New Orleans Saints: Who will step up alongside Michael Thomas?
After trading Brandin Cooks, the New Orleans Saints have relied heavily on Michael Thomas, but who will step up next and help the offense?
The New Orleans Saints have had one of the best offenses in football for years. Some may argue, but give credit where credit is due. The team consistently finished 7-9 despite having a future Hall-of-Famer at quarterback, a decent running game and a handful of wide receivers. It might say more about their defensive woes.
Regardless, the Saints have a formula a lot of teams try to duplicate. One offensive area the team severely lacks is wide receiver. That’s not to say Michael Thomas is a bum, because he isn’t. He is easily Drew Brees’ favorite target, but doesn’t have someone else to share the brunt of the work with.
Of all the wide receivers, he is the most talented and the youngest. He’s proved he’s invaluable after the team traded away Brandin Cooks. However, the team has struggled at that position because they haven’t had a solid playmaker. As good as Thomas is, he can’t carry all the weight.
Looking at the other players on the roster, the team only lost Willie Snead. After a suspension, Snead couldn’t make his way back to form and it cost him. As for the other remaining players, the team has Ted Ginn Jr., Brandon Coleman and now Cameron Meredith.
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With Snead gone, it’s all about who is going to step up. Looking at Ginn, he’s a good player who has flashes, but has yet to fully connect with Brees. Next is Coleman, who is an interesting prospect for multiple reasons and that’s because he’s been with the team for four years. Unfortunately, he failed to produce as the Saints hoped and fell on the depth chart.
After the loss of Snead, Coleman stepped up but still finished the season with less than 500 yards and three touchdowns. His connection with Brees is where he shines but he must get more opportunities. He could have a breakout season if he follows a similar path to Thomas’.
Lastly is Meredith. Meredith is a huge question mark right now as we can only look at his time on the Bears. He had a great sophomore season before getting injured last year. The upside is Meredith was good on a bad team, so imagine what he could be like on Saints.
Of all the players, I see Meredith sharing a Cooks-type dynamic with Thomas. With the draft now behind us though, there’s a new name to add to the equation. In the third round, the Saints drafted Tre’Quan Smith out of Central Florida.
Smith and Thomas share a similar body type, but differ in terms of skill sets. Thomas is known for making those tough catches and great route running, while Smith isn’t a great route runner but possesses potential elite deep threat ability.
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Of all the players to follow in Thomas’ footsteps though, Meredith is the most likely. He might have just joined the team, but has shown flashes and is still young. Don’t get me wrong, the others have a chance, but Meredith is on the cusp of breaking out.