Last Year:
With the trade of centerpiece Rikki Williams, one of the final links between Mike Ditka and the New Orleans Saints was broken. The Saints decided that they were looking for more speeding in their running game, and less speeding on the highway. In came unproven second year man Deuce McCallister who the Saints thought would better suit their team than the power game of Rikki. It didn?t take Deuce long to show his stuff off as he ran for more than one thousand yards including eight one-hundred yard games. Although New Orleans? defense struggled throughout the year, few teams were able to light up the scoreboard like Brooks and company. Problems occurred when the team suffered through inconsistencies, and a lack of effort late in the season. As division rival Atlanta snuck into the playoffs, the Saints were left to watch The Bachelorette. Although this team is still very skilled on the offensive side, inconsistencies from Aaron Brooks in particular, is what will decide their fate this year.
What we learned from Last Year:
The Saints started off the year with a bang going 7 ? 2 averaging 32 points a game on offense. They finished the season with a record of 2 ? 5 averaging only 20 points a game. That leaves us to question what went wrong? The answer is simple. Aaron Brooks.
Here is the numbers from his first 9 games of the season (*) contrasted to his numbers in the team?s 2- 5 slide (**):
QB Rating (rounded):
* 88
** 72
TD/INTS:
* 19/9
** 8/6
Completion Percentage:
* 56.8
** 48.3
Clearly his numbers dropped off. He collapsed like a cheap tent. When they were hot, Brooks threw for nearly twice as many touchdowns as interceptions. When they were cold he threw almost as many interceptions as touchdowns. Well, some of you might say ?Maybe their competition was stiffer during the losing streak?? I would argue that their opponents were not tougher than in their first 9 games. Some more of you might say ?Well doesn?t the defense have a role in this?? To that I would say no. The Saints played a system last year where their defense was irrelevant, similar to the Rams Super bowl year. The Saints either scored, or went three and out very quickly too many times last year. Their defense did not get a chance to recover. Mentally, it is nice for your defence to be back on the field ahead by a touchdown, but physically it becomes very taxing when they spend most of the game on the field. The Aints ranked 25th in the league in offensive time of possession, leaving their defense on the field for more than 31 minutes a game (roughly). The Saints defence played the same throughout the year, but as soon as Brooks started to falter, the Saints couldn?t score as many points as they were allowing.
Just when you thought that Brooks should be the scapegoat for New Orleans choking last year, a new contender emerges. The offensive line was also hot and cold. Aaron Brooks was sacked only 16 times in the first 9 games, but was sacked 22 times in the remaining games. Well I would argue that some of those were his own fault, most likely due to indecisiveness, but its clear that the O-line fractured as the season went on.
The simple solution is for Brooks to straighten himself out, make smarter/faster decisions and develop into a dependable quarterback all season long.
What has changed?:
Well?not a whole heck of a lot. I?m going to ignore any defensive changes they made, because they won?t matter if the offense can?t score. You?re going to see a big resemblance between their defensive players and Homer Simpson when he tried to choke Bart with the telephone cord. Like last year, the offense will be their scone and butter. A foolish decision by this team was to let Kyle Turley get away when they already struggle to defend their QB. Maybe the thinking is second round draft pick Jon Stinchcomb can replace him. They are moving guys around, re-shifting players on their O-line, trying guards out at center, this all doesn?t sound too positive to me. On top of that, Brooks? play will have to improve if this team has any hope.
This team is a super bowl team. With the weapons that they have, they can score points on any defense easily. Heck they beat the Super bowl champs twice last year scoring 24.5 points per game on the best defense in the league. They play on turf; they have a lot of speed between Horn, Stallworth, and McCallister, and they are even a threat to score on special teams every time. Why they won?t be in the Super bowl is because they won?t get reliable play from Brooks and their Offensive line for 16 games.
O/U 7.5:
Boy this is a tough one. This team could go way over this number, but they could also go way under. It is an untrustworthy team who is very unpredictable. Let me put it this way, here are the teams New Orleans beat last year: Tampa twice, Green Bay, Chicago (when everyone still believed in them), Pittsburgh, Washington, San Francisco, Carolina, and Baltimore. Their losses were: Detroit (embarrassing), Atlanta twice, Cleveland, Minnesota, Cincinnati (this was Cincy?s only win the whole year besides Houston) and Carolina (they needed this game badly). They beat solid teams, but lose to below average opponents. If you can figure them out, good luck to you. Here is their schedule for this year: @Seahawks, Texans, @Titans, Colts, Bears, @Eagles, @Redskins, Giants, @Jaguars, Dallas.
Fantasy Sleeper:
Aaron Brooks will likely be taken very high in your pool, I would prefer someone a bit more reliable with one of my first few picks. Joe Horn we all know will post good numbers, but you?ll have to use a high pick on him too. Before I get to my sleeper, let me tell you that if you are in a pool that doesn?t penalize for interceptions, Brooks will have a good year. This offense will be on the field a lot, and will be pressured to score a lot as well. That bodes good things for anyone on this offense. Donte Stallworth is still not a household name. Because of the injury to Jerome Pathon, he was able to get some playing time and contribute valuable minutes. Most rookie receivers don?t produce a lot in their first year, but Stallworth showed good signs with almost 600 yards receiving and 8 TD?s. He should take over the starting role for Pathon at some point this year, possibly right from the get go, and expect the team to find ways to get the ball in the hands of their fastest receiver.
