In support of: Make-A-Wish
Tens of thousands of volunteers, donors and supporters advance the Make-A-Wish® vision to grant the wish of every child diagnosed with a critical illness. In the U.S. and its territories, a wish is granted every 34 minutes. A wish can be that spark that helps these children believe that anything is possible and gives them the strength to fight harder against their illnesses. This one belief guides us and inspires us to grant wishes that change the lives of the kids we serve.
Nominated by Dylan (@FF_DylanV)
“I chose Make A Wish because I have soft spot for kids. I think it’s just amazing to watch the videos of how these kids glow when they get to meet their hero, or get a dog, or a pool, or whatever they wish for. Because sometimes there is no cure, but at least they can experience complete joy for a moment and hopefully take their mind off of whatever they’ve been enduring.”
#Project32 Menu
2020 Recap
Division: NFC South
2020 Finish: 12-4 (1st in NFC South)
2020 Tendencies:
- Passing Ratio: 51% (28th)
- Neutral Game Script: 56% (21st)
- Offensive Scheme: West Coast
Personnel Groupings:
- 11 Personnel (1RB, 1TE, 3WR) = 54%
- 12 Personnel (1RB, 2TE, 2WR) = 16%
- 21 Personnel (2RB, 1TE, 2WR) = 14%
- 22 Personnel (2RB, 2TE, 1WR) = 6%
- 10 Personnel (1RB, 0TE, 4WR) – 3%
- 20 Personnel (2RB, 0TE, 3WR) = 3%
- 13 Personnel (1RB, 3TE, 1WR) = 2%
- 01 Personnel (0RB, 1TE, 4WR) = 1%
- 02 Personnel (0RB, 2TE, 3WR) = 1%
Coaching Room
Head Coach: Sean Payton
Sean Payton enters his 15th season with the New Orleans Saints with a 143-81 record that includes nine playoff wins, seven NFC South division titles, and a Lombardi Trophy. Over the last four years the Saints have compiled a 49-15 record but have been unable to make it to another Super Bowl. Sean Payton faces his biggest challenge as an NFL head coach, outside of the Bountygate Scandal, with the retirement of Drew Brees and the loss of Michael Thomas to start the season. The running back room is in great shape, but outside of that there are a lot of question marks about this offense heading into training camp. Who will be the starting quarterback? Will it be Jameis Winston who threw 30 interceptions in 2019 or the swiss arm knife that is Taysom Hill? Does Adam Trautman have his breakout season in 2021? Who is going to step up in the wide receiver room in the absence of one of the greatest receivers in the game? Regardless of who starts at quarterback I have no doubt they will be using a condensed playbook in comparison to what they did with Drew Brees. We know that Alvin Kamara will be heavily used in both the run and passing game but that is the only certainty in this offense heading into training camp. Do not be surprised to see Payton use both Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill throughout the season.
Overall Rank: 3rd/32
OL Room
LT Terron Armstead – PFF 84.9, Pass Blocking 85.1, Run Blocking 77.6
Terron Armstead has played his entire eight-year career in New Orleans and has started every game he’s played in outside of his rookie season. The issue with Armstead isn’t his ability, it’s his availability as he’s never played a full 16-game season in the NFL. He finished the 2020 season ranked seventh in Overall PFF Grade, fifth in pass-block grade, and 16th in run-block grade. His overall grade is the third best grade of his career and the Saints offense is hoping he can finally play a full season.
LG Andrus Peat – PFF 61.9, Pass Blocking 57.4, Run Blocking 61.9
Andrus Peat had his best season in the last three years in terms of his Overall PFF Grade but continues to grade outside the top 35 guards in the league in both pass-block and run-block grade. Peat, like Armstead, has failed to play a full-season in his six-year career. There are true question marks about Peat’s ability to be a top-level interior lineman in the NFL and the five-year contract extension he signed prior to the 2020 season.
