WhoDat!656

9 Saints issues (not Drew Brees) heading into the offseason | NOLA.com

K Major

Okafor is relatively young ... definitely bring him back. See if the burst & explosion is there.

Meanwhile I think Kikaha & PJ Williams will have a difficult time making this team for 2018.

Surely someone will over pay for Kenny Vacarro.

jlouhill

Good read. Can't really argue much about what was said. The only one I'm still on the fence about is Bell. I do believe Vacarro will not be in a Saints uniform next year.

Vrillon82

big thing that stands out to me and IMO decided the outcome of the Minnesota game is Offensive line depth. We got pretty banged up in that department where we had how many starters go down? 2-3? Run game started to really take a nose dive by the time the playoffs started, it was at a point it kept Carolina in the game all 4 qtrs.

Barry from MS

This will be Bell's 3rd year. I thought he was a tick above average down the stretch. I see it clicking for him in 2018. Smart kid.

lumm0x

Hard to argue with any of the 9 points and I pretty much feel the same way they do on the assessment of current players like Okafor, Vaccaro, Kikaha, Steif, PJ Williams, Crawley, Breaux and Kelemete. Vaccaro should chase the money and move on while the rest are keepers at the right price with their known flaws/injury issues.

I see our biggest current issues remaining on the defense. We need a pass rusher complimenting Jordan. We need an upgrade at LBer to better that unit where we have serviceable players but without a special piece. The secondary needs an upgrade at CB to compliment Lattimore where a guy like Crawley can be used for a great depth/rotational piece. I am okay with Williams and Bell at safety but we will need more depth there.

Rugby Saint II

You win in the trenches. Draft O-line and D-line early and often.

SaintGnome

Agreed, and that factors in to my next thought - I don't want to give up Vaccaro. What, and spend more draft picks and/or free agency money on bringing in another safety? We're becoming the secondary farm system for the NFL. Look at Malcolm Jenkins and P'Rob both kicking ass on the league's #1 D.
Yes, Kenny has some trouble guarding the best receiving TE's in the league, how many safeties in the league can cover them for extended periods of time without a great pass rush? Wasn't this the same crack on Malcolm? He looks damn good in Philly.
IMO our D looked better with Kenny than without. Maybe lets spend our premium efforts on a pass rush.