Saints Mailbag: Red Zone Offense, Kicking Battle, Missing Piece, Superdome

Will the Saints offense be better in the red zone this season? Tackling that and more in the latest mailbag.

We're one week closer to Saints training camp, as we're about a month out from things kicking off. We keep tackling your questions about the black and gold to pass some of the time, but we'll soon get into more of the battles upcoming. One user sent in all good questions, so it gets its own mailbag.

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Will Saints be better in the Red Zone on offense? Will there be a kicking battle in camp? What is the missing piece for this year? Will offense be more bold? What happened to Home field advantage last year?

— Monkey Heart (@Tracy10093680) June 20, 2023

Will the Saints offense be better in the red zone?

That's certainly the hope. A good bit of this will fall on Pete Carmichael, but ultimately Derek Carr will be a driving force in efficiency. Even if you factor Michael Thomas out of the equation, which would be a huge boost for the red zone offense, seeing Chris Olave bulk up and working on contested catches is an added bonus. Juwan Johnson, Taysom Hill, and Foster Moreau should be good threats there, as well as whoever is coming out of the backfield. Hopefully, we see Alvin Kamara's usage here a little more. However, Jamaal Williams and Kendre Miller should be interesting to watch here too. 

Will there be a kicking battle?

That's something we've pointed out with our observations. A legitimate special teams battle seems to be brewing at kicker and possibly punter. My bet is still on Wil Lutz and Blake Gillikin, but I feel like Blake Grupe will make things interesting. I've said that if he doesn't win out, he might end up being on another roster in Week 1. The same might said for Lou Hedley, but more information is needed there. Both have the leg to contend, and consistency will be key.

What missing piece is left for the Saints?

At this point, I honestly feel like it's Michael Thomas making it through a whole season. If New Orleans adds to the defensive side of the ball, that would also help out a good bit. Someone in the trenches or a pass-rusher sounds right, but the right one. One of those pieces may not come at all over the next few months, but ahead of the NFL's trade deadline.

Will the offense be more bold this season?

This somewhat hinges on Pete Carmichael. The Saints certainly feel like they are better positioned to be a bit more aggressive with their weaponry. The skill positions certainly bring a lot more confidence in their ability to be that way. There were clearly some limitations last season in a lot of areas. One of the things that should make a big difference is Derek Carr and his command of the offense.  

What happened to home field advantage last year?

This is a valid question. I think the Superdome has been lacking, for sure. There's plenty of reasons why this could be the case, but the energy hasn't felt the same. The home opener had some good vibes with LSU favorites Tyrann Mathieu and Jarvis Landry leading the Who Dat chant. Of course, there needs to be reasons to cheer. Some of the offense we had to sit through the past couple of seasons was painful to watch. When the defense needed the crowd, they were there. Here's to hoping this season brings back some of that electricity felt from 2017-2019.