SmashMouth

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.

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