For the first time in a long time, the New Orleans Saints will not have Drew Brees under center in 2021. The future Hall of Famer officially called it a career, leaving a massive question mark atop New Orleans’ depth chart. In today’s installment of the roster preview, we’ll take a look at the Saints quarterback position, and who has the best odds to be the next face of the franchise.
New Orleans Saints Positional Preview: Quarterback
The Presumed Starter: Jameis Winston
Jameis Winston at his best is nowhere near as good as Drew Brees at the peak of his powers. However, he might be comparable to the worn-down version of Brees we saw in 2020. While they are stylistically polar opposites, they could easily produce a similar level of efficiency.
Jameis Winston is a volatile quarterback, capable of looking like one of the best and worst passers in the league at a moment’s notice. From 2015 to 2019, Winston led the league in PFF’s big-time throw percentage and turnover-worthy throw percentage. This is going to be a massive change from Brees’ conservative-but-efficient style of play, even though Winston will be operating out of an offense that places more emphasis on the short game.
From 2015 to 2019, Winston ranked 15th in EPA+CPOE composite and 14th in EPA/play out of 42 quarterbacks with at least 1,000 plays. This is actually pretty solid production and shows that his positive plays tend to outweigh the negative ones. However, Winston’s 2019 season was his first under head coach Bruce Arians, and quarterbacks not named Tom Brady tend to struggle during their first year in that system. If you’re looking at just 2015 to 2018, Winston ranks 11th in both EPA+CPOE composite and EPA/play. Nobody is saying that Jameis Winston is a top-11 quarterback, but he can thrive in the right system, even if he doesn’t fix his turnover woes.
The Wild Card: Taysom Hill
Find somebody who loves you the way Sean Payton loves Taysom Hill. The former undrafted free agent has long been one of Payton’s favorite players, as evidenced by his current salary and the multiple positive comments. While Winston appears to have the inside track for the starting job, don’t be surprised if Hill ends up playing a pretty large part in this offense.
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For one, Hill actually earned the starting job last year when Drew Brees went down to injury. While the offense obviously looked a lot different, Payton proved that he could win with this style of play. New Orleans went 3-1 in his four starts, with the one loss being a one-score game where Hill actually looked pretty comfortable running the offense.
Even if Hill doesn’t win the starting job, look for him to make many an appearance on gadget plays. Even when Brees was playing at an MVP level, Sean Payton still found excuses to bring Hill onto the field. This will be even more common in 2021, as Winston and Hill will split snaps throughout the season, even Winston gets the majority of the work.
The Developmental Prospect: Ian Book
Everyone expected New Orleans to draft a quarterback at some point in the 2021 NFL Draft, and that someone ended up being Ian Book. Barring something completely unforeseen, it’s hard to imagine any world where Book sees the field in 2021. However, he has some interesting traits that could translate, if given enough time to develop. While he doesn’t have the strongest arm, he has the ability to extend plays and keeps the ball out of harm’s way. The arm strength issue basically is what it is, but he could turn into a serviceable backup if he can improve his processing speed.
Camp Arm: Trevor Siemian
Main photo:
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