3 questions the Saints must answer on offense
The New Orleans Saints undoubtedly have some work to do after finishing out the 2022 season with an overall record of 7-10, despite the fact that tied every team in the NFC South for the second-best within a disappointing division that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9) ultimately came out on top of.
Many of the team’s woes are centered around offensive performance that leaves much to be desired to say the least as the Saints came out at 19th in total offense at the conclusion of the season with an average of just under 334 yards per game.
Here’s a look into three questions the team needs to answer on the offensive side of the ball:
Can Pete Carmichael get things going?
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Some were calling for the replacement of Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael ahead of the season, something that is not exactly unreasonable considering that the Saints were more than lackluster in just about every statistical category under the sun. The Saints did make the move to part ways with run game coordinator and tight ends coach Dan Roushar, but kept Carmichael on board.
The team has shown bright spots on defense, but this is a team struggling to play complete, complementary football because of an offense that can’t steadily produce. Take the fact the Saints finished 19th among NFL teams in total offensive yardage and 22nd in scoring — the lowest total for both categories in nearly 20 years — as prime examples of just how much things need to change.
There are various places to potentially point the blame to, but the Saints have acquired or return some notable talent like Michael Thomas, Derek Carr and Jamaal Williams to give Carmichael more to work with generate firepower.
If he can’t at least get some momentum going, it would be expected that he would be on the hot seat — and rightfully so.
Can new additions at quarterback meet expectations?
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The New Orleans Saints simply have never been the same at quarterback since Drew Brees, one of the greatest to ever play the position, retired back in 2021.
It’s clear the Jameis Winston is not the answer after the ups and downs he’s shown both with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints, projecting as a player with a ceiling as a viable backup and no further up in the rotation consistently. And the addition of Derek Carr certainly surpasses the heights of what an Andy Dalton can bring.
One of the biggest questions within a question here is just how good Carr will be with a change of scenery. The former Las Vegas Raiders signal-caller finished out last season with a 60.8% completion rate, 3,522 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and 14 interceptions — a ratio the Saints should hope to see cleaned up moving forward. Despite some of the positives Carr brings to the table, that’s the biggest quibble with him — he’s turned the ball over an uncomfortable amount even when he’s had the talent around him to deliver to.
The passer has finished out just two of his nine NFL seasons with less than 10 interceptions, with a low of six picks back in 2016.
Carr took a lot of the criticism for some the rough patches the Raiders’ offense had, and whether or not that was warranted will be proven in how he performs with the Saints when he’s handed the reins this season.
Regardless of whether he pans out or not, it’s plausible to believe Carr is reaching the back end of his career considering he will have played a decade in the NFL by the end of the 2023 season. With that, something intriguing to look at is his fellow Fresno State alum, Jake Haener, who was arguably highest value quarterback pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Underrated because of his size and the unjust lower-level competition narrative he faced because of playing out his college career in the Mountain West, Haener didn’t garner serious national attention until he far and away stole the show at the Senior Bowl this offseason.
Haener could not be more impressive with an incredibly high football IQ and the ability to rally his teammates behind him, and he has displayed accuracy at all levels of the field with adequate arm strength and the ability to pin the ball into even the most seemingly impossible places down the sideline.
He’s already all the rage as the Saints open rookie minicamp — something that should not surprise anyone who has consistently kept up with him — and he should be considered a very real candidate to become an eventual NFL starter.
How will wide receiver play shake out and who will emerge?
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Michael Thomas is getting healthy — that’s important and he’s obviously the No. 1 guy to take into consideration here. But it takes more than just one wideout to make an offense consistently roll, especially in the case of injury to the player at the top of the depth chart.
The Saints’ group of wideouts — for now — moving into the upcoming season also includes the likes of Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Tre’Quan Smith, Bryan Edwards, Keith Kirkwood, Kirk Meritt, A.T. Perry, Malik Flowers, Shaquan Davis, Sy Barnett and Kawaan Baker.
Olave rose to the occasion in a great way in the absence of Thomas last season as he was thrust into the top role, reeling in 119 receptions for 1,042 yards and four touchdowns in just his rookie season. This bodes well for the future as one of the league’s rising receivers and a target a quarterback like Carr can consistently rely on.
Looking at the 2023 NFL Draft, the team picked up who could potentially be one of the biggest steals of the event with the sixth-round selection of Wake Forest wideout A.T. Perry. He finished out last season with 81 catches for 1,100 yards and 11 touchdowns on 129 targets as the most prominent figures in the Demon Deacons’ passing game.
He should be expected to be utilized as an X-receiver in the NFL and will compete for snaps with Tre’Quan Smith, Bryan Edwards and Shaquan Davis.
