The New Orleans Saints finished the 2011 season with a 13-3 record and were expected by many to perhaps make it to the Super Bowl once again, as they had won it back in 2009. The Saints finished the year as the number three seed behind the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers, and went on to face the Detroit Lions in the wild card playoffs. The Saints put on a show with their offense that game, defeating the Lions by the score of 45-28. The team then moved on to face San Francisco, and were winning for much of the game until the 49ers were able to get a touchdown at the end of the game to win by the score of 36-32.
The devastating loss for the New Orleans Saints was made even worse in the offseason when it was found that the defensive side of the team had engaged in a bounty system over the past few years, where players would get paid for intentionally trying to injure key offensive players on the other team. Commissioner Roger Goodell passed swift judgment on everyone who was involved with the system, suspending head coach Sean Payton for an entire season along with Jonathan Vilma, along with suspensions for other assistant coaches, players, and personnel involved with it. With that said, New Orleans Saints tickets are still going to be a hot commodity as the team still has its offense in tact from last year. What follows are some of the top players to watch in the upcoming 2012 season for the New Orleans Saints.
Drew Brees
Drew Brees had a fantastic season for the New Orleans Saints in 2011 and will look to do so again in 2012. Brees passed for an NFL record 5,476 yards to go along with a 71.2% completion percentage and 46 touchdowns in 2011. Brees was the catalyst for the team’s offense last year, but it will certainly be interesting to see how he performs in 2012 without head coach Sean Peyton on the sidelines calling out plays. Will he continue to be an effective passer or will he regress without Peyton around? Not much is known of how he will perform, but Brees is certainly expected to have a lot of confidence coming into the new season after what he did last year.
Jimmy Graham
Coming out of the third round of the NFL Draft in 2010, Graham had a breakout year for the New Orleans Saints in 2011, with 99 receptions totaling 1,310 yards to go with 11 touchdowns as well. Jimmy was named to the second team All-NFL by the Associated Press that year along with making his first ever Pro Bowl. For the Saints to continue their success into 2012 they will need Graham to continue improving as a tight end and give Brees a legitimate target downfield. Expect him to be one of the main options that Brees will throw to in 2012, along with other players such as Darren Sproles, Marques Colston, and Lance Moore.
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