SmashMouth

Let the prognostications begin...

Rugby Saint II

I was dressed in my Saints gear and a young man asked me how many game we would win. I firmly said 10-6 forgetting we have an extra game now. I'll reevaluate that at 11-6 or 10-7 after we see the players at training camp. I want to be an optimist like Guido and say 17-0 but neither my heart or head says we will be better now that Drew retired and we lost good starters as well as depth on both sides of the ball.

spkb25

Youre going to be a lot worse than you think. Blame will be pegged at Drew's retirement but it is the loss of so many others. You wont make the playoffs

BakoSaint

Compared to last year, we will be missing a HOF QB, our sack leader, our leaders in receiving yards at the WR and TE positions, our #2 CB, and probably our #1 CB also for some or all of the season. Michael Thomas should come back fully healthy, we hope, but nothing is guaranteed when a receiver can't stay healthy all year, and comes back to a new QB, lack of a credible #2 option, and double teams, while trying to recover. We lost various other free agents who started some games, and due to salary cap issues our additions were limited to very bottom dollar reserves types, so any impact will likely need to come from the draft. The only way to say we should expect to win the division is to conclude details don't matter. We do have some talented players and it might be possible, but we took a big hit to depth and starters, so it will take a lot of good fortune to win the division. Its pretty realistic to expect that the Bucs, after beating us in the last matchup and having 100x as much to work with as use in free agency, are better positioned to win the division. Something like 9-8 feels like a reasonable median to me, and I would rather our players see lower expectations externally and fight to prove themselves than take anything for granted here.

lee909

As things stand right now i wouldn't say 9 wins is unfair

There are a couple of massive holes on the rosters and if it goes wrong in terms of CB2,LB or say Cam misses a few games there is little on that roster than is a guarantee of creating sacks. See what happens before August

AsylumGuido

I have little confidence in either current QB leading us to over nine wins. I, of course, will predict a 20-0 season come September.

Boston Saint

I hate predicting records. Those teams during the 7-9 season years were better than a 7-9 team I felt. I know most fans feel this way, but I recall the Saints getting shafted often on calls in that post bounty gate era and those 7-9 seasons easily could have been 10 win seasons. For example, 2014-2016 were all 7-9 seasons;

2016 had 4 games lost by a FG or less and at least 3 others by 6 or less.
2015 had 5 games lost by a single score
2014 had 4 games lost by FG including 2 OT losses

My only point is I still believe the Saints have one of the better organizations in the league. Payton is one of the better coaches and play callers, and with Kamara, Thomas, Murray, Ram, etc the offense can be very effective. Winston is a much more physically gifted QB than Brees. Maybe Davenport stays healthy and steps up. Maybe Tuttle/Roach take the same steps forward T Tex did. Maybe Trautman is a stud and Callaway is the real deal and Harris stays healthy and the Saints stretch the field like some have been complaining about. I agree with Rugby’s thought that free agents will be signed as the offseason continues and players are cut. Honestly, 12 wins wouldn’t surprise me any more than 6 wins would.

You think you know, but you don’t know...and you never will! Coach Jim Mora

jnormand

Grandstanding or just outright annoying people. That sounds more accurate then optimism. Either that or blindly believing in something to the point that they can't see fault. Which is probably more the case.

It's an ongoing and rampant issue with humanity right now. Especially in many facets of Amercian society.

voodooido

If JW is our starting qb we will be 6-10 to 7-9 at best.

Boston Saint

Glad to know you’re on his side