Three New Orleans Saints That Are PIVOTAL To Team Success In 2025 | Chris Olave’s Return To Focus

Three New Orleans Saints That Are PIVOTAL To Team Success In 2025 | Chris Olave’s Return To Focus

Aside from the quarterback, wide receiver Chris Olive, defensive end Chase Young, and rookie offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. will be key to the New Orleans Saints success in 2025. We got all that and a little bit of land yap for you on today’s episode of Locked on Saints. You are Locked On Saints, your daily New Orleans Saints podcast, part of the Locked On Network. your team every day. What is good Huda nation and Huda family? I am your host, your friend Ross Jackson, New Orleans native, your New Orleans Saints expert and credentialed member of the media covering those New Orleans Saints as a Saints beat writer over at louisianaapasports.net. And on today’s episode of Locked on Saints, we’re going over three players that are amongst those that are going to be key to the New Orleans Saints success in 2025. We’ll take a look at the high expectations around rookie Kelvin Banks Jr., the big-time investment that must pay off in Chase Young, and Chris Olive’s return to form, all being keys to the New Orleans Saints success this upcoming season. We appreciate you very much as always, whether it’s your first time or your next time, being here with us this time, making us your first listen, and being an everydayer here on the show, which is a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today’s episode brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets by winning your first $5 bet. Head over to fanduel.com today to get started. I want to start things off here with Chris Olive, who I believe must produce in order for the New Orleans Saints to win in 2025. He is going to be the featured player in this New Orleans Saints passing game. the Saints don’t seem to be interested in pursuing a big-bodied wide receiver, though I think the argument is still there to get it done. And if that’s going to be the case, and honestly, even if the Saints did go and get a big bodied wide receiver, I’d still consider Chris Ave the core focus or key focus at the position of wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints. You have the big play ability, the home run ability of Rasheed Shahed. You have the veteran presence and home run ability of Brandon Cooks, but you have the ability to run every route in the book and take the take the top off of the defense and impact the game at all three levels with Chris Olive, who has gotten a lot more comfortable in turning up field, trying to fight for extra yards, all those other things. Yes, health will be a big part of the question mark for Chris Olive, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not important to the New Orleans Sainting success in 2025. So, as we take a look at these three players, starting off with Chris Ave here, I want to kind of first look at what the criteria is for these. So, the first thing I’m doing is I’m not including the quarterbacks in this. We know that the quarterbacks are the biggest part of the tale of success for the New Orleans Saints. So, whether it’s Spencer Rattler, whether it’s Tyler Shuck, or both or other, uh, the New Orleans Saints success goes only as far as the young quarterbacks will take them. We’ll discuss what success can look like for Tyler Shuck in a future episode, but right now I’m focused on the players that impact the game around the quarterback on the offensive side and those that impact the game on the defensive side as well. That’s the second part of my criteria. These are these have to be players that affect the football that affect on a playbyplay basis because of what they’re doing to either impact where the football is going, how successful the football is in getting there, or trying to make sure the football doesn’t get there in the first place. Those are the guys that I’m picking from here, those that are in prime premier positions. Uh the other thing I’m looking at here are those that are either already established or quickly establishing players. And then lastly, these are just three of several. I’m not saying they’re the only three players that, you know, determine success for New Orleans, but these are three that I’m choosing to talk about today. Let me know who some of yours are. We’ll dive into more here in the weeks to come as the NFL season uh gets closer. So, I I’m starting with Chris Olive here because I I think that from a pass game perspective, he is going to be the biggest contributor for this team and staying on the field, staying healthy is a big part of that, right? In order for you to be able to produce, you have to be able to be out on the field. He’s had four concussions already in his college career. Had some concussions during his collegiate time as well. Had additional head, you know, checks for head injuries and things like that during this 2024 season. So, his return to the field is a