Who are the four most important Saints in 2020?

SB Nation’s newest theme week is centered around Marvel super heroes. Instead of opting for the typical Avengers characters or labeling the NFC South’s heroes and villains, I wanted to present a topic related to one of Marvel’s newest re-acquired properties: the Fantastic Four.

Marvel’s Fantastic Four debuted in 1961 from the minds of comic greats Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. As the name might suggest, it involves a group of four superheroes all with different powers in a universe of regular humans.

That got me thinking: who would the New Orleans Saints’ fantastic four be? Put another way, who are the four most important Saints on the roster?

Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Wide receiver Michael Thomas is an obvious candidate to make the top four. Even more so than Drew Brees, the case could be made that Michael Thomas is the most important Saints player on the roster. Thomas set an NFL record for the most receptions in a single season last year with 149 and led the league in receiving yards with 1,725.

Running back Alvin Kamara seems like the next obvious choice to make our Fantastic Four. Kamara had a down year in 2019, totaling “only” 1,330 combined rushing and receiving yards last year. Still, Kamara is essential to a balanced offense, so he makes our team of four.

The final two spots are tricky, but I’m going to give the third spot to quarterback Drew Brees, if only by default. Drew isn’t nearly as essential to this offense and the team’s success as he once was. That was evidence more than ever in the 2019 season when the Saints went 5-0 against teams like the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears with Teddy Bridgewater at the helm. Brees is a still one of the best quarterbacks of all time and a future first ballot Hall of Famer. For that, Brees takes the third spot in our fantastic foursome because any time you lose Brees in the offense, the offense will likely take a step backward.

But now who takes the fourth spot?

Is it Emmanuel Sanders, the missing piece for the San Francisco 49ers offense last season who joined the Saints this offseason? Maybe Ryan Ramczyk, one of the anchors for the Saints offense line? Maybe Marshon Lattimore, one of the pieces of the Saints secondary that turned this defense around? Or maybe Thomas Morstead, Wil Lutz, or Deonte Harris, key special teamers that help the Saints flip field position?

No, instead we’re going for one of the current longest-tenured Saints outside of anyone else mentioned earlier: Defensive end Cameron Jordan.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Jordan had another incredible season last year for the Saints, playing in 16 games for the ninth-straight season, each year since he’s been drafted. In 2019, Jordan made his fifth Pro Bowl, his second All Pro second team, and capped it all of by making the NFL’s All-Decade Team.

That makes my New Orleans Saints Fantastic Four: Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, Drew Brees, and Cam Jordan. What do you think? Would you have a different list? Who would make your Saints Fantastic Four?

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