Being able to cover some of the best offenses in Saints history has been an honor.
From 1999 till the present, I covered the squad, and during that time, almost every significant offensive record in the book was made. In addition, the Saints set several NFL records that still stand today during the height of the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era.
I’ve covered the Saints’ all-time top passer (Brees), receiver (Marques Colston), rusher (Mark Ingram, soon to be Alvin Kamara), and two of the team’s most decorated blockers (Willie Roaf and Jahri Evans) during my 25 years on the beat.
The top offensive players I have covered throughout my time on the beat are listed in this week’s edition of my “25 for 25” series. Selecting No. 1 was a simple decision, but narrowing the list down to a top five was difficult.
This was a challenging decision. Deuce McAllister, Jimmy Graham, Joe Horn, Michael Thomas, and Mark Ingram were among the players I thought about for this position. However, due to Colston’s durability and overall production, I ultimately chose him over Graham. Colston is the greatest receiver in franchise history despite never making an All-Pro team or Pro Bowl. He retired as the team’s all-time leader in receptions (711), receiving yards (9,759), and receiving touchdowns (72). He was Brees’ go-to man when things got tight.
Alvin Kamara, No. 4, (2017-present)
The greatest all-around player in team history is Kamara. He’s set a club record with 10,584 yards from scrimmage (both receiving and rushing), and he’s still adding to it every week. The most in club history, he has received four Pro Bowl invites. Later this season, he is expected to pass all other running backs in the Saints career rushing stats. With the exception of an injury, Kamara has led the team in rushing for six straight seasons and will make it seven this year.
Linemen do indeed qualify as offensive players. Evans served as the cornerstone of what was maybe the best offense in NFL history. He was not only a strong run and pass blocker for the Saints for 12 years, but he was also extraordinarily durable, starting 183 out of 185 games that he could have played. He was selected to four All-Pro teams and received six Pro Bowl invitations. Evans, who is currently the Saints’ assistant offensive line coach, was a finalist in 2024 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It’s just a matter of time until he is enshrined in Canton, Ohio. Not bad for a Division II Bloomsburg (Pennsylvania) draft pick selected in the fourth round.
What to watch: New Orleans Saints vs. Chicago Bears
On Sunday, October 6, 2013, at Soldier Field in Chicago, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) leads the pre-game chant for the team’s game against the Chicago Bears. Source: Nola.com / The Times-Picayune / Michael DeMocker)
Roaf, the most accomplished and accomplished offensive tackle in the history of the team, was selected to 11 Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams. For nine seasons, Roaf, a 320-pound dancing bear standing six feet five, guarded the blind side of Saints quarterbacks. He is the first lineman from the Saints to be selected to both the 1990s and 2000s All-Decade teams and to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
It makes sense. Brees is unanimously considered the finest player in franchise history and is certain to become the first Saints’ first-ballot Hall of Famer. Along the way, he broke numerous team and NFL records in addition to leading the Saints to their one and only Super Bowl victory. More significantly, he and Payton worked to improve the organization’s national perception and increase its visibility. Brees was an exceptional leader who possessed the unique capacity to uplift everyone around him by maintaining the high standards he set for himself. Throughout the time I covered the squad, he was by far the best player and a player of a generation.
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