison was a huge part of the run defense disparity between NY and SD and the game against Atlanta, and that is just on defense.
Michael Thomas, Willie Snead, Brandin Cooks are all young studs at the WR position, Wil Lutz might just become a really good kicker. Andrus Peat is finally rounding into form (shocking, players play better when given a chance to develop in real games). Mark Ingram still has a couple of years left in him and one thing the Saints have never had trouble with is bringing in and developing offensive talent. This roster isn’t loaded by any means, but they DO have talent at multiple positions. The only way to find out if those ‘talents’ can become ‘players’ is to play them. It may or may not win them games this year, but the only way to salvage this season is to get something from it. If the Saints can ‘discover’ even one quality player by playing them it becomes worth it, but what if they go into next year with 3, or 5? That is entirely possible, and going into next year with a shot at a real pass rusher (one of the few positions that can be NFL ready at the start) in the draft, a heavy chunk of change ready for the offseason and free agency, and maybe a year or two left of Drew Brees while he’s still DREW BREES.
The only way you get to even think of that possibility and the only way you can extract any real lasting value from this season is for Sean Payton to finally do what he has never been willing to do and to trust the younger guys, give them a chance to learn, and see what they have.
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