a really exciting one. Really cool thing to see him back out on the football field, ready to go, all that. But, it’s also a little bit I don’t want to say that it’s scary, but it is a little bit like it gives you pause, right? Is he ready? Um, you know, what happens if he takes another hit? All of those other things. For Chris Olive, though, he can’t be worried about that. Like, if he wants to be out on the football field, he’s going to do everything he can to be out on the football field. And that is attitude number one. Like that’s a big key to his success in 2025 is not being afraid and understanding sort of what he is signing himself up for and being okay with the kind of consequences, results, and risk of that. He’s done things over the course of the off season to try to help himself, trying to strengthen a neck muscles so that you can displace a little bit of the impact if he does come down on his head. All of these other things or, you know, takes what was an unnecessary hit during that Carolina game. Like I don’t think we talk about that enough. Everyone wants to talk about the ball placement from Derek Carr. Everybody wants to talk about how Chris Olive is one concussion away from retirement, which I think is an unfair statement, but no one ever talks about how unnecessary the hit was. And it was a remarkably unnecessary hit, that didn’t need to happen. And so I think that that’s another piece of it, too, is that if defensive players play a little bit smarter than that moment, then I think that it kind of keeps everybody on the football field. So, I think that there are all of those factors in terms of Chris Olive staying on the football field that contribute to his success. The other piece is he’s got to be able to produce on the field as well. Like remember, we were still talking about Chris Ave developing going into his third season in 2024. Um, you know, nine touchdowns over the course of his first two seasons and how he needed to become a bigger scoring threat. and you could see elements of that in his game over the course of 2024, even though he didn’t rack up scoring and his opportunities on the field. What he was able to do though is show you that he is looking to turn upfield with the football in his hand, go and fight for extra yards, go out there and try to make some of those more physical plays. And so with that, you can see where the scoring potential gets bolstered because it’s not just all about what you do before the catch. For Kis Olav, it was becoming what he was starting to be able to learn to do and starting to be comfortable doing after the catch as well. Not falling down in front of contact, but instead trying to push through that contact to to to get forward, get north and south, all those other pieces. So, I think that that was a thing that you saw him starting to develop in 2025, or not really develop, but starting to get more comfortable with in 2024 rather. You saw it towards the end of the 2023 season. If he can carry that into 2025, do what he does as a separator and benefit from Kell Moore’s system as a wide receiver as well, then I think all of that ends up kind of playing into his ability to be able to contribute to the success of this team. Whatever quarterback is out there throwing the football is going to need a reliable target to go to down in and down out. Whether that’s first and 10, third and five, third and 10, or first and or second and five, you’re going to need that wide receiver that you can always kind of bank on. that’s going to have a relationship with that quarterback and that’s going to be that quarterback’s go-to player. That’s the role that Chris Ave now gets an opportunity to try to develop with two young quarterbacks who get an opportunity to really really get comfortable with what it is that Chris Olive will be able to provide. Now, like I mentioned, there are other pass catchers that are going to contribute here. Brandon Cooks, Rasheed Shahed. We’ll see which other wide receivers make the roster. Cedric Wilson Jr. looks like he’s getting maybe a little bit more work in OTAAS than we saw last year. Makes sense being reunited with Kell Moore. You’ve got tight ends that are going to be ready to contribute and you’ve got pass catchers out of the backfield that are going to be ready to contribute as well. So Chris Lavi is not at it by himself, but as the lead feature guy when it comes to anytime that ball is in the air on offense, he becomes integral to the New Orleans Saints success as he returns to the field in 2025, especially with a young quarterback in tow. Up next, I want to jump over to the defensive side and tell you why the massive investment in Chase Young is a big part of whether or not the Saints are or are not successful in 2025. We got that coming up for you as we continue on with today’s episode of Locked on Saints, part of Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today’s episode of Locked on Saints is brought to you by friends over at FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are rolling right along. on the New York Knicks finally got one back, but can the Indiana Pacers keep their distance? Just two point favorites tonight. The Indiana Pacers are going up against and hosting the New York Knicks as they look to tie up the series at 22. Maybe you like one of those teams to be able to get that win. Well, that’s a great place for you to get started over at FanDuel today. New customers at $200 in bonus bets by placing your first $5 bet. And if that bet wins, you walk away with that $200 in bonus bets that you can then use on other odds like money lines, spreads, player props. You can even put down on same game parlays. Get in on live betting as well. Even if you don’t make it before the tip, there’s a ton that you can dive into over at fanduel.com today. Again, that’s $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Head over to fanduel.com to get started today and make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports betting partners of the NBA. All right, family. The New Orleans Saints biggest monetary investment this off seasonason on an individual player came from the or at least monetarily came from the resigning or extension of defensive end Chase Young. and him meeting the value of that contract is going to be massive in terms of the New Orleans Saints success or struggle here in 2025. So, I’m putting this one a little bit probably more on Chase Young than is necessary, right? Like an entire change of the New Orleans Saints defensive system. One could argue that really the biggest proponent or biggest sort of subject in this situation that you know determines the Saints success or lack thereof in 2025 is really going to be Brandon Staley, right? Who’s bringing the new system and all those other pieces. But we’re taking a look at players and I think Chase Young is indicative of the changes that are underway in New Orleans and a lot of that edge rusher group is right. Chase Young being moved to more of a standup outside edge rusher role as opposed to a hand in the dirt role. Though he can play that hand in the dirt role as well. That sort of puts him along with guys like Carl Grannerson and Cam Jordan and Isaiah Foski, new additions like Josh Davis and Fidil Diggs. Kind of puts them in position to be sort of the stalwards of and the standardbearers of what this new defensive system is going to look like. And when you have one of those players that I just mentioned just now receive a three-year $51 million deal that’s worth up to $57 million in money based on incentives, things like that. A lot of the focus is going to go on the player that just got that contract. Not the undrafted rookie in Justine Davis, not the seventh round rookie in Fidil Diggs. Not the guy who came back on a on a reduced pay situation like Cam Jordan. not the guys that are coming back on existing contracts like Carl Grerson and Isaiah Fosski. Isaiah Fossy, of course, still on a rookie scale deal. The focus is going to go to the guy that just got paid one of the richest contracts the Saints have ever doled out when it comes to, you know, free agent signings and and things like that. So, I I think that and and when I say one of the richest, it’s because the Saints don’t typically spend a lot of money in free agency. So, it’s not shocking that that’s in that top 10 somewhere. Um, but what Chase Young represents as well beyond just the monetary investment is the success of team building, the success of the new defensive staff, the success of the new defensive system, and the hopeful revitalization of the pass rush in New Orleans, as well as the run defense as well. I know the run defense isn’t as sexy a topic as, you know, uh, uh, pass rushing and quarterback pressures and sacks and all those other pieces, but it’s just as important. Remember, the Saints have continuously taken a step back in that category after years and years and years of being in the top 10, not allowing a 100yard rusher, a stat that we used to say all the time, eh, doesn’t really mean anything. Now all of a sudden, people are longing for something like that to be back in New Orleans. and the Saints are looking to revitalize what it is that they have turned into. Over on the defensive side, they finished 31st in the NFL last year in terms of um in terms of run defense. They finished again with less than 40 sacks in a 17game season, something they used to do routinely. Uh that was a a notch that they eclipse routinely in 16 game seasons with Ryan Nielsen as their defensive line coach back in the day. And so I think that those are things that a guy like Chase Young ends up helping to set the tone to create. We were talking about how one of the pieces of the criteria here are players that must affect the ball on a play-to-play basis. It’s exactly what an edge rusher does. The edge rusher is going after that opposing quarterback and trying to impact the ball. Well, in two key ways, but in in really in multiple ways, but when