Saints' Allen: Carr will do 'exceptionally well' in Kubiak's system
New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen said he's optimistic that new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's system will help veteran quarterback Derek Carr find his best play again.
"Derek is going to do exceptionally well," Allen said Tuesday, according to NFL.com's Kevin Patra. "I thought there was a point in time this past season where we started incorporating a little more of the play-action passing game, and I really felt like that's where our offense started to take off. I thought that's where Derek really kind of started to take off. I've had communication with Derek throughout this process and talked to him about some of the different candidates that we were bringing in."
The Saints announced Kubiak as their new offensive coordinator following Super Bowl LVIII after he spent the 2023 season as the San Francisco 49ers' passing game coordinator. The 37-year-old replaces Pete Carmichael, who served as New Orleans' OC from 2009-23.
Kubiak was part of a 49ers coaching staff led by Kyle Shanahan that helped quarterback Brock Purdy top the NFL in several passing categories, including yards per attempt, passer rating, and EPA/play.
"I felt like Klint Kubiak was obviously the person of choice," Allen said. "I've known Klint for a long time. I feel like I've known the family for probably over 20, 30 years. I remember watching Klint's dad, Gary, play quarterback back at Texas A&M growing up. ... And I feel like this is the best scheme that gives your players the best chance to have success that's going in the National Football League right now."
He added: "Klint is highly intelligent. He's (an) extremely hard worker. I think we've put together an outstanding staff with a little bit of mixture of older veteran coaches that have been there done that, with some younger, progressive-mindset type of guys, and I think it's gonna be a great mixture for our organization."
New Orleans acquired Carr during the 2023 offseason. Though its offense improved statistically compared to 2022, the unit lacked consistency with the four-time Pro Bowler under center. The 32-year-old, who spent his first nine seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders, passed for 25 touchdowns against eight interceptions this past campaign but ranked only 17th in EPA/play.
The Saints finished the 2023 season with a 9-8 record and missed the playoffs for a third straight year.
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