With the trade of centerpiece Rikki Williams, one of the final links between Mike Ditka and the New Orleans Saints was broken. The Saints decided that they were looking for more speeding in their running game, and less speeding on the highway. In came unproven second year man Deuce McCallister who the Saints thought would better suit their team than the power game of Rikki. It didn?t take Deuce long to show his stuff off as he ran for more than one thousand yards including eight one-hundred yard games. Although New Orleans? defense struggled throughout the year, few teams were able to light up the scoreboard like Brooks and company. Problems occurred when the team suffered through inconsistencies, and a lack of effort late in the season. As division rival Atlanta snuck into the playoffs, the Saints were left to watch The Bachelorette. Although this team is still very skilled on the offensive side, inconsistencies from Aaron Brooks in particular, is what will decide their fate this year.
What we learned from Last Year:
The Saints started off the year with a bang going 7 ? 2 averaging 32 points a game on offense. They finished the season with a record of 2 ? 5 averaging only 20 points a game. That leaves us to question what went wrong? The answer is simple. Aaron Brooks.
Here is the numbers from his first 9 games of the season (*) contrasted to his numbers in the team?s 2- 5 slide (**):
QB Rating (rounded):
* 88
** 72
TD/INTS:
* 19/9
** 8/6
Completion Percentage:
* 56.8
** 48.3
Clearly his numbers dropped off. He collapsed like a cheap tent. When they were hot, Brooks threw for nearly twice as many touchdowns as interceptions. When they were cold he threw almost as many interceptions as touchdowns. Well, some of you might say ?Maybe their competition was stiffer during the losing streak?? I would argue that their opponents were not tougher than in their first 9 games. Some more of you might say ?Well doesn?t the defense have a role in this?? To that I would say no. The Saints played a system last year where their defense was irrelevant, similar to the Rams Super bowl year. The Saints either scored, or went three and out very quickly too many times last year. Their defense did not get a chance to recover. Mentally, it is nice for your defence to be back on the field ahead by a touchdown, but physically it becomes very taxing when they spend most of the game on the field. The Aints ranked 25th in the league in offensive time of possession, leaving their defense on the field for more than 31 minutes a game (roughly). The Saints defence played the same throughout the year, but as soon as Brooks started to falter, the Saints couldn?t score as many points as they were allowing.
Just when you thought that Brooks should be the scapegoat for New Orleans choking last year, a new contender emerges. The offensive line was also hot and cold. Aaron Brooks was sacked only 16 times in the first 9 games, but was sacked 22 times in the remaining games. Well I would argue that some of those were his own fault, most likely due to indecisiveness, but its clear that the O-line fractured as the season went on.
The simple solution is for Brooks to straighten himself out, make smarter/faster decisions and develop into a dependable quarterback all season long.
What has changed?:
Well?not a whole heck of a lot. I?m going to ignore any defensive changes they made, because they won?t matter if the offense can?t score. You?re going to see a big resemblance between their defensive players and Homer Simpson when he tried to choke Bart with the telephone cord. Like last year, the offense will be their scone and butter. A foolish decision by this team was to let Kyle Turley get away when they already struggle to defend their QB. Maybe the thinking is second round draft pick Jon Stinchcomb can replace him. They are moving guys around, re-shifting players on their O-line, trying guards out at center, this all doesn?t sound too positive to me. On top of that, Brooks? play will have to improve if this team has any hope.
This team is a super bowl team. With the weapons that they have, they can score points on any defense easily. Heck they beat the Super bowl champs twice last year scoring 24.5 points per game on the best defense in the league. They play on turf; they have a lot of speed between Horn, Stallworth, and McCallister, and they are even a threat to score on special teams every time. Why they won?t be in the Super bowl is because they won?t get reliable play from Brooks and their Offensive line for 16 games.
O/U 7.5:
Boy this is a tough one. This team could go way over this number, but they could also go way under. It is an untrustworthy team who is very unpredictable. Let me put it this way, here are the teams New Orleans beat last year: Tampa twice, Green Bay, Chicago (when everyone still believed in them), Pittsburgh, Washington, San Francisco, Carolina, and Baltimore. Their losses were: Detroit (embarrassing), Atlanta twice, Cleveland, Minnesota, Cincinnati (this was Cincy?s only win the whole year besides Houston) and Carolina (they needed this game badly). They beat solid teams, but lose to below average opponents. If you can figure them out, good luck to you. Here is their schedule for this year: @Seahawks, Texans, @Titans, Colts, Bears, @Eagles, @Redskins, Giants, @Jaguars, Dallas.
Fantasy Sleeper:
Aaron Brooks will likely be taken very high in your pool, I would prefer someone a bit more reliable with one of my first few picks. Joe Horn we all know will post good numbers, but you?ll have to use a high pick on him too. Before I get to my sleeper, let me tell you that if you are in a pool that doesn?t penalize for interceptions, Brooks will have a good year. This offense will be on the field a lot, and will be pressured to score a lot as well. That bodes good things for anyone on this offense. Donte Stallworth is still not a household name. Because of the injury to Jerome Pathon, he was able to get some playing time and contribute valuable minutes. Most rookie receivers don?t produce a lot in their first year, but Stallworth showed good signs with almost 600 yards receiving and 8 TD?s. He should take over the starting role for Pathon at some point this year, possibly right from the get go, and expect the team to find ways to get the ball in the hands of their fastest receiver.
