Can the Saints WIN the NFC South in 2026?

The New Orleans Saints finished the 2025 season in last place in the NFC South, but perhaps no team in the division ended the year with more optimism about the immediate future. Much of that has to do with quarterback Tyler Shough, who exceeded all expectations when he took over as the starter roughly halfway through the season. Now the Saints have reason to believe that they could be back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman preview the 2026 Saints on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

0:00 Welcome to the show
0:11 Offseason in 60 seconds
0:32 What are you most excited to watch?
1:08 Alvin Kamara & run game
5:14 Tyler Shough
6:59 What are you monitoring in the first month?
7:25 Brandon Staley's defense
11:11 Chase Young
12:21 "Can I be mean for a second?"
19:50 What’s keeping you up at night?
22:23 What does success look like for this team?

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