FanHouse Usama Young

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Though 2006 was arguably the best season in New Orleans Saints history, the campaign was only the beginning of this streak of NFL competitive relevance in the Crescent City. Despite steps backwards in 2007 and 2008, the team has quietly been adding front-end talent and admirable depth since that NFC Championship appearance against the Bears. Now, as Drew Brees put it, "...we're at this stage in our careers where this is kind of our prime. ... So this is our window of opportunity. This is our chance to walk together forever, to go down in history together." After over 40 years and just two playoff wins, is this the year the Saints finally break through?

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With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Saints again attempted to shore up ailing aspects of their team in free agency. Some say this is to give them flexibility in the draft. This is true, but it also makes it hard for other teams to guess what they might do with their No. 14 overall pick. Don't overlook that benefit.

While the signings made were in an effort to improve the team, not every signee is considered the solution within the team's headquarters, so some positions could still benefit from a high draft choice. And with only four picks in this year's draft, New Orleans needs to make that first-rounder count in a big way.