METAIRIE, La. — Was it just me or did this New Orleans Saints offseason go by at warp speed?
It feels like 15 minutes ago the Saints wrapped up their 2021 season crushing the Atlanta Falcons and watching their playoff dreams get ruined by the complete collapse of the Los Angeles Rams against the San Francisco 49ers.
Then Sean Payton resigned, the Saints chased after Deshaun Watson and failed to get him (thank the heavens), acted like they wanted Jameis Winston all along, traded with the Philadelphia Eagles for an extra first round pick, traded up in the draft to select Ohio State receiver Chris Olave, and then in May signed Tyrann Mathieu and Jarvis Landry.
No complaints out of me over the Saints offseason. It was strange because of the Deshaun Watson chase and the fact their biggest offseason signings were in May, but if you told me the day Sean Payton resigned as Saints coach and took his sabbatical before he goes to coach the Dallas Cowboys this was where the Saints would end up, I'd have signed the papers no questions asked.
THE SAINTS DID 2 MOVES I BEGGED THEM TO DO!! The Saints have the Honey Badger AND Jarvis Landry! Like for real. Are you kidding me? So what should we be looking for in training camp to really ramp up our already ridiculous excitement over the 2022 Saints?
Saints Rebuilt Receivers Rocking
The forever problem of figuring out what we see in training camp is if the Saints defense looks amazing does it mean the Saints offense it is dominating is terrible? For example, last year corner Ken Crawley by all accounts had a fantastic training camp, day after day he looked amazing. That should have been a GIGANTIC red flag the Saints receivers without an injured Michael Thomas and departed Emmanuel Sanders were struggling and would be a problem. If Ken Crawley is dominating in practice consistently, your receivers have questions. The then Saints finished 32nd in passing offense in 2021.
Looking back Ken Crawley performing great was sure sign of trouble. This summer we don't need to see the Saints rebuilt receivers dominating every day, because that might mean bad things for the defense, but we definitely want glowing reports consistently saying how Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry are having great practices. Michael Thomas is already running around and cutting on his injured ankle! All I have to do is see a video on Twitter of Thomas catching one pass in practice and I'll declare him back and ready to dominate.
Sign things are going well: Seeing media reports the Saints receiving group is so deep they might trade somebody because they have so many good ones and can't keep them all. From the out house to the penthouse y'all!
Can the Middle of the Offensive Line Hold Steady?
The national media seems focused on the Saints losing Terron Armstead and if 2022 first round pick Trevor Penning can fill his shoes. Armstead was fantastic, but he also missed eight games last year, so we've seen what left tackle looks like without him. I'm not worried about Penning and James Hurst at left tackle and a hopefully healthy Ryan Ramczyk at right tackle, I'm worried about guard. Cesar Ruiz struggled in 2021, and that's being as polite as possible. Andrus Peat is up and down and has missed an average of four games a year in his career.
Guard is the shakiest position group on the team besides maybe tight end. Can new offensive line coach Doug Marrone fix things? If things go south in 2022 for the Saints, the main reason will be offensive line failure, which would be incredibly frustrating considering all the money and draft picks they've invested.
Let's be honest 99% of us have no idea what good offensive line play looks like, but we know what bad does.
/Quarterback sack
/Running back stuffed for no gain
Sign things are going well: Cesar Ruiz is getting nearly all reps with the first team so we can believe all the coming stories of 'Cesar Ruiz is READY TO BREAK OUT!”
Who's Number 2?
Alvin Kamara got in some very legal hot water during the Pro Bowl in Las Vegas and could be facing a suspension of as many as 6 games in 2022. That combined with the fact Kamara is at his best when Saints have a strong #2 running back makes finding a runner to pair with Kamara a critical question this summer. The Saints brought Mark Ingram home last year and he became the Saints all-time leading rusher and when he was healthy looked like he still had gas left in his tank. The trouble is Ingram is 32 years old and hasn't cracked 600 yards rushing since 2019. Nothing would bring me more joy than Mark Ingram having one last great season in a Saints uniform but that feels like delusional optimism. The Saints gave free agent first-year running back Abram Smith of Baylor significant guaranteed money for an undrafted rookie so they obviously like his potential.
Sign things are going well: Mark Ingram looks good, gets through camp healthy, and is ready to be the Saints feature back if Kamara gets suspended to start the season or Abram Smith tears things up in the fourth quarter of a preseason game so we can dream he's the next Pierre Thomas.
Besides the normal wish for no major training camp injuries, these are the key things I'm watching. I'd say I'm glad Saints football is finally back but it sort of feels like it never actually left.
RELATED: Saints star has finger removed