The New Orleans Saints, led by newly signed quarterback Derek Carr, expect to reclaim the NFC South title for the first time since 2020.

After experimenting with Taysom Hill, Jameis Winston, and Andy Dalton at quarterback for the past two years, the Saints decided to go into this season with Carr, a much more efficient and confident quarterback.

Unlike the previous Saints starters, Carr has a certain charisma, mentality, and upside that has the Saints organization and fans believing in him.

Starting linebacker and team captain Demario Davis expressed his excitement about playing with a leader like Carr. “Number one, I think he’s a team guy. He’s a relations guy. He’s a serving leader. He leads on the field. He takes command of the offense.”

The Saints made a big bet on Carr, signing him to a 4-year, $150 million contract. The deal reunited Carr with Saints head coach Dennis Allen, who was Carr’s former coach while with the Raiders.

While the Saints chose to go for a veteran quarterback, the rest of the NFC South has chosen to go in a different direction. The Carolina Panthers traded up in the NFL Draft this past April to select Bryce Young as their quarterback of the future. The Atlanta Falcons have decided to go with quarterback Desmond Ridder, who they drafted in the third round a year ago. In their post-Tom Brady era, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed journeyman Baker Mayfield to a one-year deal this past offseason after his stint as a backup with the Rams. 

Although Carr has yet to play a down in New Orleans, the Saints arguably have the most stable quarterback situation in the division. Carr has played a total of 142 regular season games, while the rest of the NFC South’s starting quarterbacks have played a combined 73. Thus, Carr’s leadership and experience should help the Saints get an early edge on the rest of the division.

Outside of Carr, the Saints are returning all ten other starters on offense from last season. Most notable of these returning starters are wide receivers Chris Olave and Michael Thomas, as well as running back Alvin Kamara.

Olave, who had 72 catches for 1,042 yards and 4 touchdowns last season as a rookie is poised for a sophomore breakout. Reports from Saints training camp beat writers, including Nick Underhill and Mike Triplett, have stated that Olave looks significantly better as a route runner and has gained muscle mass from last season (addressing two minor critiques from his rookie campaign).

Across from Olave, wide receiver Michael Thomas looks to rebound from three straight injury-riddled seasons, in which he has played 10 games total. The Saints are hoping Thomas can return to his 2019 form, wherein he won AP Offensive Player of the Year and set the NFL record for receptions in a season (149).

Carr spoke in his introductory interview about the opportunity of playing with a hard-working guy like Thomas: “The football player, the mentality, that’s the thing I fell in love with, with him. I sat there on the phone, and I remember two, three, four days after we were on the phone, I just kept telling my wife, ‘I love that guy. I love his mentality.’ How do you not want to play football with that guy?”

In the backfield, running back Alvin Kamara remains a star. However, the Saints will have to roll into the season without him due to a three-game suspension for a fight that happened during the 2022 Pro Bowl weekend in Las Vegas. Despite the suspension, reports from training camp reveal that Kamara is great shape and will be ready to assume a full workload upon returning.

Holding down the fort while Kamara is suspended is a tandem backfield that consists of Jamaal Williams and rookie Kendre Miller. Williams, who led the NFL with 17 rushing touchdowns last season with the Lions, is expected to get the brunt of the workload as Miller works up to NFL speed. Miller, who the Saints selected in the third round of this past NFL Draft, will serve as a change-of-pace runner, with hopes he will become more involved as the season progresses. In 14 games last season at TCU, Miller rushed for 1,399 yards and 17 touchdowns.

At the tight end position, the Saints gave Juwan Johnson a two-year contract extension after he posted career highs in targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns last season. The team also brought in former Raider and New Orleans native Foster Moreau, who played with Carr since the 2019 season.

This team’s most underrated offensive weapon is the Swiss Army knife, Taysom Hill. Hill has been with the team since 2017 and has played every position from special teams to quarterback. Last season, he threw for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns, rushed for 575 yards and 7 touchdowns, and caught 9 passes for 77 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Fans should expect Hill to have another explosive year, no matter what position he is in.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Saints have completely revamped their defensive line outside of steady veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan. The team signed both defensive tackles Khalen Saunders and Nathan Shepard to replace Shy Tuttle and David Onyemata, who departed in free agency this past offseason.

The Saints also used their first and second-round picks in this past draft to bolster their defensive line, selecting defensive tackle Bryan Bresse with pick 29 and defensive end Isiah Foskey with pick 40. Both can be considered works-in-progress with high upside, as they hopefully rise on the depth chart throughout the season.

Linebacker Demario Davis looks to lead a physical front seven while also mentoring future star Pete Werner. Since joining the Saints in 2018, Davis has had five straight seasons of 100+ tackles and 10+ tackles for loss. Next to him, Werner looks to have his first fully healthy season after posting 80 tackles and 2 forced fumbles in just 12 games last season. Linebacker is a major strength for the Saints.

In the secondary, the Saints defense has a solid combination of veteran and young talent. 

Leading the secondary will be 7-year star, cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who is also coming off an injury-riddled season. The Saints defense is noticeably better when Lattimore is on the field. Across from Lattimore is a position battle between third-year cornerback Paulson Adebo and second-year cornerback Alontae Taylor. Head Coach Dennis Allen recently stated that Adebo is the front-runner to lock up the outside corner position, but Taylor could get lots of playing time in the slot. Last season, the two combined for 18 passes defensed and 106 tackles.

As the last line of defense, the Saints are fielding two veteran safeties, Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye. At free safety, Mathieu enters his 11th season in the league and second with the Saints. Last season, Mathieu was one of the few Saints who avoided the injury bug, playing in all 17 games and posting 91 tackles and 3 interceptions. On the other hand, Marcus Maye could not stay healthy in his first season with the team. He posted 60 tackles and 1 forced fumble in 10 appearances. It’s fair to question whether the Saints safeties can hold up this season.

As a unit, this Saints defense is approaching the season with one goal in mind: takeaways. The Saints were tied for 30th in the league with 14 takeaways last season. They were also 31st in the league in turnover differential, at minus 11. Both numbers were the lowest for the Saints since Dennis Allen took over the defense in 2015. 

Fortunately, the Saints schedule is extremely easy, at least on paper. In fact, the 2023 slate is rated the weakest in the NFL based on opponents’ win totals last season. The Saints play only three playoff teams from last season (Buccaneers, Jaguars, Vikings). A favorable schedule is extremely important; of the seven teams with the easiest schedules last season, six of them made the playoffs, including both Super Bowl teams.

That is the expectation for the Saints this season as well.

Considering the new additions to the lineup, including the stability Carr provides at quarterback, more fortunate health, and the easiest schedule in the NFL, the Saints are the favorite to take the NFC South title. VegasInsider.com has the Saints as the favorite at +130 odds to win the division.

“WHODAT Nation” hopes Carr can drive the team to victory this season, ending a three-year playoff drought.

The New Orleans Saints 2023 schedule is listed below.

Photo Credit for Featured Image: Derick E. Hingle/NEWORLEANS.FOOTBALL