The New Orleans Saints offense is paper-thin, and that’s never been more clear than in Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Despite 13 catches and 152 receiving yards from all-star wide receiver Michael Thomas, they were outplayed and outgunned, which was reflected in the final score of 26-9. The final play of the game was almost a metaphor, with Thomas reeling in a catch and fighting his way to the goal-line, only to be touched down a short away from a score.
Outside of Thomas, every other wide receiver on the team combined for one catch on five targets. Ted Ginn Jr. dropped all three passes sent his way, and Tre’Quan Smith struggled to adjust to off-target looks in his first game back from injury. Backups Krishawn Hogan and Deonte Harris were afterthoughts at best.
New Orleans has top-end talent in the receiving corps (just look at what Thomas can do, and tight end Jared Cook and running back Alvin Kamara are getting back up to speed after missing time with their own injuries). What they don’t have is much they can count on behind their star players. For decades the belief has been that Drew Brees can score touchdowns with anybody; Sunday’s loss proves that theory is outdated. Great as he has been, Brees can’t be expected to put the world on his shoulders anymore.
Fortunately, the Saints will have opportunities to improve in the offseason. The latest 2020 mock draft comes from Trevor Sikkema of The Draft Network, who sees the Saints’ need for more juice on offense and addressed it with one of the most versatile playmakers in college football: Colorado Buffaloes do-it-all athlete Laviska Shenault Jr. Here’s what Sikkema wrote to justify the selection:
It feels like wide receiver Michael Thomas is about to break every NFL record for the position. That’s certainly due to how talented Thomas is, but it also has to do with the fact that the Saints don’t have much outside of Thomas in the passing game.
Shenault joining forces with the creative mind of Sean Payton and a group that already consists of Thomas and Alvin Kamara would be incredible to watch.
Shenault lives up to that billing. He’s racked up 2,038 yards from scrimmage and scored 17 combined touchdowns (9 as a receiver, 7 as a runner) in his career with the Buffaloes, though he’s only been a big part of their offense the last two years. While his junior year numbers aren’t as impressive in volume as what he accomplished as a sophomore, his efficiency has increased (jumping up from 11.8 yards per catch to 13.8, and 6.8 yards per carry to 7.9 this season) as Colorado has learned to spread the ball around more evenly. That’s a combined 11.4 yards per touch from 2018 to 2019, or 103.6 yards from scrimmage per game in the same span.
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Shenault’s versatility would play well off of what the Saints have done with Kamara and Taysom Hill. All three players are experienced at moving all over the field, playing from different alignments and exploiting athletic mismatches with the defense. Saints coach Sean Payton loves using different personnel packages to put opposing defenses in a bind, and it’s easy to see Shenault’s appeal in New Orleans’ system. If the junior prospect does declare early for the 2020 draft, he’d definitely be worth keeping on the Saints’ radar.