The New Orleans Saints are considered a top-tier team by the analysts over at Pro Football Focus, who ranked their roster among the league’s best teams. In fact, the only squads placed above the Saints are the two teams who met in last year’s Super Bowl: the New England Patriots (No. 1) and the Los Angeles Rams (No. 2).
PFF’s list considers the greatest strength, weakness, and variable of each team, as well as their top 24 player grades (rookies have their college grades listed, which is noted with two asterisks). They identify the connection between Drew Brees and Michael Thomas as the Saints’ biggest strength and strongest X-Factor, but make an odd choice by selecting center as the team’s most glaring weakness.