Saints offensive evolution

The offense cannot be what it was a year ago.

It cannot be what it was a year before that.

The Saints must find a way to evolve, to become something better, greater than they were. The good news is the moves they've made on that side of the ball make it look like the team is building toward something that should have a steady identity and perhaps even once again become potent.

There shouldn’t be weak spots. The running back room might be the strongest in the building — provided Alvin Kamara is available to play — and there is now solid depth at tight end and wide receiver. If Michael Thomas is healthy this year, the Saints weapons have the potential to be great, making life much easier for quarterback Derek Carr.

READ MORE: How Foster Moreau helps the Saints offense become more versatile, unpredictable

Now, injuries play a part in that number, but the Saints have always looked like a hockey team, with new shifts coming in after each play. That ideal is core to the team’s offensive identity. New Orleans has always been at its best when it can attack in multiple ways. That variety should now be available to the Saints after they struggled to find the right personnel for the past couple of years.

Look at this year’s weaponry:

Wide receivers: Chris Olave, Michael Thomas, Rashid Shaheed, Bryan Edwards, Tre’Quan Smith, A.T. Perry

Tight ends: Juwan Johnson, Foster Moreau, Taysom Hill

Running backs: Alvin Kamara, Jamaal Williams, Kendre Miller

Pick any five, and they’ll be on the field together at one point this season. The combinations are exciting to think about, especially with Carr, who is effective in both the timing-based elements of this offense that carried it from 2017-2020 and in the more vertical elements prevalent earlier in Drew Brees’ career. Carr can air it out with Olave and Shaheed, dump it off to any of his running backs and let them go to work, or use the various weapons at tight end to target mismatches.

This offense really can get the best of both worlds.

Now, Carr will never be as good as Brees was at operating the offense during the later part of his career — when New Orleans had one of the most efficient passing offenses in NFL history. But Carr did complete 81% of his passes that traveled nine or fewer yards through the air last season. So, he should manage that area of the offense better than the guys who lined up under the center for New Orleans the past few years.

There is a legitimate argument to be made the Saints are better positioned to attack all areas of the field this year than they have been in several seasons. That doesn’t mean the results will definitely be better, or that one quarterback is better than another. There also will be a trust factor with the coaching staff that will dictate where throws go. But Carr enters this season with the best combination of weapons the team has had in recent years.

The differences in how the offense should and could look might be best illustrated by recent throw charts.

DREW BREES 2020

(Key: Green = completed pass; White = incomplete pass; Blue = touchdown; Red = interception)

Brees got the job done in 2020, painting the field 15 yards and in, especially over the middle. He didn’t throw much near the left sideline, but he got enough done over there to keep defenses honest. But anything beyond that distance was a little sketchy, and the deep passing game was basically nonexistent that season.

JAMEIS WINSTON 2021

The Saints took a completely different approach with Jameis Winston in 2021. The quarterback attacked mostly outside the numbers and downfield, mostly circumventing anything over the middle. New Orleans never quite let Winston loose, so that was part of the issue, and he admitted he needed to do a better job of attacking the short area of the field. Winston put in extensive work improving that area of his game last offseason, but we never got to judge the progress after his early-season injury.

Still, there is no question the New Orleans offense took a completely different approach to start that season, and elements of the offense that used to be essential to success disappeared.

DEREK CARR 2022

In his final season with the Raiders, Carr dotted everything 20 yards and in while sprinkling in some deep shots that continued to stretch the field. While it’s impossible to compare because the volume was drastically different, if Carr gets used similarly here, it’d be hard to argue the team is sacrificing a ton downfield by switching from Winston to Carr.

For the first time since 2016, New Orleans should have its full slate of plays available to them. They can use their tight-end personnel to set up shots downfield like they used to do with Brandin Cooks, while also deploying Michael Thomas on a heavy dose of slants and dumping off to the running backs in the flats.

And Carr's strengths seem to be a more natural fit for coordinator Pete Carmichael's offense — at least more so than any of the other quarterbacks who started games for New Orleans after Brees left.

Theoretically, that should allow for better comfort, which should help the offense find more sustained success. But it’s not just because of the quarterback and his fit. It’s also because the team now has the right personnel to do everything it needs to succeed.