Trading Jimmy Graham might not be as harmful as we thought; the Saints are focused on a brand new approach. The trade that sent Graham to Seattle brought Max Unger to New Orleans. Unger is one of the league's best centers and will be a tremendous boost to keep Brees upright.
The Saints drafted Andrus Peat with their first round pick which shows you they are looking to lean on the ground game a bit more than they used to. After a career year for Mark Ingram he will most likely be a bigger feature of the offense. Combine that with the fact that the Saints signed C.J. Spiller for work on passing downs and you have a very run balanced team.
The Saints drafted enough linebackers in the draft to keep protecting themselves against the run but they were woefully bad in pass coverage last season. Jimmy Graham was indeed a large part of the Saints offense however with Brees throwing less this minimizes the amount of damage that the Saints will absorb.
The Saints are moving in a new direction, one that allows them to control the clock and keep their defense out of harm's way. If this is indeed the approach they are taking then Brees will be a lot more effective in the play action game than he once was. Brandin Cooks should deliver in his second year; he is likely to get a lot of targets this season. The silver lining to the Saint's problems is that they are in a division were a losing record could net you a divisional championship.
