Don Banks:With our offseason moves so far we have improved to an 11-5 record (1 Viewer)

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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/don_banks/03/14/five.improved.teams/1.html
3. New Orleans Saints


Teams that consistently win in this league are brutal in their self-assessment of their own weaknesses. The Saints obviously didn't get it done on defense in 2007, and that's why they went out and made an early move at each line of defense, adding middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, cornerback Randall Gay and defensive end Bobby McCray.
McCray's signing could be pivotal. The former 2004 final-round selection had 10 sacks as recently as 2006, and his addition allows the Saints to shift Charles Grant inside to tackle, from where he can apply some much-needed up-the-gut pressure. With Will Smith at the other end, the Saints will put a pretty athletic front four on the field, reminiscent of the three-defensive-end approach that produced such great results for the Super Bowl-winning Giants last season.
I'm also impressed by New Orleans' foresight in re-signing so many of its own key role players, such as Devery Henderson, David Patten, Aaron Stecker, Jamar Nesbit, Billy Miller, Brian Young and Mark Simoneau. Linebacker Dan Morgan adds depth at weakside linebacker, and the team on Thursday upgraded its backup quarterback slot by signing veteran Mark Brunell as Drew Brees' understudy. Only the loss of center Jeff Faine in free agency registers as a potential setback this offseason, even though New Orleans feels Jonathan Goodwin represents little drop-off at the position.
What they still need: Another cornerback to further strengthen the pass defense, or a run-stuffing defensive tackle who wins more than he loses at the point of attack. The Saints, at No. 10 in the draft, are probably going to finish just out of the money in terms of top defensive tackles Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis, so a top-ranked cornerback (Leodis McKelvin, Aqib Talib or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie) in the first round makes more sense.
How much better?: From 7-9 to 11-5.


Not much, but it's a nice write up and good to see we are getting some recognition around the league for what we've done. I also like that he doesn't think the Bucs have improved more than us or the Falcons, even though they threw money around.
 
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/don_banks/03/14/five.improved.teams/1.html
3. New Orleans Saints


Teams that consistently win in this league are brutal in their self-assessment of their own weaknesses. The Saints obviously didn't get it done on defense in 2007, and that's why they went out and made an early move at each line of defense, adding middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, cornerback Randall Gay and defensive end Bobby McCray.
McCray's signing could be pivotal. The former 2004 final-round selection had 10 sacks as recently as 2006, and his addition allows the Saints to shift Charles Grant inside to tackle, from where he can apply some much-needed up-the-gut pressure. With Will Smith at the other end, the Saints will put a pretty athletic front four on the field, reminiscent of the three-defensive-end approach that produced such great results for the Super Bowl-winning Giants last season
.

I'm also impressed by New Orleans' foresight in re-signing so many of its own key role players, (such as Devery) Henderson,) David Patten, Aaron Stecker, Jamar Nesbit, Billy Miller, Brian Young and Mark Simoneau. Linebacker Dan Morgan adds depth at weakside linebacker, and the team on Thursday upgraded its backup quarterback slot by signing veteran Mark Brunell as Drew Brees' understudy. Only the loss of center Jeff Faine in free agency registers as a potential setback this offseason, even though New Orleans feels Jonathan Goodwin represents little drop-off at the position.
What they still need: Another cornerback to further strengthen the pass defense, or a run-stuffing defensive tackle who wins more than he loses at the point of attack. The Saints, at No. 10 in the draft, are probably going to finish just out of the money in terms of top defensive tackles Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis, so a top-ranked cornerback (Leodis McKelvin, Aqib Talib or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie) in the first round makes more sense.
How much better?: From 7-9 to 11-5.


Not much, but it's a nice write up and good to see we are getting some recognition around the league for what we've done. I also like that he doesn't think the Bucs have improved more than us or the Falcons, even though they threw money around.

Great article i just dont see what he means by devery being a key role player? but other than that it's a great reading. I dont know if we jumped to 11-5 just yet but with the draft we should be close
 
Great article i just dont see what he means by devery being a key role player?
I don't know why everyone is being so hard on Devery. I know he didn't put out much this season, he had a bad year. Actually the whole teams year wasn't that great. Only Brees put up decent #'s (minus the INT.) You go back to last season and Devery was the man. We were #1 in pass plays of 20 yrds. or more and who were those passes going to? Devery because he is the only receiver we have who can create space (unless Meach actually plays this year). You all can say what you want but I am glad to have him back. DEVERY SHALL REDEEM HIMSELF!!!! ( I hope :idunno: )
 
I think the Saints have easily pushed themselves back over .500 as a team with the moves they've made so far....we still have the draft to go to!

:beerchug:
 
I don't know why everyone is being so hard on Devery. I know he didn't put out much this season, he had a bad year. Actually the whole teams year wasn't that great. Only Brees put up decent #'s (minus the INT.) You go back to last season and Devery was the man. We were #1 in pass plays of 20 yrds. or more and who were those passes going to? Devery because he is the only receiver we have who can create space (unless Meach actually plays this year). You all can say what you want but I am glad to have him back. DEVERY SHALL REDEEM HIMSELF!!!! ( I hope :idunno: )

Devery's ability to take it to the house makes me want us to keep him forever, no matter how badly he does, because you know once he leaves here and goes elsewhere, he will produce. We can't let any other team gain the advantage that we have, we need to be stuck with him forever. I hope he earns it.
 
A lot will hinge on the draft if the Saints can have a draft like the Gaints did last year with a couple of players coming in and playing a role then I think we are the class of the NFC South.
 
It's kind of silly to try to quantify how many more wins we will get this season b/c of offseason moves (does that calculation take into effect the offseason moves of every team we will play, let alone the effect of the draft?). Nevertheless, I agree with Banks's general principle: the Saints seriously upgraded the team with this season's offseason free agency/trade moves, much moreso than we did last offseason.
 
While I do agree with his assessment for the most part, I still think a lot is going to hinge on our first three draft choices and the ability of our coaching staff to get them on the field and making an impact.

We still have needs and let's face it....we are betting that two of our biggest additions (Vilma and Morgan) can come back to a form they haven't been at in years. This is a big gamble and I for one am hoping for the best. I still think our best move (not necessarily our biggest) was the addition of McCray. I think that move alone is going to improve our defense in a way we haven't seen before.

Either way....we will need to add at the very least...a DT, a CB, a LB, a WR, an Olineman and a TE that WON'T sit the bench the entire year and not just push for playing time, but a starting spot. If we can get any three of those to come in as rookies and make a difference....we'll be golden!
 
Banks is one of the most knowledgeable people in football! The worst thing Atlanta ever did was get rid of him! good for us bad for them.

I take everything he says a almost gospel and he has never let me down. I am very happy he approves of our work so far.

Now lets go get a CB and a DT and we will be set.

I agree Devery is not that huge of a part of our offense. we need a speed guy and until we can get someone else we have to make sure we have him signed up. For my money though devery drops to many balls and I really hope meachem steps up and makes devery expandable next year.

T
 
It's no coincidence that when we went to the NFC Championship we got major production from our rookie draft picks, same thing with the Giants this year. Not suprisingly, we didn't play well last year and our draft was almost a complete wash. Hopefully, we don't make the same mistakes on draft day this year as we did last year.
 
The Saints were a handful of tipped passes away from being 11-5 last year without these improvements...
 
The Saints were a handful of tipped passes away from being 11-5 last year without these improvements...

I don't know about 11-5, but it is funny to think what if. The reverse and EJ's Houston game. That's 9-7 and in the playoffs even with all the injuries and inconsistent play. I'm with you. We were so close, yet so far.
 

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