Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

I was part of a dynamic, balanced Saints offense in 2009, the season in which the franchise won its first-ever Super Bowl title. Before suffering a season-ending knee injury in late October, I shared the backfield with Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and Mike Bell. Oh, and someone named Drew Brees was under center.

An in-depth look at that championship season reveals that Payton led the most balanced offensive unit of his tenure in New Orleans, running the ball on 45 percent of snaps and passing 55 percent of the time. This was the best version of the Saints' offense, with the play calling of Payton, the execution of Brees and the diversity of the backfield. Some might argue the Saints were better statistically in 2011, but we could do anything at any time to any defense in '09. And winning the Lombardi Trophy proved it. Whereas the '11 team couldn't come from behind in the Divisional Round, ending its chances at the franchise's second title two years later.

When you look at the way Payton's 2017 offense has been built this offseason, it's clear the blueprint is very similar to the '09 unit -- but this time, there's a first-ballot Hall of Fame-caliber back in the mix. Adrian Peterson, the best running back of the last decade, has joined Mark Ingram in a ground game that ranked 16th in the league a year ago. New Orleans also added promising Tennessee product Alvin Kamara in last month's draft, creating a new three-headed monster to line up behind Brees, who led the league's No. 1 total offense and passing offense in 2016.

read more from Heath Evans

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

Backfield looks good on paper, better than most teams. Some concerns but nothing major. I would take this crew over any in Division.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

2011 team was better offensively. They also didn't have the defense and special teams scoring TDs and getting TOs in 2011 like they did in 2009.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

Good read. Evans has turned in to one of the better writers on NFL.com.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

It's all about the O line.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

I'm curious to see what the Saints will look like this year in general, but the offensive line is an area of emphasis. Will Peat make a 3rd year leap at Guard? Will Armstead stay healthy? Will the younger Ramczyk be the player to finally supplant Strief? How will Unger look coming off of his injury? Is Larry Warford the next Jahri Evans? Our offensive line is one huge question mark at each and every position.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

Hmm. Deja Vu?

https://68.media.tumblr.com/e2fefa65...0m9to1_500.gif

I remember there being hundreds of posts about the O-line last offseason. How exactly did that turn out during the season?

I'm not getting dragged into this quagmire again...

SFIAH

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

We were terrible in preseason before Jahri got cut and slipped right back into the lineup to solidify our line.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

So he basically says that Peterson will see more time on the field than Ingram.

He predicts Peterson will get 45-50 snaps to Ingram's 25-30 snaps.

What do you guys think? I tend to think those numbers will be reversed for the two RBs, mostly due to Ingram's versatility, but who knows?

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

If we didn't bring Evans back the RG position would have been bad. We got lucky he stayed healthy. I'm not sure Warford is an upgrade.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

I think he's right. There's no way Ingram beats out a healthy AD even at 32 years old.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

Depends on how well he can catch the ball. I'm thinking it'll be more 50-50 due to Mark's ability to do just that. I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a Graham type situation where every time Peterson's on the field, he gets the ball.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

yep, and the oline looks best it has been in years for us.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

Not to get off track but good thing McMahon is gone because special teams was a BIG problem in 2016. Cost us at least 2, 3 WINS.

The O line is low on my list of concerns.

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

I see what Heath is saying and he is backing it up with stats, but we may have been more balanced simply because of the buttload of turnovers the D got us in our championship year. More likely to run the ball when you start out at the opponents 30 or 40 yard line!

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

was wondering about that as well... a lot of times writers don't write their own headlines.
If Ingram I'm not happy to see "Peterson-led"

Re: Saints seek balance with diverse, Adrian Peterson-led backfield
 

I'm not so sure about that. Recently Ingram has stated about the addition of Peterson that his main focus is winning it all. He said he'll accept his role as every other player. The team seems to be coming into this season with a positive, cooperative mindset.