Being that its a copy cat league... (1 Viewer)

rex

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and considering that our pass rush left MUCH! to be desired to say the least.

Seeing the blueprint by the Eagles and Giants to beat the top team in the league (Pats)
This strategy would probably beat any team in the league btw.

Grant and Smith are servicable at best, I think we need another DE to rotate in to wreak havok in the backfield. Also a monster DT could help in freeing up our servicable ends as well, but if we dont have a dominant pass rush, I dont care who we have a CB or Safety or LB'er for that matter.

What do you all think about selecting a stud DE in the draft at #1? or who would be available Free Agent wise?
 
HAHAH, man im starving now!

Will Smith is the best pure rusher we have, Grant is versatile and serviceable
but we need to get after the QB. How do you stop Brees, Payton, Brady and now ELI baby!?

We need to get sacks/pressure with our front 4, we cant blitz every down by bringing the house.
 
Read some other threads nearly everyone is calling for a DE or DT at the #10 slot but will anyone still worth it be there is the question?

You have to assume Ellis and Dorsey will be gone which leaves MAYBE Gholston but the thing with him is Gholston projects as a 3-4 OLB more so than a 4-3 DE. Derrick Harvey out of Florida would be great as I think he has all the tools necessary to be a great DE in this league and was a force in the BCSCG against Ohio St. last year (2007) but that would put 3 first round picks in TWO positions. Moving Grant inside to the 3-tech and picking up another Nose to spell or replace Thomas and we have a great line on paper but how will Grant handle the transition inside to play against stronger offensive lineman? Thats putting your whole defensive line's success on ONE player who is currently underachieving at his own position, let alone a position he isn't used to playing. Then you have to think how much money it will take to sign another first round defensive end AND re-sign Smith after this year to keep that D-line together IF it works out.

Personally I think the defensive line is the most important set of positions on the defense but I don't think this FO wants to tie up so much money in one area of the field

I also think Desean Jackson will be our pick at #10 if Dorsey, Ellis, or the Top DE's are gone by the time we're on the clock which would make for alot of unhappy Saints fans.

To be fair though all this draft talk is pointless until we see how the F.O. handle's free agency because our needs can change very quickly after the market opens up. Acquiring Trufant/Samuels and a DT like Cory Williams suddenly makes Desean Jackson seem like a decent value pick at the #10 spot, especially when you think of the mismatches a Colston, Jackson, and Meachem might cause for opposing defenses. Thats your possession guy, speed guy, and a nice balanced receiver to round out the top 3 wr's on the team.

Assuming we get NO FA's however and we need to draft defense round one but with the top 3 (4?) d-lineman off the board and with no truly great CB's or MLB's in the draft who do we pick at #10?

BTW the LAST THING we need to do is stop Brees, he wears a #9 Saints jersey every game, we don't want anyone to touch him, and we want him to lead us to victory.
 
While it would be nice to have another DE who can rush the passer, we have too many holes on defense to use a #1 pick on a DE.
 
why? what have you seen to give you a different opinion?

Will Smith had a Pro Bowl year last season (06-07) for one thing, Grant was considered a top DE in the league, and is simply off form. These are humans we're talking about not machines, there are more factors to their play than simply, give them fuel (money) and watch them go. So they had a quiet year, look at Haynesworth guy was looked at as a over-rated thug before this season now he's thought of as a top DT if not THE top DT in the league at this point in time. All it takes is one good year.

Before people say money should be a motivator well you're right it should be, but it's also a curse. Giving these guy's a raise means they can afford to stay out all night at the club, or eat all 3 meals a day at a fine New Orleans restaurant. They can afford legal fine's so some have disregard for the law (thank christ we don't seem to have any of those) and they can afford fine's imposed by the organization so what do they have to fear? As long as they keep their nose out of O.J./Vick-like situations (How dumb can you get?) they're set for the remainder of the foreseeable future and their children are set for the most part as well.

Add that to the fact that most of the Defensive lineman in the league have/had weight issues (such is the nature of the position) and as we all should know New Orleans is a culinary capital of the world (not exactly a weight watcher's version either) its not unusual that our lineman tend to get bitten by the overweight bug.

What our line needs is a good coach who will stay on their case and give them the motivation to be the world beaters we know they can be. A little weight-training might do they some good as well.

As I said before all it takes is one good year and everyone will be praising these two again. We hired a new defensive line coach, Let's see if he can get these guys to play.
 
Grant had a whole wopping 2 and a half sacks. WOW, that's awesome.
In Grant's defense though, he had a pretty good stretch his first 3 seasons, accounting for 27.5 sacks. But for the last 3 years, he's had a total of 11 sacks. What? 11? In 3 seasons? He was hurt a little, but not enough for his stats to fall that much. In fact, he only started 6 games in his rookie season, and still had 7. I don't know what happened, but obviously something did. Somebody needs to call his moma!!
I think Smith is a pretty good DE, but definitely not Pro Bowl caliber right now. I don't think we need to draft a DE though in the early rounds. Maybe day 2. We've got more stressing needs in other areas right now.

And yes, I think the new D Line coach will make a good difference.
 
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I don't know what happened

Fixed it. Grant was asked to beef up and play the run. He was injured half the season. His R year, he played on the other side of the line and had Howard pushing QBs his way as he has done for Smith.

What you call an off yr for Grant was a conscious scheme change on the part of our coaches. Now, you know.
 
Read some other threads nearly everyone is calling for a DE or DT at the #10 slot but will anyone still worth it be there is the question?

You have to assume Ellis and Dorsey will be gone which leaves MAYBE Gholston but the thing with him is Gholston projects as a 3-4 OLB more so than a 4-3 DE.

Gholston can play either. The thinking is that he's undersized (265 lbs) but that's typical these days for a 4-3 end.
 

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