DWD's Offseason Forecast (Rob Ryan UPDATE) v. 4.0 (1 Viewer)

[NWSaint]

Hard to believe Jeff Blake has a son old enough for the NFL

That's what i'm sayin' !!

Maaaan, wasn't Blake just chuckin' rocks to guys like Horn, Jackson, Poole (Mr. 9-iron) and Jake Reed ????

But then again, I guess that was wayyyy back in 2000.. LoL .. but I hear ya, a young Blake would/could be fitting for the Saints.. someone's gonna have to replace #19 sooner than later.. I dig Morgan (as the deep threat), and this year could be very telling, especially with Coach-P back.. but I do sense a changing of the guard is on the horizon.. Can't wait to see what Coach has up his sleeve for this year, you know it's gonna be good though ;-)



NW.

 

[meily]

Saints will resign bushrod and Harper is not going anywhere I hate to disappoint the people thinking we will get rid if him...but everybody else you projected not to be back I don't think will be back...we ate transitioning to a 3-4 and need to get those type players at linebacker and defensive line and Vilma, Shanle, Herring, Ellis or Smith (financial and production reasons) won't be back...Payton is reshaping the defense...you can't do that keeping the same players.

 

[Cougar 1]

I bet you said the same thing when you heard we were trading Jamaal Brown and putting the game in the hands of Jermon Bushrod...the guy from Townsend. The one we won a SB with.

We then went on to draft Charles Brown with a 2nd rounder. He has injury concerns but he was holding up fairly well@ RT and i believe he can play LT as well. Bushrod being so durable actually works against him..but hes good enough to play on the Right side.

The saints have shown that they have no problem cutting their losses if another person comes along and outperforms them or the player just flat out isn't that good.

With that being said..Charles Brown has stuck around and the best way to see if your 2nd round pick can play is by signing a replacement for Bushrod via FA but with a player thats on the second tier of FA. Why because unlike when we lost nicks we A dont value the tackle position to that extent and B we didn't have anyone to replace Nicks and because we value that position we signed someone we felt wasn't a drop of if any from Nicks.


My points is if the Saints haven't gotten rid of Charles Brown he will be given the opportunity to compete for the starting LT spot...especially since he is in a Contract Year.

The other way to solve that is to draft Lane Johnson if he falls to us and we don't address the need thru FA....but due to this teams history i don't see that happening. We tend to try to fill as many holes in the draft as possible so we can go BPA in the draft.


We prepared ourselves years ago for this situation with Bushrod Leaving by drafting Brown in the 2nd. Bushrod also made another probowl which drove up his asking price. No way we resign or tag him especially now that we are in the middle of a scheme switch.

Charles Brown's career:

2010 IR
2011 IR
2012 IR

As a second rd pick outta USC, Brown was selected to be the future at LT, not to prep for lettin JB go. I say this because when Brown was selected in the 2010 draft, Bushrod had just come off his first year as a starter in 09. JB struggled at times but did OK. IMO, had Brown come on like the Saints THOUGHT he would, and become a starter, then Bushrod simply woulda become a backup or moved to RT, which I also think is his best position.

Yes Brown has been injured. But even when healthy, not only couldnt Brown beat out JB at LT, he couldnt beat out Zack at RT either. 8 starts in 3 years, all at RT, and he got those due to Zacks injuries. If he cant beat out Zack at RT, I dont want him nowhere near tryin to protect my QBs blindside.

Lemme put it this way: before I let Brown play there, Id rather use the #15 pick to take LT Chris Faulk outta LSU.........

and he played only one game for the Tigers last year!

 

[Cougar 1]

1) Restructures does not mean pay cut. It means shifting guaranteed money from one year to the next.

Jahri has no incentive to take a paycut. Why would he? Because he is a nice guy? He is a perennial pro bowler.

If you have seen Bunkley's contract numbers, you would know that it makes ABSOLUTELY ZERO sense to cut him. He holds ALL the cards and will not take a pay cut. You have drafted a 5th round NT in hopes to man the middle with no backup plan. Recipe for disaster...uh, yes.

2) Jarvus Jones will not be there at 15 unless his head falls off his neck. Every team outside of the top three is "hoping he slips" to them.

3) I agree that Vilma, Herring, and Ellis will not be back next year. They cost way too much and don't fit in the 3-4. I am not as sure about Henderson, Shanle, and Smith. I actually could see them back (though I hope it doesn't happen) if they take reduced rates. The Saints could do worse than Will Smith backing up Cameron Jordan if he is playing close to league minumum. I could see Harper parting ways, but it will come down to whether or not he fits in Ryan's system. I could also see Jenkins being gone. But I have a tough time seeing BOTH of them gone. I think that Bushrod will be the priority going into the offseason to resign. O-line continuity is essential on the Saints and though Bushrod may not be elite...he does a great job protecting Brees' blindside. I don't think that the Saints will hand that key over to a rookie or a mediocre "OT at a cheap price".[/QUOTE]

Drew's helluva, but we cant keep shuffling the line EVERY year and expect everybody to play well. Losing Nicks hurt us badly, IMO. It took a while for Grubbs to settle in, but I felt he and JB were gettin it together. Lose Bushrod, and we have to start all over again!

Then there's the revolvin door we already have at RT.


Make it happen and sign the man, Mickey!

 

[Superfuzz]

Bushrod is the linchpin to our successful return to the playoff's. Without someone Drew is comfortable with and trusts, it WILL impact his game ( I TOO believe losing Carl Nicks hurt us). Now, that being said...he will be looking to get paid this contract (well earned, I might add). I hope Mr Loomis can work his magic.

Bunkley is another key to our successful return to the playoffs and to implementation of the 3-4. I dont think we have any leverage on him...he is rightfully so, in the driver seat.

IMO, Harper, Smith, Vilma, Shanle, Herring, Ellis (really wanted him to be a stud for us) are gone.