What are your bold predictions for the 2023 NFL season? Kickoff is still months away, but that’s not stopping many fans and analysts in the media from speculating about what may happen when teams hit the field in September.
The latest round of season predictions and hot takes comes from Conor Orr at Sports Illustrated, who laid out 100 predictions for 2023. But the only mention for the New Orleans Saints centers on wide receiver Michael Thomas, who Orr expects to bounce back in a big way with Derek Carr at quarterback:
The Saints receiver, who once caught 149 passes in a season and logged more than 1,700 receiving yards, was never the same following that 2019 season. But that does not mean he can’t be great again. Derek Carr will bring out the best in this workhorse receiver, whom the Saints could have easily gotten rid of this offseason.
Thomas played a part in recruiting Carr this offseason, and he’s hoping to reestablish himself as one of the league’s best receivers now that the Saints have gotten a quarterback he believes in. He started the 2022 campaign strong with Jameis Winston under center, ranking among the NFL’s receiving leaders with 16 receptions and 3 touchdown grabs in the first three games, only to go down with a season-ending foot injury.
That’s after Thomas was limited in 2020 with an ankle injury that prevented him from playing at all in 2021. It’s taken a long, frustrating path for him to get back to where he was in 2019 but Saints general manager Mickey Loomis is pleased with his progress and says Thomas will be ready to go when the team gathers for training camp in late July. If Thomas and Carr can be as effective a pairing as Carr was with Davante Adams last season — the Raiders’ duo combined for 100 receptions, 1,516 yards, and a league-leading 14 touchdown completions — these years of disappointment will finally and firmly put in rearview.
