Biggest Saints questions of 2020: How big will the Emmanuel Sanders impact be?

Emmanuel Sanders is going to make the Saints offense a whole lot better, but how much production does New Orleans need out of him?

Emmanuel Sanders was one of the key prizes heading into NFL free agency. The 49ers looked to keep him and at one point the Cowboys were linked to Sanders, but it was the Saints who ended up landing him on a two-year, $16 million contract in the end. We previously looked at the Saints and their chances of becoming the NFC South's first team to win the division four straight years. Today, we'll tackle something that fans are really eager to see this season, and that's how big the Emmanuel Sanders impact will be.

The Saints woes at receiver can be traced back to the 2017 Divisional playoffs against the Minnesota Vikings. While we know how that game turned out, it was a true glimpse of how deficient the group was aside Michael Thomas. Receivers had trouble getting separation and just lacked something. For perspective, Drew Brees went 8-of-18 in that first half, while being picked off twice. He threw 9 of those passes to receivers, with only 4 of them being completed.

The Saints tried to get better the next season, but lost Willie Snead to the Ravens while putting some faith in Cameron Meredith. They also drafted Tre'Quan Smith in the 3rd Round that season, but Meredith didn't pan out and the group as a whole never felt complete. There were signs of Ted Ginn Jr. doing things, but then times were it looked like he and Brees weren't on the same page.

Arguably, the Saints have not had a legitimate one-two punch at wide receiver since the days of a then rookie Michael Thomas pairing up with a young Brandin Cooks. That type of production could be a sight to see in 2020, but what has the receiving production looked like over the years for New Orleans?

Saints Leading Receiver Production since 2006 (Receptions-Yards-TDs)

• 2019: Michael Thomas (149-1725-9), Jared Cook (43-705-9), Alvin Kamara (81-533-1)
• 2018: Michael Thomas (125-1405-9), Alvin Kamara (81-709-4), Tre'Quan Smith (28-427-5)
• 2017: Michael Thomas (104-1245-5), Alvin Kamara (81-826-5), Ted Ginn Jr. (53-787-4)
• 2016: Brandin Cooks (78-1173-8), Michael Thomas (92-1137-9), Willie Snead (72-895-4)
• 2015: Brandin Cooks (84-1138-9), Willie Snead (69-984-3), Benjamin Watson (74-825-6)
• 2014: Kenny Stills (63-931-3), Marques Colston (59-902-5), Jimmy Graham (85-889-10)
• 2013: Jimmy Graham (86-1215-16), Marques Colston (75-943-5), Kenny Stills (32-641-5)
• 2012: Marques Colston (83-1154-10), Lance Moore (65-1041-6), Jimmy Graham (85-982-9)
• 2011: Jimmy Graham (99-1310-11), Marques Colston (80-1143-8), Darren Sproles (86-710-7)
• 2010: Marques Colston (84-1023-7), Lance Moore (66-783-8), Robert Meachem (44-638-5)
• 2009: Marques Colston (70-1074-9), Devery Henderson (51-804-2), Robert Meachem (45-722-9)
• 2008: Lance Moore (79-928-10), Devery Henderson (32-793-3), Marques Colston (47-760-5)
• 2007: Marques Colston (98-1202-11), David Patten (54-792-3), Reggie Bush (73-417-2) 
• 2006: Marques Colston (70-1038-8), Devery Henderson (32-745-5), Reggie Bush (88-742-2)

What the data tells us: The Saints haven't had two 1,000-yard receivers in a single season since 2016. In fact, there's only been three total seasons (2016, 2012, 2011) the Saints have had more than one 1,000-yard receiver, and in those seasons two of them were by wide receivers (2016 and 2012). 2016 was also the best seasonal output of all three of the Saints top receiving leaders in terms of combined yardage (3,205) and total receiving touchdowns (21). Due to Michael Thomas' record-setting 2019 campaign, the most receptions came in 2019 at 273 total between Thomas, Kamara, and Cook. In the last three seasons, the second-highest producing yardage receiver has not been an actual wide receiver, an 11-year trend that came to a halt in 2017.

If you average out the second receiver production, which takes into account the yardage, it would average out to 63 receptions, 879 yards, and 5 touchdowns. Looking at the 11-year career for Sanders, he's beat the Saints secondary leader reception averages in six of his professional seasons (2013-2016, 2018-2019). As for the yardage, Sanders went over 1,000 in three seasons from 2014-2016, while having 5 or more receiving touchdowns in five of his career campaigns (2013-2016, 2019).

Saints offensive assistant Curtis Johnson certainly believes in Sanders, but knows that there will obviously be some challenges with the lack of a spring offseason.

Johnson said in a recent interview, "The one guy we have to get (up to speed's) Emmanuel Sanders. We have to get him going a little bit. I think he's a smart guy. I've probably talked to him probably more than anyone. I know he likes to play golf (joking), but that's really all I know about him. But he's tremendous on film and we were talking the other day, myself, RC and Pete Carmichael putting plays together for him to use his strengths."

The good news for the Saints is they do have a vision for him, and their plan could prove to pay off in big ways for this season. 

"You see the things he did in San Fran last year, but our offense is kind of different from San Fran," said wide receiver coach Ronald Curry. 

"You kind of need to go back to his Denver days when he was playing with Peyton (Manning). He's a transition player, you want to get the ball in his hands, you've got a vision for him on third-down, win your one-on-one matchups in the red-zone. You feel like he's going to fit in like Ted Ginn, like a veteran that's going to be where he's supposed to be, on time, for Drew (Brees)." 

Working with one of the league's best quarterbacks in Drew Brees, the chemistry is what has to be there for this to be a match made in heaven. We saw some of that with Jared Cook last season, as it was truly a tale of two halves of the season for him. Part of that could have been due to the quarterback transition to Teddy Bridgewater due to the Brees injury, but Cook showed everyone during the back half of the season that he was a nightmare matchup. Curry added that Brees likes to find ways to work with guys and seeing their body language and how they get in and out of routes, and Sanders is one of those veterans that should latch on with ease.

"We have a vision for him on third-down and how we can use him, maybe taking some of that option stuff off of (Alvin Kamara's) plate and some of the stuff that Ted Ginn was doing, double moves, transitional stuff," Curry said.

Emmanuel Sanders will undoubtedly pair well opposite of Michael Thomas, and if the Saints can get even a fraction of the work out of him in 2020, it's going to be another fun aerial season in New Orleans. In turn, that attack could help fuel the Saints to help exorcise some playoff demons.