C Erik McCoy – PFF 69.4, Pass Blocking 62.2, Run Blocking 69.9
Erik McCoy has been a steady player over his two years in the league starting every game and solidifying the center position for the Saints. His overall grade dropped from 78.0 in his rookie season to 69.4 in 2020 but he still graded as the 11th ranked center out of 36 players. He will look to improve in the passing game and build on his strengths in the run game in 2021.
RG Cesar Ruiz – PFF 53.8, Pass Blocking 42.3, Run Blocking 57.0
Cesar Ruiz was the 24th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Michigan. Several analysts felt that this was a reach and questioned the pick. Unfortunately, for the Saints, Ruiz did nothing in his rookie year to defend the pick. He played in a total of 15 games with nine starts and finished as the 64th ranked guard out of 80 players graded. He will need to show huge improvements in year two to justify the pick, especially in the passing game.
RT Ryan Ramczyk – PFF 79.4, Pass Blocking 74.9, Run Blocking 79.5
Ryan Ramczyk was the 32nd overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft out of the University of Wisconsin. In his four years in the NFL he has only missed one start and graded out as the 20th ranked tackle in Overall PFF Grade while also finishing 13th in Run Block Grade. He took a step back in 2020 after being the number one ranked center in Overall PFF Grade in 2019 at 90.9. He improved in each of his first three seasons in the NFL and the Saints are banking on him getting back to top form in 2021.
New Toys: N/A
Old News: Nick Easton (12/9)
Overall Rank: 5th/32
QB Room
Jameis Winston (QB27)
Jameis Winston is best known for being the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 30 interceptions and 30 touchdowns in the same season. That is not good for a guy that was the first overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. After his historic season in 2019, Winston was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and signed a one-year contract to be a backup quarterback in New Orleans. He only threw 11 passes in 2020, but with Drew Brees’ retirement, he re-signed with the Saints to compete for the opportunity to be the QB1 in 2021. It looked as though Jameis was the front-runner heading into camp, but with the news of Michael Thomas missing significant time, many believed that the Saints may move to an offense that featured more of Taysom Hill behind center. Sean Payton promised Hill the opportunity to compete for the QB1 spot and he lived up to that promise throughout the preseason, but in the end, Payton chose to go with Winston to start the 2021 season. This gives Winston new life and a chance to turn his career around with one of the best play-callers in the NFL. This should be fun!
Fantasy Outlook
Passing: 605 attempts, 66.0%, 4259 yards, 31 touchdowns
Rushing: 24 attempts, 97 yards, 1 touchdown
Total Fantasy Points: 282.1
New Toys: N/A
Old News: Drew Brees
Position Fantasy Rank: 8th/32
RB Room
Alvin Kamara (RB2)
Alvin Kamara is going to see a ton of touches in 2021 with Michael Thomas out and the team lacking playmakers at the skill positions. In 2020, he finished with 1,688 scrimmage yards with 21 total touchdowns on his way to his fourth Pro Bowl selection in four years. Kamara is the first running back to have over 80 receptions in four different seasons and I don’t see any reason why he doesn’t extend that streak to five years. It is a very real possibility that Kamara hits 2,000 scrimmage yards in 2021 and I’m here for it. On the contrary, there is also the belief that Kamara could regress in 2021 without Drew Brees. Yes, it is true that “Brees threw to his running backs over 28% of the time and Jameis only 16.4% of the time,” according to Michael Fabiano. To that I say, there is a stark contrast between the way Sean Payton and Bruce Arians call an offense and I can assure you Jameis Winston never had Alvin Kamara at running back in Tampa Bay.
Fantasy Outlook
Rushing: 214 attempts, 1069 yards, 11 touchdowns
Receiving: 121 targets, 94 receptions, 906 yards, 5 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 387.8
Tony Jones Jr (RB36)
Tony Jones Jr was an UDFA in 2020 after playing collegiately at Notre Dame, but has shown enough during the 2021 preseason to be the primary backup behind Alvin Kamara. Jones never ran for 1000 yards at Notre Dame, but he was also stuck in an offense with Ian Book, who was a dual-threat quarterback that had over 100 carries during Jones’ senior season. Jones does not flash elite speed, but he has great contact balance and quick feet to make things happen in the open field and can be an asset in the passing game. This backfield should be a lot of fun to watch in 2021.
