How close were the Saints to being Super Bowl contenders?
By Pro Football Focus

Breaking Down The Roster
To be considered a Super Bowl contender, 40 percent of the players who took part in at least 250 snaps (varies by team) have to be rated as good or elite. Here's how Pro Football Focus evaluated each of the Saints' 35 qualifying players.*
• Elite - 2 (NFL Average: 2)
o QB Drew Brees
o OLB Junior Galette

• Good - 3 (NFL Average: 4.3)
o RB Pierre Thomas
o TE Jimmy Graham
o OT Zach Strief


• Average - 22 (NFL Average: 21)
o WR Kenny Stills
o DT Tyrunn Walker
o OT Terron Armstead
o WR Robert Meachem
o C Tim Lelito
o CB Patrick Robinson
o G Ben Grubbs
o RB Mark Ingram
o DT Akiem Hicks
o S Rafael Bush
o TE Josh Hill
o OLB Parys Haralson
o DE Cameron Jordan
o S Pierre Warren
o WR Brandin Cooks
o DT Brodrick Bunkley
o G Jahri Evans
o C Jonathan Goodwin
o OLB David Hawthorne
o DT John Jenkins
o S Jairus Byrd
o TE Benjamin Watson
o

• Bad - 8 (NFL Average: 5.8)
o OT Bryce Harris
o WR Marques Colston
o OLB Ramon Humber
o DT Brandon Deaderick
o CB Keenan Lewis
o ILB Curtis Lofton
o CB Corey White
o S Kenny Vaccaro

THE INSIDE STORY
Good News, Bad News
by Sam Monson, Pro Football Focus
Accuracy rate

Good News: For all the talk of Drew Brees' decline, he proved to be the most accurate QB in the league this season. He was the only QB to crack an 80 percent accuracy rate -- which credits QBs for drops and removes throwaways and spikes from the equation. He was on point across the board too, finishing third in accuracy rate on passes 20 yards or more downfield and second when under pressure.

Bad News: The Saints' struggles on defense were best captured in their 148 missed tackles (second-most overall). ILB Curtis Lofton paced the team with 22, missing one tackle for every 7.5 attempted, 49th out of the 70 LBs who saw at least 25 percent of their team's defensive snaps. Safety Kenny Vaccaro wasn't much help either: He whiffed on one tackle for every 4.5 attempted, second-worst among safeties who played 50 percent of their team's snaps.



Positional Needs
by Mike Triplett, ESPN.com
Cornerback: The Saints badly need a reliable No. 2 cornerback across from Keenan Lewis. They tried rotating Patrick Robinson, Corey White, Brian Dixon and Terrence Frederick through the Nos. 2 and 3 jobs all year, but none proved to be the answer. New Orleans might have to spend decent money in free agency for someone who's ready to start immediately. The top CBs on the open market include Seattle's Byron Maxwell and San Diego's Brandon Flowers.

Linebacker: This is a top need even if the Saints' best pass-rusher, Junior Galette, doesn't wind up facing a suspension because of a January arrest. OLB Parys Haralson is a free agent, and ILB David Hawthorne, who's due $4.5 million in salary and bonuses in 2015, is a potential candidate to get cut. Even if they both return, the Saints lack a dynamic athlete who can cover a ton of space in the open field, which is probably why they allowed the most runs of 20-plus yards in the NFL this season (19).

Guard: Starters Jahri Evans, 31, and Ben Grubbs, 30, are still above average, but their salaries are huge (an average of $8.1 million and $7.2 million per year, respectively) and they've showed signs of regression. Even if they keep both Evans and Grubbs, the Saints must start developing future replacements, maybe even in Round 1 of the draft.

Entire article... Rally good stuff... The missing pieces: How many players away from the Super Bowl was each team?