it comes to the quarterback, you’re trying to make sure he doesn’t get the pass off, or you’re altering his ability to get the pass off in one way or another, right? You’re forcing a bad pass. You’re forcing a bad decision. Uh you’re making contact as he throws, which forces a bad throw. uh you’re you’re you’re getting to him before he gets the opportunity to get the ball out, thereby getting a sack, or you’re getting the ball back to your defense by knocking the ball away out of the quarterback’s hands, uh forcing that bad throw that gets intercepted, or you’re forcing some kind of throwaway or something like that, right? So, lots of different versions of how you’re doing, but you’re affecting the quarterback’s ability to pass. That’s one way. The other way is that you’re trying to keep that quarterback, especially in today’s NFL, from being able to escape and go and pick up yards with his legs. Something that the Saints have struggled with quite a bit over the course of the recent past. Can this new Brandon Staley defense with its new defensive front 34 is probably what you want to call it, but it’s a multiffront defense, but you still get these standup edge rushers. You’re really highlighting speed and athleticism. two of Carl Grer, excuse me, not Carl, well, Carl Granison, two, but two of Chase Young’s kind of calling cards when it comes to his style as a pass rusher, you’re giving them the opportunity to finally have the equipment that they need or the ingredients that they need to be able to stand up to those mobile quarterbacks that can go out there and pick up yards. not just the dual threat guys, but even the guys that are just pesky and can extend plays uh by getting outside the pocket and getting towards the sideline, forcing defensive backs to cover second routes of wide receivers. Um, a pesky quarterback that can escape and go and pick up five or six yards. I mean, how many times have we seen the Saints give up a third and 15 or a third and 10 plus just because they didn’t necessarily have the lane integrity that they needed and the quarterback was able to escape up a lane somewhere and there was nobody with the speed to be able to wrangle that, you know, that that quarterback from the right angle, right? Couldn’t get the right angle on the quarterback and so they go and pick up 10 plus yards and turn a a third and 10, a third and an 11 into a fresh set of downs. And in that situation, which would have forced the punt if they would have been able to keep the lane or get the angle on the quarterback, turns into a score on the other side for the offense when otherwise it would have been possession back for the New Orleans Saints offense, right? And so those are things that you’re trying to limit in those couple of ways. And so, how does a guy like Chase Young end up impacting you and helping to make all of that happen, right? Helping to get this defense going, helping this new system find success against opposing quarterbacks. He’s going to be a big part of that. The other way that this ends up that that a guy like Chase Young ends up kind of having this impact for you is that he simply sets the tone for the rest of the defense, if the defense is able to match a successful tone of Chase Young based on his ability to get after the quarterback, affect the ball, whatever it might be, all those things that we just broke down, all of a sudden the job gets a little bit easier over on the offensive side for guys like the quarterback and Chris Olive, who we were just talking about. And so if Chase Young is helping this defense keep points off the board by the opposing team, things get easier for Chase Young’s team’s offense, right? So it it all benefits from the same situation. So if Chase Young can prove to be money well spent, which by the way, I have confidence that he can do that. I’m not challenging his ability to do it. I’m highlighting the importance of him doing so. But I think that if he proves to be that money well spent that I think he can, then all of a sudden that has a positive impact all around the team, not just on the defensive side, but helps to set the tone specifically on that side of the football. Up next, it’s all about the trenches for the New Orleans Saints. And another big investment has a chance to make a major impact, and that’s rookie offensive lineman Kelvin Banks Jr. We got that coming up for you next as we wrap up our three players that have a major impact on the New Orleans Saints success in 2025 here on Locked on Saints. Part of Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Let’s get it, Hud Nation. It might not have been a monetary investment, but it was still a major investment by the New Orleans Saints to draft with a top 10 selection Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and the role that he looks to be on his way to earning with the New Orleans Saints is a massively important one. Kelvin Banks Jr. might be a rookie, but he is and does match our criteria as a quickly establishing