GREAT Saints summary by Duncan (1 Viewer)

[rex]

Didnt see this posted. He nails it.

http://blog.nola.com/jeffduncan/2009/04/missteps_after_2006_season_sen.html

 

[Mojomajik9]

Good find, thanks for posting, Rex. Yeah, Duncan was pretty spot on about the failures of 2007. It's harsh to see it laid out there but it is quite evident that Payton and co laid an egg in 07. I think that's probably due to the massive success of his first year and the defense playing above their head in 2006 gave the FO a false sense of security.

It's shocking to see how many additions in 07 are no longer on the team. I still hold out hope for Meachem, and think he can turn it around. Perhaps Young can grow into a solid FS, but 2007's poor personnel choices definitely set the club back a bit.

 

[rex]

Its amazing that each offseason somehow restores hope for the nextr season. From 06' to now in free agency and the draft we only have a few contributors. Certainly makes sense why we were 7-9 and 8-8 respectively. The additions of Vilma, Shockey, Nicks, Torrence, Greer and Evans are the only additions since 06' that have started and deserve to. Not so sure about D Sharper and our depth at LB, RB, CB/S.
Looks like we're still far away, IMO. OF course Gregg Williams WILL make a difference.

 

[rex]

I didnt want to depress myself so I left out depth @ WR. But realistically, if we wouldve hit on the draft in 06-07 and picked up true starters in FA we'd be as solid as the Pitt. Steelers. Id have to say they are not as hard headed like Hasslett was, because he would've went down in flames. Our regime admits their mistakes and does something about it. New DC, adios R. Mueller etc.. I have hope, but in concerned we're an injury away at every position that could be devastating.

 

[neworleanshoo]

great read

 

[HennessyRob]

It's shocking to see how many additions in 07 are no longer on the team..

Not shocking to me.

I've been trying to remind folks of the 07 off-season to show that Loomis isn't the "Genius" that many posters make him out to be.

Which Loomis will handle the upcoming draft???

Only time will tell.

 

[rex]

Tru Dat ^^

 

[gavinj]

"So to recap, here's what the Saints have received from the 2007 offseason haul: the fourth receiver on the roster (Meachem); the fifth and presumably sixth cornerbacks (Young and David); the backup middle linebacker (Mitchell) and left tackle (Bushrod); and a special teams ace (Evans).

Not a significant contributor among the bunch."

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What about that "clear gem of the 2007 offseason" Pierre Thomas? Does he not count or something?

 

[eyehatethefalcons]

he said simmons didn't make it past the first training camp. didn't brian simmons play out all of 2007(mostly on the bench) with the saints? other than that, very good article.

 

[Nevimeister]

Good article and hopefully we'll reap the benefits of the 08 draft even more beyond their rookie years

We don't have many picks this year so have to make them count. It can be done. The NY Giants had one of the most productive drafts in 2005 after they gave up picks in the Eli Manning trade:

2nd round: Corey Webster CB LSU
3rd round: Justin Tuck DE Notre Dame
4th round: Brandon Jacobs RB Southern Illinois

 

[CRESS_137]

Yeah Duncan's got some facts wrong.

 

[brees#9]

the same thing will happen again if we take wells at 14

 

[Marlboro Man]

I've been saying the exact same thing the last 3 years. Thanks for the back up Jeff.

 

[1badsailor]

that was a good read I thought. this caught me by surprise though: Asked last month at the NFL owners meetings to list the team's depth chart at cornerback, Saints Coach Sean Payton responded this way: "Without putting a starter out there, there's three corners we have that all of us would say, between Tracy Porter, Randall Gay, Jabari Greer, there's three (good ones). Leigh Torrence is four, Usama Young is five. Not in any order. And then we'll see how that's impacted as we move forward." not being mentioned at all is worse than being called the player by your coach

 

[Ti Rider]

I look at it this way....Sean Payton basically "stood pat" with his 2006 roster in '07. That roster had taken him all the way to the NFCCG with both the Offense and Defense learning new systems. The team should have been even better in '07 after the players were in the systems longer. So he drafted depth and signed few FAs. The problem with "standing pat" is in '06 was teams clearly underestimated the Saints and Defenses were perplexed by Payton's O. In '07 teams knew the Saints weren't going to be pushovers and after their playoff success suddenly were circled as a "big game" on their opponents schedules. The Saints responded to the target on their chests......poorly. 2007 was waste of one Brees precious and finite seasons. 2008 was injury riddled. 2009 will be a defensive overhaul with Gregg Williams. I have high hopes for Williams but they are tempered by the knowledge of limited cap space, few draft picks, and limited talent on the defensive side of the ball. Williams can only do so much with what the team has on hand and I think far too many fans are expecting miracles........