NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak already has a vision for how he wants his offense to run.
Kubiak and Saints coach Dennis Allen have emphasized a run-first offense that relies on play-action and misdirection.
"I think we just want to be grounded and run the football," Kubiak told WWL Radio ahead of the NFL draft. "We want to have an identity that we can run the ball versus eight-man fronts. That's something we're going to stress to our guys early in the offseason, building our play-actions and moving the pocket off of that and trying to be a really good team on first and second down."
Kubiak, the new offensive coordinator who was hired by New Orleans in February, has high hopes for a team that stumbled in its run game last season. The Saints didn't pick up a running back via the draft or free agency this offseason and instead focused on rebuilding their offensive line.
Kubiak said in an interview with the Saints' website that the finer details of the offensive scheme will be determined by what the players can do.
"We have a base system we're going to put in, some strong feelings on how we want to run the ball and how we want to use play-action, but at the end of the day, it's going to be getting a good feel of what our guys do well and then carrying that game plan into Sunday," Kubiak told the website.
The Saints were highly productive on offense in the final seasons of quarterback Drew Brees' career thanks to a complementary run game from Alvin Kamara, who scored 58 total touchdowns from 2017 to 2020. Kamara, who turns 29 in July, had his best season in 2020 with 187 carries for 932 yards and 16 touchdowns, but he has struggled since because of injuries in 2021 and 2022 and was suspended for three games in 2023 and missed another with an injury. Running back Jamaal Williams, 29, is also coming off his worst statistical season in part because of injury after a breakout season in 2022.
New Orleans averaged 141.6 rushing yards per game and ranked sixth in the league in 2020, but its output has gotten worse each of the past three seasons. The Saints averaged only 102.5 rushing yards per game in 2023, 21st in the league and their lowest total since 2015. They were also tied for the second-lowest average yards per carry (3.6) last season.
Along with adding Williams in free agency, New Orleans drafted Kendre Miller last offseason in the third round, but he missed nine games because of knee and ankle injuries. When Miller saw the field, he wasn't very effective either with 41 rushes for 156 yards and one touchdown in eight games.
Offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga, selected by the Saints with the No. 14 pick in the 2024 draft, is the biggest addition thus far. The Saints also parted ways with guard/tackle Andrus Peat, 30, who signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, and placed guard/tackle James Hurst, 32, on the reserve/retired list.
Ryan Ramczyk, who turned 30 in April, signed a restructured contract in the offseason that leans heavily on playing time incentives. Allen and Saints general Mickey Loomis have both expressed public concern about Ramczyk's knee issues, which could threaten both his ability to play this season and his future career. If Ramczyk doesn't play in 2024 or chooses to retire, the oldest returning starter on the offensive line will be center Erik McCoy, who turns 27 in August. The Saints also signed former Minnesota Vikings guard/tackle Olisaemeka Udoh in free agency.
Those signings can help the run game, but they are also intended to protect quarterback Derek Carr, who was sacked 31 times last season and left three games with injuries. The Saints shuffled the offensive line after Carr was sacked 17 times in the first seven games, replacing left tackle Trevor Penning with Peat to try to fix the problem.
"I think Derek is a really good athlete. I think he's extremely accurate with the ball. He's played a lot of football and obviously a huge part of me getting to come here was the chance to get to work with him," Kubiak told WWL. "... My short time with him has been really impressive. ... Those guys going out, throwing and catching right now, he's in really good shape. It's really important to him to be a great player and it's really important to me and our coaches that we give him a successful system that he can build some confidence in."
Carr said he has been watching versions of Kubiak's offense since he was young. The quarterback's brother, David, played for Kubiak's father, Gary, when they were with the Houston Texans in 2006.
Carr said that play-action and misdirection are a key part of that style of offense.
"I go back to being a kid watching the [coach Mike] Shanahan offense with the Broncos. ... For the first five seconds, it's like 'Oh that's a run ... oh, nope, they're out the backside.' It's had success for a long time," Carr said. "And it's going to be on us as players to execute it for them, but we're excited about it."
Former offensive lineman and NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger described Kubiak's offense as a "symphony" in a video call with local reporters during the draft. If all the pieces work together, it's highly effective.
"When the outside zone is working and the play-action fakes are going and the defense is responding and you're not sure who has the ball, is it the back, is it the quarterback, has it been given on a fly sweep?" Baldinger said. "It is very, very tough on a defense, especially the linebackers or anybody playing on the second level."
May 21 will mark the official beginning of OTAs and the first time that the entire team can practice together. The Saints likely won't be together fully as a team until mandatory minicamp on June 11, but Carr said the results so far have been great.
"It's going to look different to our fans from what they're used to, what I was used to last year," Carr said. "It's going to look different, it's going to feel different, but I think it's going to be great. I think it's good for our guys to help us play fast, just as individuals and as a collective unit. So I'm excited about it."