When football fans look back at the 2016 season for the New Orleans Saints, they will see another 7-9 season. The Saints have finished 7-9 in three seasons in a row and four of their last five. For anyone paying close attention to the Saints this season, however, 2016 had much less in common with recent history than their record would indicate.

New Orleans Saints 2016 Season Recap

As a team, the offense improved from second in the league to first. Quarterback Drew Brees led the passing attack with his fifth 5,000-yard season, finishing with 5,208 yards through the air. The offensive line did an outstanding job keeping Brees upright throughout the year. Left tackle Terron Armstead and right tackle Zach Strief solidified the edges while center Max Unger held down the middle. Right guard Jahri Evans, released by the Saints at the end of the 2015 season, came back to have a great year and help solidify an already above average line.

The skill positions for the Saints were a fun watch in 2016. Aside from the unconscionable season from Brees, especially at his age, the offense featured its first 1,000 yard rusher (Mark Ingram – 1,043 yards) since Deuce McAllister in 2006. Ingram continues to quickly cement his place in Saints’ history as he passed local legends Chuck Muncie, Rueben Mayes, Pierre Thomas and Dalton Hilliard and currently sits third on the Saints’ all-time rushing list.

The receivers had similar breakout years. Deep threat Brandin Cooks led the team with 1,173 yards and a 15.0 yards-per-catch average. To add to that, rookie phenom Michael Thomas had the greatest rookie season in the history of the franchise, racking up a team-leading 92 catches for 1,137 yards and nine touchdowns (also led the team). Second-year receiver Willie Snead rounded out the trio with nearly 900 yards. Tight End Coby Fleener did finish with 631 yards of his own, but, to be fair, his hands were hot and cold this season.

Despite Injury Problems, An Improved Defense as Well

The defense also made improvements as that unit moved from a rank of 31 in 2015 to 27 in 2016. The strides were in large part to the play of the defensive line. Cameron Jordan continued to get after the quarterback this season and cement his leadership role on the unit. Nick Fairley and Louisville product Sheldon Rankins performed well this year and continued to get better as the season progressed. The linebacker group sorely missed a true middle linebacker and Craig Robertson, despite the head-turning 115-tackle performance in 2016, admittedly was playing out of position.

The secondary was the hardest hit unit in 2016. This group was decimated by injury this year. The Saints injured reserve list is littered with cornerbacks and safeties. To make matters worse, Kenny Vaccaro finished the season serving a four game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy (PED). Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen deserves credit for holding this together in the secondary and instilling the “next man up” mentality needed to get through the season.

Improvements Too Late for Special Teams

Special teams had it’s own share of issues this season. Early in the season, the New York Giants blocked a kick and returned it for a touchdown in a 16-13 loss. On maybe the most memorable play of the season, the Saints lost to the Broncos (25-23) on a blocked extra point that was returned for two points. The following week against the Carolina Panthers, another blocked kick played a role in the team’s defeat.

Things got bad enough that the Saints brought in an additional special teams coach in Kevin O’Dea following the Panthers game. The result of this coaching was improved lift on the attempts by rookie place kicker Wil Lutz and an elimination of the problem of the low line-drive kicks. While the problem was reversible, the three losses that directly resulted from the problem were not.

The kick return and punt return games were sub par this season. This will be an area that the Saints will address this off-season. First order of business, however, is addressing the head coaching position and either confirming that Sean Payton will be returning or moving on from the franchise’s all-time win leader.

Again, while the record was certainly not what Saints fans wanted to see this year, especially after so many 7-9 seasons in recent history, there are reasons to be optimistic about the immediate future. The Saints got some great play from their core this year, have the 11th pick in the NFL Draft this off-season and are well positioned in regards to the cap. It should be a very busy off-season for Mickey Loomis and the Saints front office.

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