Fantasy Outlook
Rushing: 133 attempts, 612 yards, 4 touchdowns
Receiving: 48 targets, 34 receptions, 196 yards, 1 touchdown
Total Fantasy Points: 144.7
New Toys: N/A
Old News: N/A
Position Fantasy Rank: 1st/32
WR Room
Marquez Callaway (WR54)
Marquez Callaway, in my opinion, has a great opportunity to outplay his current ADP in fantasy in 2021. With Michael Thomas set to miss significant time the door is open for Callaway to make waves throughout training camp and into the pre-season. In his first season in the NFL he caught 21 passes for 213 yards and now enters a full off-season without COVID-19 restrictions to build a rhythm in this offense.
Fantasy Outlook
Receiving: 91 targets, 59 receptions, 743 yards, 6 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 169.3
Tre’Quan Smith (WR65)
Tre’Quan Smith is believed to be the front-runner to take on the WR1 role during Michael Thomas’ absence. Not so fast my friend. Smith has had three seasons in Sean Payton’s offense to prove he can fill that role and I just didn’t see enough to give me the confidence he can be that guy. He’s a nice complimentary piece and will no doubt see some volume in 2021 simply based on the lack of weapons in this offense. It will be interesting to see how the QB room plays out because it will have a major impact on the wide receiver room.
Fantasy Outlook
Receiving: 79 targets, 51 receptions, 700 yards, 5 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 151.1
Michael Thomas (WR74)
Michael Thomas was the first wide receiver off the board in most drafts leading up to the 2020 season. Now he is out for the start of the 2021 season due to his decision to wait until June to have ankle and shoulder surgery. He missed nine games in 2020 after initially injuring the ankle in Week 1. The timetable for his return is unknown so I’m being conservative with the expectation of a mid-season return. He finished with only 40 catches for 438 yards and zero touchdowns during the regular season. There is no doubt that MT is one of the best wide receivers in the game when he is healthy, but we may have seen the best of Michael Thomas and that’s disappointing to say the least. He finished the 2019 season with 149 receptions for 1725 yards and nine touchdowns. We know what he’s capable of when he’s healthy. The question now is, when will that be?
Fantasy Outlook
Receiving: 73 targets, 51 receptions, 599 yards, 5 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 140.8
New Toys: N/A
Old News: Bennie Fowler (6/0), Emmanuel Sanders (14/6)
Position Fantasy Rank: 29th/32
TE Room
Juwan Johnson (TE25)
Juwan Johnson has wrestled away the TE1 spot from teammate Adam Trautman and should take on the Jared Cook role in this offense. During his rookie season in 2020, Johnson only saw 10 targets that resulted in just 4 receptions for 39 yards. Johnson will be used as a pass-catching tight end in this offense and with Michael Thomas out for at least the first six weeks and Adam Trautman (ankle) and Nick Vannett (knee) nursing injuries, he could provide early returns in deeper leagues and grow into an even bigger role as the season progresses. Not bad for a guy that was primarily used as a blocking wide receiver before making the full-time transition to tight end.
Fantasy Outlook
Receiving: 60 targets, 39 receptions, 393 yards, 4 touchdowns
Total Fantasy Points: 102.6
New Toys: Nick Vannett
Old News: Jared Cook (15/4), Josh Hill (14/7)
Position Fantasy Rank: 22nd/32
2021 Full Player Projections
Make Your Own Projections With Our Template!
Strength of Schedule (SOS): #27 (.471 120-135-1)
2021 Predicted Finish: 8-9 (2nd NFC South)
Note: all projections are PPR scoring
