Prior to this month's draft, 1SBD's Mark Hogan takes an in-depth look into each team's current projected starters and identifies strengths and lingering team needs after the first waves of free agency.
Player stats collected from Pro Football Reference. Base salary information per Over The Cap.
TAKEAWAYS
PROS
- With New Orleans holding just a second round pick in the first two days of the draft, the team wisely went after its biggest needs in free agency; signing tight end Jared Cook, center Nick Easton and defensive end Malcom Brown. The team is remarkably well-rounded, with defensive end Alex Okafor the most notable free agency loss.
CONS
- It's hard to find holes in this roster but the most glaring weakness is wide receiver. Ted Ginn Jr is a one trick pony that's too prone to dropping the ball (he hasn't brought in 45.7% of his career targets, per Pro Football Reference). Last year's third round pick, Tre'Quan Smith, saw just over a third of the targets Michael Thomas did in his rookie year. It's certainly a direction the team could address.
- The Saints could legitimately be Super Bowl champions if not for the missed penalty on Nickell Robey-Coleman in the NFC Championship game. But another - oft over-looked - point about the game was the offensive line injuries in the build-up. Guard Andrus Peat, tackle Ryan Ramczyk and the since-retired center Max Unger were all limited-in-practice the week of the game. Rarely do O-Lines hold up that long into the season, but the Saints can afford to add depth to ensure they have options for protecting Drew Brees.
Projected Starters
NOTE:
NAME, Draft Round.Overall Pick (TEAM, year). Starts/Games Played. Age. Cap Hit 2019
QB has an additional 'total yards, number of attempts (yards per attempt)' figure.
RB, WR and TE have an additional ‘total yards / number of touches (yards per touch)’ statistic
Age as of Sunday September 8, 2019 (Week 1)
QUARTERBACK
DREW BREES, 2.32 (LAC, 2001). 263/264. 74,437 yards/ 9,783 attempts. (7.6 y/a). 40-years-old. $22,700,000
RUNNING BACK
ALVIN KAMARA, 3.67 (NO, 2017). 16/31. 3,146 yards/ 476 touches (6.6). 24-years-old. $1,050,693
WIDE RECEIVER
MICHAEL THOMAS, 2.47 (NO, 2016). 42/47. 3,787 yards/ 321 touches (11.8). 26-years-old. $1,628,765
TRE'QUAN SMITH, 3.91 (NO, 2018). 7/15. 427 yards/ 28 touches (15.3). 23-years-old. $820,756
TED GINN, 1.09 (MIA, 2007). 74/171. 5,749 yards/ 444 touches (12.9). 34-years-old. $3,500,000
Average: 49th overall pick. 123 starts/ 233 games played (52.8%). 9,963 yards/ 793 touches (12.6). 27.7-years-old. Total cap hit: $5.9M
TIGHT END
JARED COOK, 3.89 (TEN, 2009). 77/149. 5,464 yards/ 426 touches (12.8). 32-years-old. $4,000,000
OFFENSIVE LINE
TERRON ARMSTEAD, 3.75 (NO, 2013). 56/60. 28-years-old. $15,812,500
ANDRUS PEAT, 1.13 (NO, 2015). 50/55. 25-years-old. $9,625,000
NICK EASTON, undrafted (MIN, 2016). 17/23. 27-years-old. $2,500,000
LARRY WARFORD, 3.65 (DET, 2013). 86/86. 28-years-old. $4,950,000
RYAN RAMCZYK, 1.32 (NO, 2017). 31/31. 25-years-old. $2,425,039
Average: 88nd overall pick. 240 starts/ 255 games played (94.1%). 26.6-years-old. Total cap hit: $34.7M
DEFENSIVE LINE
CAMERON JORDAN, 1.24 (NO, 2011). 127/128. 30-years-old. $7,194,000
SHELDON RANKINS, 1.12 (NO, 2016). 32/41. 25-years-old. $4,073,251
MALCOM BROWN, 1.32 (NE, 2015). 51/60. 25-years-old. $2,500,000
MARCUS DAVENPORT, 1.14 (NO, 2018). 0/13. 23-years-old. $3,123,159
Average: 21st overall pick. 210 starts/ 242 games played (86.8%). 24.3-years-old. Total cap hit: $16.9M
LINEBACKERS
DEMARIO DAVIS, 3.77 (NYJ, 2012). 98/112. 30-years-old. $8,500,000
ALEX ANZALONE, 376. (NO, 2017). 11/20. 24-years-old. $933,148
A.J. KLEIN, 5.148 (CAR, 2013). 50/88. 28-years-old. $6,000,000
Average: 100th overall pick. 159 starts/ 220 games played (72.3%). 27.3-years-old. Total cap hit: $15.4M
CORNERBACK
MARSHON LATTIMORE, 1.11 (NO, 2017). 29/29. 23-years-old. $4,189,019
ELI APPLE, 1.10 (NYG, 2016). 33/40. 24-years-old. $2,516,226
Average: 11th overall pick. 62 starts/ 69 games played (89.9%). 23.5-years-old. Total cap hit: $6.7M
SAFETY
VONN BELL, 2.61 (NO, 2016). 32/48. 24-years-old. $1,263,913
MARCUS WILLIAMS, 2.42 (NO, 2017). 31/31. 22-years-old. $1,701,930
Average: 52nd overall pick. 63 starts/ 79 games played (79.7%). 23-years-old. Total cap hit: $3.0M
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