The New Orleans Saints finished the 2022 season sitting at a disappointing 7-10 record. While a lot of finger-pointing is going toward Dennis Allen and Pete Carmichael in their first year of new roles, who do deserve a lot of criticism, a lot of players took a step back this year that should not be dismissed as well. On the flip side, some players surprised fans in a good way, outperforming expectations.
Here’s a report card for the 2022 Saints season, grading each position group on the team.
Quarterback: C-
Andy Dalton was very much just serviceable this season. There were definitely games where he lost the game, there were others where he was on fire. A lot of the times though, he was just ok and moved the ball enough to do the job. Taysom Hill’s snaps at quarterback also needed to happen more often, a full two-quarterback system could have worked well this year.
Running Back: C+
A step up from last year for Alvin Kamara, outside of scoring just four touchdowns, but still not back to the running back that fans saw for a lot of his season. It does have a lot to do with a disappointing offensive line, though.
Behind Kamara was a revolving door of replaceable performances. Mark Ingram II, David Johnson, Eno Benjamin, and a couple of other backups didn’t make much of a splash.
Wide Receivers: C+
Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed led the room well, despite being rookies, but they were all that they had. Olave looks like primed to be the team’s top target for a while, he was the only receiver to have over 500 yards. Shaheed will be a fun piece. Michael Thomas could be the big bodied target, if he can stay healthy. Jarvis Landry also missed half of the season, not being as big of a part as they had hoped. They just need to find more, reliable bodies for the room.
Tight Ends: B
Given the expectations of the group, I think this was the most over-performing room on the offense. Juwan Johnson looks like an extremely promising weapon in the passing game. Adam Trautman grew well as a receiver, despite not getting many targets, and is still a solid blocker.
Offensive Line: D-
The Saints gave up 38 sacks, their most since 2005, and Alvin Kamara had a career-worst average of yards gained before contact with the defense. Both pass and run protection took a dive this season. A lot of struggles on offense came from the under-performing line.
Defensive Line: C+
Outside of Cameron Jordan and David Onyemata, it’s hard to point to another player on the defensive line that really stood out. Marcus Davenport had almost no production. They were were bottom ten in rush defense, which is uncommonly poor for the Saints.
Linebackers: A+
Demario Davis proved himself to be as dominant as ever, despite a slow start. Kaden Elliss dominated the second half of the season. Those two are a big reason that the Saints were one of the best team in the league for sacks, combining for almost as many as the Chicago Bears had as a team. Pete Werner was dealing with an injury, but still looked to be moving in the right direction.
Cornerbacks: C-
Alontae Taylor was promising, but still looked to be working out some rookie issues. Paulson Adebo had a very rough sophomore season, looking almost unplayable at times. They never really got the nickel position figured out, after trading away Chauncey Gardner-Johnson in the offseason. Marshon Lattimore is still his old self, but was hurt for over half the season.
Safety: B-
Tyrann Mathieu turned around his slow start and finished with a very solid season, being ranked as a top-five safety by Pro Football Focus. Marcus Maye looked good when he played, but missed a lot of time to injury. The replacement cast when Maye was down looked just that, replacement level.
Special Teams: C-
Wil Lutz had his worst career year, only making just over 74% of his kicks. Blake Gillikin, though, followed up a good rookie season with a good sophomore campaign. He improved on downing punts inside the 20-yard line, which is one of the more crucial elements of a punters game.
