By Sean Gannon

Now I know that I have been hard on the Saints and keeping them low on my Power Rankings, but I can easily be wrong. I thought Chris Olave was an excellent pick-up for the Saints and can stretch the field while Michael Thomas torches cornerbacks on slants. It gives New Orleans a great 1-2 combo for pass catchers. Selecting Tyler Penning with their second pick in the first round wasn’t surprising as it was a need for the Saints after Morstead left in Free Agency. However, it will take time for Penning to get adjusted to NFL speed, and I don’t think he can immediately replace what Morstead has done at the tackle position for New Orleans.

New Orleans made some solid Free Agent acquisitions, signing wideout Jarvis Landry and safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye. Their shaping up to be a solid secondary with Lattimore locking down opposing wideouts. Jarvis will also provide much-needed depth and an excellent slot option for the New Orleans offense. The Saints retained offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and maintained consistency on the offensive side of the ball in the post-Payton era they find themselves entering. This bodes well for Jameis Winston, who is coming off a torn ACL that he suffered in Week 8. Before tearing his ACL, Winston was 5-2 and completed 59% of his passes while throwing for 1,170 yards to go along with a 14:3 touchdown to interception ratio. Winston’s improved receiving core could be tremendous for his third season with the Saints.

This is the first season without Sean Payton leading the team for the Saints since 2006, and all eyes will be on new head coach Dennis Allen. His last time as head coach was with the then Oakland Raiders from 2012-to 2014, in which he amassed an 8-28 record and was fired after four games into the 2014 season. He is hoping to flip the script with a solid roster after being with the team since 2015 as a defensive coordinator. New Orleans’ biggest concern is Tampa Bay in their division as both Carolina and Atlanta look to be in a rebuild mode with their organizations. New Orleans has bested Brady during the regular season the last two years, and they look to continue that streak as they enter into 2022. It won’t be easy for the Saints with the seventh most challenging schedule in 2022, but we’ve seen them surprise in the past, and that won’t change now.