Reggie Bush quickly became one of the most impactful players the New Orleans Saints have had in recent memory after the team selected him second overall in the 2006 NFL draft. And he has some ideas about what they must do differently in order to become legitimate contenders in today’s game.
Finishing out his NFL career with 5,490 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns on the ground, Bush played an integral role in the Saints winning Super Bowl XLIV, and he retired with a career he could be proud of.
A lot has changed since then, as Bush acknowledged in a recent interview with Forbes, and there’s much to be done for the Saints to get back to their former status after finishing out 2023 with a forgettable 9-8 overall record.
Bush specifically pointed to quarterback as the first glaring problem to be fixed, but his list doesn’t end there.
“The reason why I think they struggle — I don’t have one specific area — but I think they have to improve at the quarterback position,” Bush told Forbes.com’s DJ Siddiqi. “They have to improve protecting the quarterback and then also on the defensive side of the ball as well. So many different things that I’ve really thought about, but they have to be better. And one of those things is at the quarterback position.”
The Saints have struggled to find a competent replacement at quarterback since the retirement of legendary signal-caller Drew Brees, experimenting with Taysom Hill, dealing with Jameis Winston falling short of the expectations set for him and lackluster play from Derek Carr.
Currently rolling with the veteran Carr, the Saints also have former South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler and former Fresno State passer Jake Haener behind him battling it out for the backup spot, with hopes to become something more. Maybe their new play caller Klint Kubiak can coax more out of Carr than Pete Carmichael was able to last season.
It will be interesting to see how things play out, but there’s no question that quarterback remains one of the Saints’ most problematic positions for the time being.
