The New Orleans Saints have significant optimism as they head toward training camp and the 2026 NFL season, particularly when it comes to young, developing players.
That group includes an up-and-coming quarterback in Tyler Shough, a new RB in Travis Etienne, talented receivers headlined by Chris Olave and Jordyn Tyson, and a starting OL group that could stack up favorably with most teams in the NFL. But what happens when the injury bug inevitably strikes? That's the biggest concern for Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.football, which he broke down this week on WWL.
"They’re healthy right now and I like their starting 22 a lot," Triplett told WWL's Mike Detillier. "I have depth concerns in every single position group on this team, except for maybe linebacker."
Hear the full interview with Mike Triplett in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Depth is an issue that has haunted the Saints in recent seasons, particularly in the trenches. Star center Erik McCoy was limited to just 14 games over the past two seasons combined, and the OL group has been a patchwork situation due to wholesale injuries for much of that span. There have been similar issues at RB and with the pass-catching group when star players miss time -- the cupboard simply hasn't been filled with high-end fill-in options. The Saints are, admittedly, in a significant overhaul of the roster and did make several additions this year that could potentially add that quality depth, including the picks of TE Oscar Delp, WR Bryce Lance and OL Jeremiah Wright mid rounds of this year's draft.
"This team has arrived quicker than we thought, but they’ve built up their top 20 players nicely," Triplett continued. "They haven’t built up a top 40 all the way yet, like they used to have, that incredible depth when they were winning titles year in, year out.”
It might not be the story of the season, but if and when the Saints run into struggles, absences at positions where they simply can't afford absences will be the most likely culprit. That said, this is a team that appears on the trajectory to fix those issues. Some helpful injury luck could go a long way, but the 2026 season is more about continued development of players like Shough, second-year safety Jonas Sanker who is moving in to the star role, CB Quincy Riley and LT Kelvin Banks, all of whom played key roles in their rookie seasons and will be relied upon to keep building in the months ahead.
"That whole group is a big part of the reason why there is so much optimism that they could make some noise right away this year," Triplett said.
The Saints are in the midst of their third and final set of OTAs this week, followed by a mandatory minicamp on June 16-17. After that the team will break for a little over a month before the start of the full training camp in late July.
