Yikes. Dennis Allen didn’t inspire a ton of confidence in his first season as New Orleans Saints head coach, which looked worse given his discouraging three-year run with the Raiders back in the day. The Saints struggled to finish with a 7-10 record, and Allen’s performance prompted the 33rd Team’s Ross Tucker to rank him all the way down at No. 27 out of the league’s 32 head coaches.
“I’m not sure Dennis Allen is a bad coach, but he hasn’t done anything yet to prove he’s a good one,” Tucker wrote. “Perhaps this is the year since his New Orleans Saints are the clear favorite in a wide-open NFC South.”
It’s tough to argue with that. The Saints took pains to upgrade their disappointing offense with on-paper improvements at quarterback (Derek Carr over Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston), running back (Jamaal Williams over Mark Ingram II and David Johnson), tight end (Foster Moreau over Adam Trautman), and wide receiver (bringing in Bryan Edwards, James Washington, and A.T. Perry to push Tre’Quan Smith aside), though the offensive line and coordinator remain unchanged.
If the line can get — and stay — healthy and Pete Carmichael Jr. is able to better tool his play-calling to the weapons available to him, maybe Allen’s team rebounds to take advantage of what looks like a very winnable schedule. If they don’t make the most of this opportunity, there’s no excuse Allen and his supporters can lean on.
