The last few seasons have not quite gone according to plan for the New Orleans Saints.
When Dennis Allen took over in 2022, the idea was to maintain an elite defense and to rebuild the offense in the post Drew Brees-era, with plenty of playmakers still on the roster.
When Derek Carr came over in 2023, hope was in the air for things to improve under longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael. Ultimately, things were stagnant, and Klint Kubiak was brought in to breathe new life into the New Orleans offense.
Allen knows that improvement is a must in this league.
“You can’t become stagnant in anything that you do. You have to always be looking to improve and so there is always things that we are looking at how maybe we can do some things better,” he said this week.
While those comments were not directly related to the changes at offensive coordinator, it is clear that New Orleans felt the need to be better on that side.
Enter 2024. The Saints have a new offensive mind, but plenty of questions on the offensive line. Ryan Ramcyzk is out for the year, Trevor Penning has not progressed, and Andrus Peat departed in free agency. Rookie Taliese Fuaga has been impressive early on but will have to hold up as the starting left tackle right away. Penning will start opposite him, and Lucas Patrick could be the option at left guard for now.
On the outside, Chris Olave has emerged, but the questions lie behind him. Can Rasheed Shaheed emerge as a legitimate #2 wide receiver?
The defense was still pretty good last year and added plenty. Chase Young came over in free agency. As did Willie Gay, and both have been impactful in training camp. A group of veterans that include Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis will look to partner with a young, talented secondary to try to be one of the elite units in the NFL this season.
Allen has now had some time to make the situation better. This feels like a year where he has to prove that he is capable.
The opponent in week one feels like an opportunity. The Carolina Panthers are coming off of a 2-15 season in Bryce Young’s rookie year at quarterback. It resulted in Frank Reich being let go mid-year, and now Dave Canales comes in to try to fix things.
Allen knows they will be better.
“I think they have done some things offensively to really upgrade their team and try to put some weapons around Bryce Young,” Allen said of the roster improvements.
Carolina added some help to their interior offensive line, including signing former Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun Robert Hunt. The roster looks better, but the big question is whether or not Canales can get more out of Young, who struggled mightily a year ago.
New Orleans has the longest season-opener winning streak in the NFL right now, having won five straight since 2019. This is an important one, considering a difficult stretch of scheduling that begins after it.
If the Saints are going to have success in 2024, we should see the signs of progress on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome. They take on Carolina at 12:00 PM.