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The New Orleans Saints may not be generating much buzz as a legitimate playoff contender after a disappointing 7-10 season in 2022, but a big change at quarterback with Derek Carr, two alpha receivers in Michael Thomas and Chris Olave, and a soft early schedule for a promising defensive unit could have the Saints marching back into the postseason once again in 2023.
Let's take a look at our crystal ball and make 4 bold predictions for the New Orleans Saints ahead of the 2023 NFL season.
1. Michael Thomas wins Comeback Player of the Year
To call the last three seasons frustrating for Michael Thomas would be a massive understatement. After a various assortment of injuries that cost him all of the 2021 season and all but three games last year, it's been a while since we've seen Thomas dominate on the gridiron. That ends now.
Thomas manages to stay healthy for nearly the entire regular season, and quickly becomes Derek Carr's favorite target on slants over the middle of the field. Carr locks on to Thomas on third downs, just like he did with Darren Waller and then Davonte Adams, peppering him with a target load similar to the ones he had in his prime with Drew Brees.
While Thomas doesn't lead the league in receptions and yards like he did in 2019, he does catch over 70 passes for over 1,000 yards and reestablishes himself as one of the best receivers in the league, winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award at age 30 for the surprising Saints.
2. The Saints dominate early, win 5 of their first 6 games
The soft schedule early on for the Saints (TEN, @CAR, @GB, TB, NE, HOU) lets Derek Carr get acclimated with Michael Thomas and Chris Olave, who complement each other perfectly with Olave threatening defenses on the boundary and Thomas doing the dirty work over the middle. Carr gets the Saints into the red zone regularly, where some of his deficiencies are melted away by the presence of Jamaal Williams and Taysom Hill, who pound the ball into the endzone behind an improved offensive line.
With the Saints up early and often, the New Orleans pass rush gets to pin its ears back and get after an early schedule that features two rookies (Bryce Young, CJ Stroud), two relatively inexperienced quarterbacks (Jordan Love, Mac Jones) and two of the lesser regarded starters in the league in Ryan Tannehill and Baker Mayfield.
The soft stretch of quarterbacks puts the Saints into the NFC South lead right from the start, and they never look back.
3. The Saints rank top-5 defensively on the season
On the heels of an easy schedule and fewer health catastrophes, the Saints return to form as a dominant defense, racking up sacks and turnovers at a rate more similar to how they've performed over the last five years rather than the 2022 season.
The weaker divisional foes and friendly schedule elsewhere drives New Orleans to rank in the top-5 of points allowed on the year, as a running game featuring Williams (and eventually) Alvin Kamara has enough juice to keep New Orleans ahead in games and the defense regularly off the field.
4. New Orleans cruises to a NFC South title
You would normally call it a divisional race, but it's more like a divisional blowout for the Saints. New Orleans cruises to an easy NFC South title, clinching in Week 14 to return to the playoffs after a brief two-year absence.
The postseason appearance keeps head coach Dennis Allen off the hot seat, and the development of young weapons like Juwan Johnson and Chris Olave sets the Saints up for success in the future in an incredibly productive bounceback 2023 season.