player. Anytime that you bring somebody in as a fresh face and say, “Hey, be this team’s starting blindside tackle, blindside protector,” that person is a quickly establishing player in your team’s success. And that’s exactly where Calvin Banks Jr. is heading. Now, the good news for New Orleans is that Calvin Banks Jr. already looks like a seasoned veteran on the football field. very strong, plays with a great anchor, really polished in the pass blocking game, very aggressive in the run blocking game, has the athleticism, the combination, excuse me, of the athleticism and the strength to be able to win on both sides. So, not only is he contributing as a blindside protector for the starting quarterback, whether it’s Spencer Ratler or it’s Tyler Shuck, because you’re talking about two right-handed quarterbacks there, unless Hunter Decker, the the lefty, surprises everybody, right? But otherwise, you’re talking about Kelvin Banks Jr. as the blind side protector. But that’s not the only way that he contributes. A couple of other players whose names I haven’t mentioned in this list of three, like I mentioned, there are a lot of there are there are other players that are also uh you know, big in terms of who whose success leads to the Saints success are the running backs. guys like Alvin Chimera in particular who’s coming off of a career rushing year in 2024 even though he ended his season even though his season ended with injury or ended early with injury. Uh but also six round investment in de uh Devin Neil not the biggest investment a sixth round pick but but this is a guy that was expected to be a day two guy so he was kind of a steal or not even kind of he was very much a steal as a sixth round selection. Kindre Miller coming into his next season and his new new opportunity with a blank slate according to head coach Kell Moore. So I I think some of those guys, particularly Alvin Chimera, have just as much an impact on the success of this team as any of the three that I’ve chosen to discuss in today’s episode. But the way that they achieve that success has a lot to do with happens with what happens in front of them on the offensive line. And that’s where Kelvin Banks Jr. comes in. Because not only has Kelvin Banks Jr. impacted the left tackle spot. He’s impacted the entire offensive line. The draft selection of Calvin Banks Jr. allowed the New Orleans Saints to take Talas Fuanga, who started at left tackle last year, allowed just six sacks, which included three sacks in that Thursday night game up against the Denver Broncos, a game where he struggled. After that, allowed just two sacks the rest of the way. That’s weeks 8 through 18. So, pretty solid situation there in terms of what Tales Fang’s rookie season was. Now you got him going at left tackle last season and he was a great left tackle for you despite playing right tackle throughout his collegiate career. Now he gets to move back to his natural position at right tackle because of your top 10 draft pick investment in Kelvin Banks Jr. who can now start at left tackle because Fanga moved over to right tackle. last year’s right tackle Trevor Penning who played his entire season. He was one of the few players along with Wonga who played all 17 games of the year to prove that he can stay healthy for a year. He ends up moving from right tackle at least right now to left guard. So, the draft pick of Calvin Banks had a ripple effect as such that the Saints effectively have three new starting players or at least three players starting in new positions for this offensive line with of course center Eric McCoy who could also very much be on this list as the leader of this offensive line and veteran right guard Caesar Ruiz staying in their positions at center and right guard. But Kelvin Banks Jr. caused this big-time shakeup that might be one of the best things to happen to this New Orleans Saints offensive line in some time. You get an opportunity to learn more about Trevor Penning and potentially get an opportunity to take advantage of his aggression and physical play style on the interior of your offensive line, which would be huge in terms of what he might be able to do to contribute to the success of the team. you get the opportunity to learn whether or not he’s going to be one of your best options as a firstround investment from a few years ago or if you go into another or you go to another option in Dylan Raidens the free agent that the investment that they made this off seasonason signing him and bringing him in. So again, you get the opportunity to evaluate that and try to pick out your best five on your offensive line. That’s only possible because of the investment in Calvin Banks Jr. And so now on top of all that, you also look at his individual responsibilities, right? So you know he’s going to contribute to multiple areas of your offense in an offense that’s expected to be very balanced and very diverse. And because of that, you’re going to be asking these players to do a lot of