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One of the Saints' Top Positional Battles This Offseason Will Be on Special Teams
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- One of the Saints' Top Positional Battles This Offseason Will Be on Special Teams
(© Dale Zanine-Imagn Images)
The New Orleans Saints are far from having a solidified roster for 2026, no matter how many starters they were able to find this offseason. Positional battles are a staple of any teams' training camp, and for the Saints, they will have a number to watch out for. Unlike last year, which was heavily focused on the QB battle between Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler , New Orleans roster will instead be looking at more depth battles and how position groups end up looking. But on special teams, it's all about who gets the starting job at kicker.
Last season, some things went well, and others went horribly wrong. The special teams can be considered a complete failure last season, even with Charlie Smyth 's late-season heroics. Former Saints kicker Blake Grupe 's missed field goals were the difference in games the team lost. The punting was a major issue that allowed opponents to get much better field position, the return game was uninspiring, and the punt/kick coverage was a glaring problem. Overall, it was a complete mess, and the Saints clearly knew that going into the season.
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The staff has already done work to upgrade parts of the special teams, such as signing a proven punter in Ryan Wright , drafting a kick returner in Barion Brown , and upgrading the special teams coverage by selecting Lorenzo Styles Jr. This was a great start in turning around a disappointing special teams unit, but last, and arguably most importantly, is the kicker situation.
As I briefly mentioned, Smyth had his moments throughout the end of the season, but it was not perfect. He missed some kicks that should have been made. This was fine, given it was his first time kicking in the NFL, but those misses need to be fixed, and he did not do enough to secure the starting spot. The Saints need to continue evaluating that position until they have a near-sure thing, which is why they signed Texas K Mason Shipley and are bringing in veteran K Younghoe Koo for their rookie minicamp.
The Saints had a kicker battle last year as well, and it ended up being the wrong choice, but it's hard to blame the team. Grupe was not missing, and Smyth was struggling. Still, that didn't really matter in the regular season, so the Saints might need to change how they evaluate the kicking game for this year's battle.
