The New Orleans Saints special teams squad had a rough go of it in 2022. Place kicker Wil Lutz had his worst year as a pro by connecting on just 74.1% of his field goal tries, lowest for a team in the NFL, and it took a while for Rashid Shaheed to emerge as their best option returning punts and kickoffs. The Saints struggled to cover their own kicks, too, with injuries sidelining some of their best gunners at different points throughout the year.
It all compounded for New Orleans to rank at No. 20 in Rick Gosselin’s 2022 NFL special teams rankings. Gosselin has been scoring every team’s performance in the game’s third phase for years and he’s seen as the foremost authority on special teams play around the league. So it’s concerning to see the Saints fall within the bottom-third of the league.
