Saints vibe check: Why there's reason to be excited about the new-look offense



BY LUKE JOHNSON | Staff writer Jun 5, 2024 Updated 19 hrs ago

There was a moment from Wednesday’s third and final OTA practice that really drove home how different the 2024 New Orleans Saints offense will look from the iterations that preceded it.

The second-team offense lined up in an offset I formation during a seven-on-seven period, then all of a sudden shifted its entire look. Fullback Zander Horvath motioned out to the far left side of the formation, and a tight end raced from the left to the right side. Quickly, the Saints were in an empty formation.

The defense scrambled to adjust, and quarterback Jake Haener took the snap before they could get settled, firing a dart down the seam to tight end Juwan Johnson for a big gain.

The explosive play inspired running back Jamaal Williams to mock the defense, yelling, “Oh s**t! They’re changing formations! We don’t know what to do!”

With the Saints wrapping up OTAs this week — and getting ready to hold a mandatory minicamp next week — now felt like a good time to do a vibe check on the team as a whole, and let’s start with that offense that had Williams talking trash.

Saints offense: Vibes are intoxicating

There’s certainly a chance that this is all just the standard excitement that comes with this time on the NFL calendar. Change itself is also often viewed through a rose-tinted shade. Nobody really knows how this thing is going to go until the Saints get a chance to play real football games against another team.

But talk to just about any offensive player on the team right now, and the underlying optimism to just about everything they say regarding new play-caller Klint Kubiak’s offense is impossible to ignore. The Saints are clearly excited about the possibilities this new scheme presents.

And, while it is early and the Saints are still months away from even holding a padded practice, the early returns have fed into that excitement.

Quarterback Derek Carr has looked sharp. While he did throw an interception Wednesday on a pass that was tipped twice, the positives have definitely outweighed the negatives. He threw a beautiful touchdown Wednesday to Chris Olave during a full team period, and it was the type of play one could envision the Saints running a lot this season: After a play-action fake, Carr hit the top of his drop and threw a rope to Chris Olave on the post. It should also be noted that, immediately after throwing the interception, Carr followed with a tight-window touchdown to tight end Michael Jacobsen.

It’s not just Carr, though. Kubiak clearly intends to take full advantage of Taysom Hill’s versatility — Wednesday, Hill was at various points lined up as a running back in a single-back formation — and the new wide zone running scheme looks like it could fit the Saints' young, athletic offensive line really well.

And that’s not even getting into the fun wrinkles with the formations and motion, like the one Haener took advantage of on his shot to Johnson. Maybe this Saints offense won’t challenge some of those record-smashing Sean Payton units, but it will at the very least be entertaining, and that is a welcome change.

Saints youngsters: Vibes are promising

Age has been a knock against some of the most recent Saints teams. Last year, they had the NFL’s oldest offense and the second-oldest defense by snap-weighted age, and they will once again count on several players who are in their mid-30s to play critical roles.

So it is imperative for New Orleans to find some young (and affordable) players who are ready to contribute. Taking a look at how things stacked up in OTAs, they might be on track to do that.

Read the rest here ...

3…2…1

lol!!



Too predictable.

3…2…1

Valid reasons for optimism, especially if the players are excited about it.
The upside of so many older vets is that they have seen what good teams and crappy teams look like and the whole team appears to buy in on what Kubiak is selling.

Our Oline is better suited for zone blocking. Kamara seems to be a great fit for that scheme, as well as the kid from TCU. Our defense looks like it will be a really good unit.

While every team is pretty optimistic at this point of the season, I just don't see a lot of reasons for pessimism. I'm sure our resident killjoys will disagree.