Saints dead last in ESPN’s NFL FPI rankings
05/28/2025
By Ross Jackson
The expectations around the New Orleans Saints are far different than those of the past. The team has gone from being a perennial playoff team and common Super Bowl contender to a 5-12 season headlined by injuries and the first in-season firing of a head coach for the franchise in decades.
Needless to say, the Saints of today do not carry the same outlook as the Saints of yesterday. That means that success in the 2025 season may not really be all about wins and losses.
One should hope so at least, because if ESPN’s rankings come to fruition it could be an arduous year as the Saints reshape themselves.
ESPN’s preseason FPI rankings placed the Saints No. 32 in the league. Dead last.
Ouch.
First look at NFL FPI ratings for the 2025 season! pic.twitter.com/k6s2fg40X7
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) May 27, 2025
With a new head coach, new coaching staff, new quarterback, and brand new schemes on the way, a low projection isn’t particularly surprising. But dead last behind other teams like the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns? That seems a little harsh.
The three primetime-less clubs have been consistently at the bottom, in one order or another, of several rankings. It’s a class of teams with which the Saints would like to no longer be included. And they’ll have their chance throughout 2025.
FPI is a projection system that is based on quantifying the contributions of each team’s offense, defense, and special teams using efficiency metrics like expected points added. There is an average amount of projected points scored across the league and then teams are ranked based on whether or not they project to come in above or below that total.
The Philadelphia Eagles lead the way this year, for instance. They are projected to have an FPI of 5.5, or are projected to produce 5.5 more points above the average. Making them 5.5 points above average. The Saints, on the other hand, are projected to be 5.2 points below average.
Preseason rankings will change as the teams actually take the field. But as the Saints work their way through OTAs, they’ll have to stomach being counted out in quite a big way in this analytic.