St. PJ
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The Good:
The offensive line gave us reason to hope yesterday. I'm really not sure why it took so long this offseason and preseason for the staff to figure out Peat's best position would be LG; that said, we've gone from hoping Kalil Mack doesn't decapitate Drew to feeling good about our line.
Our WR group, despite its youth, will only get better, and that's scary. What will make this the best group the Saints have had is the talent alone. Sure, Payton has always found role / niche WR's to complement his system and each other, but in Cooks you have a speed demon who actually runs good routes and has great hands, and in Thomas, you have a possession WR who will out-physical his guy, yet still has enough fast twitch to make guys miss, and with Snead you have a guy who can get open on his own accord - not just scheme. If only Fleener would put the work in, learn what he needs to learn, and earn his money...
I am perplexed as to why Spiller was inactive, as I believe he is much better than Cadet in catching passes, rushing the ball, and making guys miss. I've really no complaints with Ingram and Hightower, and am happy Tim made the team, as I believe he gives us that freight train for 3rd and short we need.
Drew is Drew, and now that he has the full complement of WR's who not only fill out the roles of each position but also have talent to create separation and dependable hands, I really am hoping he finally gets a well deserved MVP. I also hope all the "Drew has declined" or "we should trade him and rebuild" or "he is greedy" crowd gets silenced and that idiotic line of thought ceases. Without Drew, this team is drafting nearly first overall the last two years and this year as well.
As for play-calling, I was very impressed with some of the formations and some of the misdirection I saw yesterday. It looked fresh, if not innovative. It looked like vintage Payton play design-- finally some evolution, some new wrinke, something that made the defense think -- something we haven't done since 2006. About time.
Defense - I loved seeing all the bodies flying around, gang tackling, jumping on piles, and just being physical. It was great to see and also a very pleasant surprise.
What I hated to see was these young defenders, especially the CB's, acting like they did something, acting the ***, anytime they had a play go their way against Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree - both WR's drafted in top 10 with loads of talent. Please don't kick a sleeping dog until the game is over.
I don't have a major complaint with most of the defense; I don't hold what happened against the young DB's. What really got under my skin and ****** me off had to do with the defensive line and Bill Johnson - our D-line coach who has developed Jack Squat since he's been here and somehow stays employed.
When Oakland lost their starting RT, and again lost his replacement, already short a few linemen, they had to get creative. How on earth did the Saints not exploit the right side of Oakland's line? How are we not overloading that side with blitzes? How are we not putting our best rushers against what Oakland had left? Completely unacceptable.
Simply, I believe the Saints could have and should have hired a damn defensive line coach known for finding and developing gems in the rough, known for taking a guy like Cam Jordan and helping him reach that next level. Known for being able to exploit the other teams offensive line.
The offensive line gave us reason to hope yesterday. I'm really not sure why it took so long this offseason and preseason for the staff to figure out Peat's best position would be LG; that said, we've gone from hoping Kalil Mack doesn't decapitate Drew to feeling good about our line.
Our WR group, despite its youth, will only get better, and that's scary. What will make this the best group the Saints have had is the talent alone. Sure, Payton has always found role / niche WR's to complement his system and each other, but in Cooks you have a speed demon who actually runs good routes and has great hands, and in Thomas, you have a possession WR who will out-physical his guy, yet still has enough fast twitch to make guys miss, and with Snead you have a guy who can get open on his own accord - not just scheme. If only Fleener would put the work in, learn what he needs to learn, and earn his money...
I am perplexed as to why Spiller was inactive, as I believe he is much better than Cadet in catching passes, rushing the ball, and making guys miss. I've really no complaints with Ingram and Hightower, and am happy Tim made the team, as I believe he gives us that freight train for 3rd and short we need.
Drew is Drew, and now that he has the full complement of WR's who not only fill out the roles of each position but also have talent to create separation and dependable hands, I really am hoping he finally gets a well deserved MVP. I also hope all the "Drew has declined" or "we should trade him and rebuild" or "he is greedy" crowd gets silenced and that idiotic line of thought ceases. Without Drew, this team is drafting nearly first overall the last two years and this year as well.
As for play-calling, I was very impressed with some of the formations and some of the misdirection I saw yesterday. It looked fresh, if not innovative. It looked like vintage Payton play design-- finally some evolution, some new wrinke, something that made the defense think -- something we haven't done since 2006. About time.
Defense - I loved seeing all the bodies flying around, gang tackling, jumping on piles, and just being physical. It was great to see and also a very pleasant surprise.
What I hated to see was these young defenders, especially the CB's, acting like they did something, acting the ***, anytime they had a play go their way against Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree - both WR's drafted in top 10 with loads of talent. Please don't kick a sleeping dog until the game is over.
I don't have a major complaint with most of the defense; I don't hold what happened against the young DB's. What really got under my skin and ****** me off had to do with the defensive line and Bill Johnson - our D-line coach who has developed Jack Squat since he's been here and somehow stays employed.
When Oakland lost their starting RT, and again lost his replacement, already short a few linemen, they had to get creative. How on earth did the Saints not exploit the right side of Oakland's line? How are we not overloading that side with blitzes? How are we not putting our best rushers against what Oakland had left? Completely unacceptable.
Simply, I believe the Saints could have and should have hired a damn defensive line coach known for finding and developing gems in the rough, known for taking a guy like Cam Jordan and helping him reach that next level. Known for being able to exploit the other teams offensive line.