New Orleans Saints 2020 Season Preview
Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/4/2020.
New Orleans Saints Free Agency Recap
The Saints got Emmanuel Sanders as a wide receiver in Free Agency. They also signed free safety Malcolm Jenkins from the Philadelphia Eagles. Jameis Winston replaces Teddy Bridgewater as the backup.
New Orleans Saints Draft Recap
The Saints drafted Cesar Ruiz in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The Michigan center is expected to move back to right guard where he played at Michigan before moving to center where he will replace Larry Warford.
New Orleans Saints Quarterback Summary: Drew Brees has outplayed Tom Brady the last six years in the regular season. Now the former Patriots quarterback signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New Orleans also has Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill as backups.
Drew Brees should have a breakout year and here is why. Sean Payton and Pete Carmichael are both back at head coach and offensive coordinator for the Saints. Joe Lombardi is the quarterbacks coach. Drew Brees dominated with these coaches in 2017 and 2018 once he got a good supporting cast. These coaches made Teddy Bridgewater look like a viable starter in 2019 when Brees was injured. It's scary to imagine what Brees will do having the same three offensive coaches back for a fourth year in a row.
New Orleans Saints Running Back Summary: New Orleans is gonna have Alvin Kamara as their starting running back. Latavius Murray will be the backup running back that compliments Kamara.
Running backs coach Joel Thomas enters his sixth year in the NFL. Thomas is doing a great job by telling Sean Payton not to give Kamara too many carries too soon, even though Kamara is capable of being the man in New Orleans now. Fantasy owners, if you want Kamara to get 25 carries take it up with Thomas not Payton.
New Orleans Saints Wide Receiver Summary: Michael Thomas is the Saints #1 receiver. Emmanuel Sanders is the number two complimentary receiver to Thomas. Tre'Quan Smith, their 2018 third round pick is now the slot receiver and he got some experience as both the number two target and the slot receiver in 2019.
Ronald Curry enters his second season as the wide receivers coach in New Orleans after an amazing first year. He's also got better weapons to work with.
New Orleans Saints Tight End Summary: Jared Cook is the starting tight end for New Orleans. You also have Josh Hill and Adam Trautman the former Dayton tight end Adam Trautman. Having former Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell as the teams assistant head coach and tight ends coach only helps.
New Orleans Saints Offensive Line Summary: Terron Armstead got a huge contract extension at left tackle two years ago. Andrus Peat will start at left guard once again. Erik McCoy will start at center. New Orleans has Cesar Ruiz at right guard and Ryan Ramczyk is starting at right tackle. This is a fantastic offensive line when healthy and if everyone is fully healthy New Orleans will average 30 points per game in front of their home crowd.
Dan Roushar is a great offensive line coach. Roushar can develop running backs, tight ends, or offensive linemen. Roushar will improve the blocking of the Saints running backs, fullback, tight ends, and offensive linemen which will give Brees more time in the pocket and more for defenses to account for.
New Orleans has so much talent on this offense its mind boggling. This is easily a top 5 offense in every offensive category and that's why many believe New Orleans will rule the NFC South once again in 2020.
New Orleans Saints Defensive Line Summary: Cameron Jordan is an awesome 4-3 right end. Marcus Davenport will start next to Jordan at 4-3 left end. Malcolm Brown and Sheldon Rankins are the starting 4-3 defensive tackles with Rankins currently on the PUP list. This is the best defensive line that New Orleans has had in years.
Ryan Nielsen enters his fourth season as the Saints defensive line coach. I'm curious to see how Nielsen develops this defensive line.
New Orleans Saints Linebacker Summary: Demario Davis will start at 4-3 right outside linebacker. Kiko Alonso will start at 4-3 middle linebacker. Alex Anzalone is the 4-3 left outisde linebacker.
Michael Hodges takes over for Mike Nolan as the linebackers coach. Alonso is on the PUP list so this may be the weakness for New Orleans in 2020 if this team has one.
New Orleans Saints Defensive Backs Summary: The Saints have Marshon Lattimore at field cornerback, Janoris Jenkins at boundary cornerback, P.J. Williams at nickel cornerback, and Patrick Robinson as a dime cornerback. Marcus Williams is great strong safety and former Saint Malcolm Jenkins is a Saint once again after his stint with the Eagles.
Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has a lot of experience developing players on the secondary. Defensive backs coach Aaron Glenn should have more experience with defensive backs in year five.
The Saints have a top 10 pass defense thanks to their cornerbacks. New Orleans made moves to correct their defensive liabilities and turn those liabilities into strengths. Trading for Kiko Alonso is one thing they did. If they can get Jadeveon Clowney, this will be one of the top defenses in the NFC.
New Orleans Saints Special Teams Summary: Will Lutz is the starting kicker. Thomas Morstead returns as their punter. New Orleans has Taysom Hill as their kick returner and Alvin Kamara as their punt returner. Darren Rizzi returns as the special teams coordinator.
New Orleans Saints Worst Case Scenario: The Saints go 11-5 and get a wild card. New Orleans is my pick to win the NFC South.
New Orleans Saints Best Case Scenario: New Orleans goes 13-3. They make Super Bowl 55 and Drew Brees gets to his second Super Bowl in Tampa Bay.
New Orleans Saints 2020 NFL Schedule
Week |
Date |
Opponent |
Time |
Cable Network |
Result |
Week 1 |
September 13 |
VS  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 2 |
September 20 |
AT  |
8:15 PM EST |
NBC |
L |
Week 3 |
September 27 |
VS  |
8:20 PM EST |
NBC |
W |
Week 4 |
October 4 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 5 |
October 12 |
VS  |
8:15 PM EST |
ESPN |
W |
Week 6 |
|
Bye Week |
|
|
|
Week 7 |
October 25 |
VS  |
1:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 8 |
November 1 |
AT  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 9 |
November 8 |
AT |
8:20 PM EST |
NBC |
L |
Week 10 |
November 15 |
VS  |
4:25 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 11 |
November 22 |
VS  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 12 |
November 29 |
AT  |
4:05 PM EST |
FOX |
L |
Week 13 |
December 6 |
AT |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 14 |
December 13 |
AT  |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 15 |
December 20 |
VS  |
4:25 PM EST |
CBS |
W |
Week 16 |
December 25 |
VS  |
4:30 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
Week 17 |
January 3 |
AT |
1 PM EST |
FOX |
W |
The Utopia Of Sports
