Expectations high for best Saints team in years

Even as the New Orleans Saints ran around in shorts with pads yet at training camp, it wasn’t too difficult to draw this conclusion.

This is the most talented Saints team since the 2011 group, one that let a championship slip out of their grasp.

The Saints are in about as good a spot as an NFL franchise could be.

They have one of the few true franchise quarterbacks in the league.

They have the offensive and defensive rookies of the year from 2017 and host of talented others still on their rookie contracts.

For the New Orleans Saints, the time is now.

If it were only that simple.

The NFL is a one year league. Injuries happen, bad luck happens and for whatever reason, the locker room (ever changing) doesn’t seem to have the karma it did a year ago.

Saints head coach Sean Payton is acutely aware of that last nugget.

At Dallas Cowboys training camp Friday, Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee was in front of the media’s cameras, defending himself from negative comments made by former teammate Dez Bryant.

I can’t, in my wildest dreams, imagine such a scenario at Saints camp.

The Saints were ultimately snake bit in the playoffs by a miracle touchdown pass by the Vikings.
But, during the year prior, New Orleans had luck in close games.

An example came during the Saints’ comeback victory over Washington, when the zebras threw a flag on Redskins’ quarterback Kirk Cousins for grounding. On this key play late in the game, the truth was the receiver broke inside and Cousins tossed it outside. It was a miscommunication. Again, the pendulum of luck swings both ways.

Many Saints last year put up ridiculously good numbers. Can they do that again?

Can Drew Brees approach his 72 percent completion percentage? It was an NFL record for a single season.

Can defensive end Cam Jordan duplicate numbers like 13 sacks, two forced fumbles and interception and a whopping 11 passes defensed?

Can Mark Ingram average 4.9 yards per carry? Can Alvin Kamara average 6.1. yards per carry?

When Kamara left a Thursday night game in Atlanta with a blow to the head, the Saints weren’t the same offense.

How do Payton and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael slice up the running back carries due to the four game suspension of Mark Ingram?

The questions are many.

But one point can’t be questioned.

Since the end of the 2014 season, the Saints have re-stocked their roster with quality young players while adding a mix of veterans at the right price.

The current edition has yet to any contribution from two rookies, first round pick Marcus Davenport and third rounder Tre’Quan Smith.

What does it all mean? All the Saints have to do now is stay relatively healthy and just do it.