The Saints Are an Incomplete Team — And That’s A Good Thing
Wait, being incomplete is supposed to be good?
You’d think a a finished product would be the ultimate goal of a team that’s trying to reach another championship, right?
That’s true, but for the New Orleans Saints it’s actually better for everyone if they’re still finding out just who they are.
Up until the eve of training camp nobody could give you that answer and the questions started long before then to be honest.
The whirlwind trades that involved Jimmy Graham, Kenny Stills, and Ben Grubbs was called a “fire sale” by some.
It lead to questions about who would be Graham’s replacement at tight end and take over for Stills who according to ProFootballFocus.com was the on wide receiver for the team graded in the positive for receiving and overall.
Apr 30, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Andrus Peat (Stanford) poses for a photo with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected as the number 13th overall pick to the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
The selection of offensive lineman Andrus Peat in the first round then begged answering if that meant veteran players like Zach Strief or possibly Jahri Evans would be let go.
The Saints were a team that analysts for months after scratched their heads and admittedly said that they really couldn’t figure this 2015 team out.
It was a shy contrast from last year at this time when the local and national media were heaping praise and even predicting the team to not only be playoff bound, but a Super Bowl contender.
Halfway through 2014 though it looked like more “pretender” instead and that the Saints would be lucky to finish the season at 8-8 with their erratic play.
The cracks showed early and the only one who didn’t know that they were breaking was the roster itself that was void of the veteran voices that held them together before.
Replaced by big aspirations and even bigger egos, it almost seemed to be the opposite of how the team built a roster that won a Super Bowl.
Local analyst for WWL 870 AM Mike Detillier has said repeatedly before the draft this year that the Saints needed a “Groundhog’s Day” version of the 2006 team and season.
Detillier is of course referencing the draft the Saints had that year by selecting Reggie Bush, Roman Harper, Zach Strief, and diamond in the rough Marques Colston all of whom helped the team reach a championship.
Also it was time when the team was compiled of players that may not have been that spectacular, but did their job and believed in their goals and most importantly each other.
When I think of “blue collar teams” that’s who I reflect back on is the 2006 squad that started it all and naturally head coach Sean Payton has alluded he wants to get back to that.
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Emphasis on toughness and being smart on and off the field was a huge deciding factor for the draft this year as well as signing free agents.
Safety Kenny Vaccaro said in an interview yesterday following practice that the Saints are an “unfinished product” right now.
When asked about what role he would have Vaccaro didn’t give specifics but said he’d play wherever they’d want him to, with Wednesday’s practice seeing him strictly at strong safety.
The question of what will happen with Strief and Peat is still unanswered but the veteran has said that he’ll help the rookie even if it means eventually it costs him his job.
And speaking of jobs, the ever present debate on if rookie Garrett Grayson will eventually take over for Drew Brees still hangs over the Saints like morning fog at the Greenbriar in West Virginia.
Brees settled that debate by telling NOLA.com yesterday:
"“I’m not paying attention to it, I don’t know who is saying what. I don’t know who in the media said that we’re not going to do anything or we’re going to finish whatever in the division or we’re not going to make the playoffs or I’m washed up. I really don’t pay attention because I really don’t care because deep down I know what is going to happen this season.”"
Like Strief though, Brees is dedicated to helping Grayson mature as an NFL passer even though eventually it could mean that the youngster takes his spot…but not just yet.
For the Saints, being an unfinished product is something that’s good in the idea that if the process is still ongoing, then issues are easy to fix.
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A gentleman I know who recently retired said that when he trained new people, he preferred the inexperienced vs. the experienced sometimes.
When I asked the logic behind that he said, “Because sometimes you got some that are experienced and they feel they know it all and think they never make a mistake. A rookie knows they don’t know anything and soak up any information or correction to their mistakes you give ’em.”
It seems the Saints could follow this same path in thinking that instead of “we’ve arrived” it’s “we’re just getting started.”
They have yet to answer all the questions put before them during the offseason, but those will take care of themselves eventually.
The one thing that we do know about the Saints is that right now they are an incomplete team trying to get their identity back —- and that’s a good thing………..