different things. Check. Great. You get that. You get the opportunity. You get the fact too that he comes in, he joins, and then he creates sort of the shakeup on the offensive line that could potentially help to advance the entire offensive line. Bingo. Check. Great. The next thing that you’re looking at is just his individual responsibilities, which are keeping the quarterback clean, right? Keeping the quarterback clean and paving the way for those running backs. And those are two things that I think everybody has a lot of confidence in Kelvin Banks Jr. to be able to do. So, I do think that he is one of these three players as well, whether fair or unfair. That’s a that’s a a piece of the criteria that I forgot to mention. I’m not really looking at fairness or unfairness in the equation here. Sometimes it’s unfair to be a rookie that shows up and all of a sudden it’s all on your shoulders. That could happen with Tyler Shuck. It could be unfair to be a secondyear quarterback that comes in and becomes the person upon which all expectations are placed. That could very well happen with Spencer Rattler. Uh it can be unfair that Chase Young comes in and is representative of the success or failure of the entire defense. Fair or unfair, it could still very much be the case. Same thing happens here for Kelvin Banks Jr. But I think that like the thing that’s so special about the Kelvin Banks Jr. part of it and I think that’s so cool about the Kelvin Banks Jr. part of it is the ripple impact, right? He has set up everybody else or the investment in him has set up everybody else to potentially be able to be in their best possible positions. Like if Trevor Penning pans out at left guard, that only became possible because they made the investment in Kelvin Banks Jr. Tells Fuanga getting to move back to his natural position or I don’t want to say natural position but of his collegiate position at right tackle only happens because of the investment in Kelvin Banks Jr. then if Kelvin Banks Jr. is successful that means that the success that the Saints find in their passing game and potentially the success that the Saints find in their run game only happens because of the investment that was made in Kelvin Banks Jr. And that’s not just the run game that goes to his side. That’s the run game that goes to his side that goes to anywhere around Tales Fua and any success that you find because of Trevor Penning working out at left guard should he work out at left guard only became possible because of the investment in Kelvin Banks Jr. So that’s why I put him in that situation. Right? big-time ripple of impacts of a starting left tackle are already there, but the shifts in movement for the other guys because of the investment in him just kind of multiplies the importance of his success and their success brought upon by the opportunity that was created because of the investment in him. So there you go. Those are three players that I wanted to highlight today. Chris Olive, Chase Young, and in a very roundabout uh expeditious way or or or not adventurous way rather uh not so expeditious, uh Kelvin Banks Jr. Coming up in tomorrow’s episode, I want to take a look at the top five New Orleans Saintlines going into OTAAS. A little bit of a check-in before the second day of media availability for OTAAS begins on Thursday. And we’ll also get later on this week into what successful rookie seasons look like for some of the New Orleans Saints rookie class. We have that coming up for you here throughout the rest of the week on the show. We appreciate you very much as always for making us a part of your day, part of your routine, for saying yes to me on the show. If you see me, please say hi. If you need anything else around your New Orleans Saints in between these episodes, make sure you follow me on your favorite social media at RossJackn OA. Hit me up. Let know the family’s doing them. Know how you living. Let me know how you moming them. And trust that Nation, I’ll holl at you.

Three New Orleans Saints that will determine success of team’s 2025 NFL Season. Chris Olave’s return to focus could reestablish the New Orleans Saints’ offense in the 2025 NFL season. With his ability to run every route and impact the game at all levels, Olave stands as a pivotal figure in the Saints’ strategy.

Meanwhile, Chase Young’s transition to a stand-up edge rusher role promises to bolster the defense under new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, making him a key investment for the team’s success. Kelvin Banks Jr., a top draft pick, is set to reshape the offensive line, offering both polished pass-blocking and aggressive run-blocking skills.

The Saints’ quarterback situation, featuring Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough, adds another layer of intrigue to the team’s prospects.

0:00 Chris Olave Key to Saints Success
9:55 Chase Young’s Impact on Defense
18:01 Kelvin Banks Jr. Reshapes Offensive Line

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