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What we have done

Brees#1

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Let's be honest it does not matter what we do between now and pre-season, nobody's mind is going to change about us but we as fans see the changes and people believe it's a game of who's more physical which is why we have been shunned.

Anyways here were our weaknesses last year
1.Lack of a redzone target. People will say this was due to no Graham but that's not it at all, it was due to a declining Colston he could no longer consistently make those catches he was known to make over the middle anymore. So we go and draft Michael Thomas to make defenses know they will have to choose between him, Cooks, and Fleener. This also takes a lot of the pressure off of Snead.

2.Weakness on defense against tightends. And this was a lot to do with Byrd's lack of skills in coverage, as he was known to be a ball hawk but with Browner being attacked for flags and burns, nobody really threw Byrd's way. Well, now this has been solidified. We can solve our tightend woes by putting Bell in a three-safety set, or perhaps in place of Byrd if he does not make the most of his better opportunities. But also, should we have injuries again to Lewis or perhaps Breaux, we can move Bell over to outside corner and still Byrd has those chances again. There's a guy the saints picked up named Trae Eston who could be a good backup.

3.Lack of pass rush. This would not have been too much the case if we had a healthy Gallette but he forced our hand after he got hurt and we cut him. We drafted Rankins and picked up Fairley in FA. People say Fairley may not play 100%. Well the saints took care of that by drafting David Onyematta, who has been considered the best player in Canadian college football. He might need some time but say mid season or so he could come in and probably do good enough. Furthermore, if the saints offense is back to taking to extending drives and scoring more points Fairley will have been on the best team yet where he gets more rest between defensive drives. He did not act up in StL and that may be to do with Laurinitis' leadership. And we have Tyeler Davison as good backup depth as well. The biggest weakness is a number 2 edge rusher against the run. Kikhaha should be good in pass plays.

4.Lack of leadership on defense. That has been the case since Vilma left. Ellerbe when healthy helped some, but he's no captain. Laurinitis is and this is something no one will predict a turnaround on because it shows no physical reasons. But Laurinitis impact is not about his skills alone good or bad but the rest of the team. Vilma played half-assed but got the rest of the saints defense to step up. Also, the other signing no one is talking about is Nate Stupar, who left Atlanta for the saints on his terms.

5.Guard play. They say our guard play situation improved late in the season when Peat was playing left guard. Let's hope that's the case but in those last few weeks there was one game that stood out to me as poor and that was Detroit. Brees having that first half is no excuse. Which is why I believe that Ansah had to have been winning the battle with Streif, and I am all for Peat taking the starting RT job and converting our average UDFA tackles and centers into good left guards as it's the easiest position to play on the oline. Someone out of Jack Allen, Avery Young, Marcus Henry has to have something to take it. Landon Turner and Ryker Mathews I don't see doing anything imo. This affects...............

6.Running game. We tried to run the ball to no avail often in the first half of games. The Carolina game is evidence of this. Poor guard play led to the running game being ineffective. This has even been the cause of the screens not working like they used to. But idk about that Payton needs to cut back on those calls. Ingram has a injury history and seeing that Hightower didn't skip a beat in his stead shows anyone can run under this offense. Spiller is supposed to be something special but he has yet to show it and that is why the saints drafted Lasco. Lasco comes from the school of NFL running backs also.

7.Rookie development. Most rookies don't get it their first year and judging by last year's first round rookie class, only a few stood out from the saints first pick on. Peat, Anthony have a full year under their belt. There is no way Anthony is going to be a bust given he played for Clemson and was that captain of that defense. And for the later rounds Kikhaha was limited too much which was not great.

All in all the haters refuse to look at the main reason for defensive problems and saying we have holes everywhere. Keenan Lewis, Jairus Byrd, Delvin Breaux, Kenny Vacarro, Damian Swann when healthy are far from holes. That's a good enough secondary for this team with a better pass rush and linebacker leadership. It was all about solving injury depth, establishing a leader, and fixing the lines.

Some of if this was not intentional though, the saints drafted BPA basically not needs. They got those needs in FA with what little they could do and UDFA, as evidenced by having PFF's best UDFA class.
 

Matthew Thomas

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Thereare 3 Saints fans from the St Louis area going to the game in Kansas City on October 23rd. We are looking for some friends wearing the Black and Gold to sit with. Please let me know where you are sitting before I get tickets. Thanks, dormer Rams fan, Matt
 

Brees#1

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I am nowhere near KC.
 
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