Week 10 of the NFL season saw the New Orleans Saints visit the Carolina Panthers and emerge with a 17-7 victory. The win improved the Saints to 2-8 and ended a four-game losing streak heading into their bye, as they were the only NFC South team to emerge victorious in Week 10. It was also the first career victory for Tyler Shough, marking the first time in 44 years and 677 regular season games that a rookie quarterback had won a start for the Saints. No, that is not a typo. Dave Wilson was the last rookie quarterback to win a start with the Saints on Nov. 8, 1981.

Saints fans haven’t had a lot to get excited about over the first two months of the year. Hopefully, this divisional win will cause a surge of momentum heading into the year’s second stretch. New Orleans does have a much easier schedule on paper over the last two months. The Saints have games against the awful Dolphins, Jets, and Titans along with two matchups against the Falcons and rematches with the Buccaneers and Panthers. Those teams are a combined 29-48 currently, a winning percentage of .377 with only Tampa Bay owning a winning record. To start any kind of winning streak though, the Saints have quite a few things they need to fix after the bye while expanding on some of the potential strengths they’ve shown. Here’s the notable good, bad, and ugly we’ve seen from New Orleans over their first 10 weeks.

The Good: Offensive Tackles

New Orleans used the ninth overall choice in the first round on left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. That allowed them to flip the 14th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Taliese Fuaga, over to his more natural position of right tackle. Banks and Fuaga have been two of the lone consistent bright spots on the Saints offense this year. Fuaga has dealt with knee, back, and ankle ailments that have caused him to miss two games, but Banks has played 99% of the offensive snaps.Banks and Fuaga have formed a Pro Bowl caliber duo that the Saints may be able to lean on for several years. Each player has provided exemplary pass protection, often in one-on-one assignments with against some of the league’s top pass rushers. Additionally, both tackles have proven to be powerful run blockers. The Saints still have quite a bit of building to do on their offense. Tackle is not one of those spots.

The Good: Defensive Secondary

Like at tackle, the New Orleans defensive backfield is built mostly on rookies and second year players. There have been some growing pains, to be sure, but also plenty of signs of excitement. Quietly, New Orleans ranks 10th against the pass. Aside from a debacle against the Rams, this secondary has performed quite well against the wide receivers and quarterbacks that they’ve faced so far.

Second-year cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry has flashed the ability of a top-tier corner, but must eliminate some wild ups and downs. Despite that, McKinstry leads the Saints with 2 interceptions and 7 pass breakups while allowing a respectable 63.6% completion percentage in coverage. Rookie fourth round choice Quincy Riley has been a terrific complement to McKinstry at corner since being promoted to starter. Riley has an interception, 5 passes broken up, and a 60% completion rate against him. Even when throws are completed against them in man duties, McKinstry and Riley often have good coverage positioning. Further experience should increase the big plays from both for this defense.

At safety, rookie third round pick Jonas Sanker has been an equally pleasant surprise as Riley. Sanker has an interception, a fumble recovery, and 4 pass breakups while showing incredible range and playmaking instincts that will improve with his experience. Offseason free agent acquisition Justin Reid has not been the playmaker that was expected of him when signed and must flip that down the stretch. However, Alontae Taylor has been a versatile and valuable part of the defense. Taylor continues to have some man coverage issues, but is a disruptive blitzer and reads quarterbacks extremely well in off-ball coverage. This secondary has been the most consistent unit on the entire team this year with exciting potential for growth.

The Bad: Offensive Skill Positions

Yes, New Orleans has had issues with play-calling, interior blocking, and quarterback. Another big, and surprising concern, is the lack of big plays from their skill positions. Wide receiver depth has been nonexistent, now an even bigger concern after the trade of Rashid Shaheed. Devaughn Vele and Brandin Cooks must step up to reduce some of the heavy defensive focus on Chris Olave and the other primary weapons.

Olave has been targeted 95 times and has 65 receptions, but only 664 yards and a disappointing average of 11.1 per catch. Alvin Kamara has largely been a non-factor in the passing game and has just 460 rushing yards and a 3.6 average. Juwan Johnson doesn’t have bad numbers at tight end, 43 receptions for 491 yards, but disappears for long stretches. Olave, Kamara, and Johnson have all had issues with drops, further crippling a very limited offense.

Coach Kellen Moore has yet to figure out a way to use Taysom Hill effectively. Game plans and play-calling have been issues, which we’ll get into in a moment. However, the New Orleans playmakers need to take better advantage of their opportunities. This especially starts with Kamara, Olave, and Johnson.

The Bad: Interior Offensive Line

Banks and Fuaga have been strong at tackle, but the guard and center play has not. Right guard Cesar Ruiz continues to be a human turnstile at times, center Erik McCoy is out for the year, and ineffective left guard Trevor Penning was traded. Luke Fortner has replaced McCoy at center, while veteran Dillon Radunz gets the shot at guard. Both played well in the victory over Carolina, but these players will be tested by opposing defensive coordinators. How they respond will govern the success of the offense and also how heavily the Saints need to address this position this offseason.

The Bad: Pete Werner

Werner has been the biggest liability on an inconsistent defense. He’s a solid run defender in the box, but is repeatedly victimized by offensive schemes that get him in space. Werner has been replaced more often in obvious passing situations recently by promising second-year linebacker Isaiah Stalbird. This needs to happen more often, but the coaches should also use rookie Danny Stutsman over Werner more often on base downs.

The Ugly: Coaching

A small pass could be given to Kellen Moore in his first head coaching job. However, Moore should absolutely not be immune to criticism as his offense has been unimaginative and vanilla. Clock management has been equally horrible. On the defensive side, Brandon Staley has been helpless to adjust to opposing offenses nearly every week and his schemes to little to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks. This entire coaching staff has been clearly and grotesquely out-coached in nearly every contest.

Moore, Staley, and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier simply must do a far better job down the stretch of this season. At 2-8, realistic expectations for the Saints are that of player/position evaluation and improvement. The same expectations should be on the coaches if they are the right staff for rebuilding this team.