It's not all bad with the Saints in 2022

Let me get this out of the way -- Yes, the New Orleans Saints are a terrible football team. They're 3-7 and if the NFC South wasn't such a dumpster fire, no one would be uttering their name and "playoffs" in the same sentence.

The point of this article isn't to tell all of you what you already know though. Rather, let's discuss some things about the Saints that are positive.

The Saints have their fair share of problems but there's good to discuss too.

The easiest one is that Chris Olave is a budding star. No one would say that Andy Dalton is a top-tier quarterback but that hasn't stopped Olave from kicking butt and taking names. The first-round rookie out of Ohio State currently leads the team with 658 receiving yards and has scored two touchdowns.

While it doesn't appear that the Saints will solve their quarterback conundrum anytime soon, Olave's performance as a rookie should have the fan base excited. Just imagine what he'll be able to do when this team finds a consistently good quarterback.

Another player for the Saints to be excited about didn't play on Sunday and his absence was notable. I'm talking, of course, about Pete Werner. He's yet another Ohio State standout for New Orleans and has really taken a massive leap during his second year in the league. He leads the defense in tackles with 74.

Defense wasn't a strength for New Orleans on Sunday but Alontae Taylor has shown promise as well. He's been getting picked on a lot since taking over for an injured Marshon Lattimore but he flies all over the field. Penalties were an issue for Taylor this week but otherwise he's been a bright spot on an otherwise bad team.

A surprising playmaker for the Saints has been Rashid Shaheed, who first showed what he could in the Week 6 loss to the Bengals and ever since has been good for an explosive play or two. The Saints, despite Michael Thomas being out for the season but Jarvis Landry being healthy enough to return, opted not to play Marquez Callaway this weekend and Shaheed's versatility might have played a factor there.

Kaden Elliss also played really well and is proving to be a solid player despite being a former seventh-round pick. He filled in for Werner this past weekend and had a nice game.

These are all of the players that can help this team round the corner if the Saints can find a decent leader. We all know that Demario Davis, Cameron Jordan, and Ryan Ramczyk are studs but I wanted to take the time to highlight some of the younger players. The team is bad, yes, but that doesn't mean we should ignore the young promising players.

It hasn't been a fun season for the New Orleans Saints but these players definitely provide hope for the organization moving forward. The team now needs to build around these guys.