TheOak

(Mike Triplett)
ESPN’s NFL scouting Insider Matt Williamson kept a close eye on the New Orleans Saints this year, joining several of our in-game chats with his thoughts on the team. So I reached out to the former Cleveland Browns scout this week to assess the Saints and their needs going forward.

Here are his thoughts on the offense:

Biggest concerns: “I think priority No. 1 has to be retaining (free-agent tight end) Jimmy Graham. I mean, that’s as big a no-brainer as there is in this offseason. And no matter what they have to do to do that, I assume they’ll franchise him. So I think there’s no chance he leaves New Orleans. I’m not going out on a limb there.

“But what worries me -- two things worry me about this offense. First is their offensive line. (Right tackle Zach) Strief and (center Brian) de la Puente are free agents. And (guard) Jahri Evans is expensive. Could he be a cap casualty or a restructure guy? You know, (rookie Terron) Armstead looked good at left tackle. But if they’re tight on funds, that offensive line could be a problem area. And it showed some warts this past year for the first time in a while.

“I think both free agents are underrated, particularly Strief. And I think he’ll be sought after -- though I’m not sure he’s gonna break the bank or anything. And they certainly could use (something like) a third-round pick on whoever moves on. Supposedly it’s a pretty good center draft. Maybe that’s the approach to take. … I don’t know that you can upgrade the offensive line, but you need to at least maintain it.

Read More
Scouting breakdown: Saints offense - New Orleans Saints Blog - ESPN

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Euphoria

If we want to win a championship we must upgrade that line.

saintsfan1976

And WR??

SaintFanInATLHELL

Why? Brees has had 3 consecutive 5000 yard passing seasons and has thrown for 4000 or more yards and 30 or more TDs in each of the last 6 years.

So exactly how is changing the receiver core going to improve the offense?

The line needs to be stabilized so that Brees continues to have time to throw for all those yards and TDs without being harassed or sacked.

I really don't see what can be done in the WR corps that will assist in that effort.

Please explain...

SFIAH

saintsfan1976

Ok.

Of our four top "receivers" - only ONE of those is an actual WR.

Colston and Moore are 30 and the most promising young guy we have on the field is Kenny Stills.

So yes, in addition to the line being stabilized this team could use a solid #2 WR.

TheOak

Brother, that is more of a function of utilization than skill. If Aliens steal the Ginger Giant the utilization looks entirely different.

Euphoria

Its about match ups... I don't care if you get 5000 against the bottom half of the league its the upper 6 teams are so our WR or struggling against. The team we need to beat is Seattle and SF. Our WR's aren't getting off the line and getting into their routes. I think they are small and can use an upgrade. Where we are in the draft I see us picking one up in round one as it stands.

TheOak

So the only players carried over from 2013 to 2014 are RBs, QB, TE? lol

The line is fine after we get a new C.

Danno

And to be honest once Armstead started the whole line looked better, even DLP.

papz

I don't have the stats to back it up, but I thought DLP looked much better towards the end of the season and into the playoffs as well.