My assessment of the saints offseason so far (2 Viewers)

[novembrefluo]

I think that Arrington is overrated. He did some nice things on TC last year but nothing else. Still, everybody think he is a future starter. Sorry but we haven't seen enough to tell so.
And about Meachem, I know it's frustating to not see enough flashes from him. But some of his plays last year were really promising (the cardinals pre-season game come to my mind)

 

[Jimbo]

Not sure why you guys feel Wells would be a bust. I feel he would definately give a nasty kick in the tail to our running game. He has great burst, vision and finish to his runs and the power to back it up. I'm an Ole Miss and Deuce fan and feel he is very similar to Deuce coming out of college. That said, I would rather see Jenkins there at 14.

 

[SaintGreenie]

WR
Meach-I really think he will start opposite Colston. He just has too much big play potential to not be in the game. He did well whenever he was in last year.

I had a dream last night that Meachem had a break out year. Burning DBs deep and catching everything in sight. I haven't had a Saints dream in a while, and I'm not one of those people who are adamant that Meach will break out (more of a wait and see guy). So I'm gonna take this dream as a good omen.

 

[BulldogSaint]

Welcome and nice first post - I am personally all signed up for the drafting of Wells, I think with the moves we have made in FA and just simply having GW as our DC alone is going to make our D completely different. I believe people can be coached up and I honestly feel that if we fielded the exact same D as we had last year with GW in charge instead of Gibbs we would see a different group of guys.

 

[N.O.Bronco]

i would like to see more of mike bell

No you dont.

 

[wnelson]

dude brah you should read the article on the front page of today's sports section. very astute article on how the guys {mod edit - no thinly veiled profanity, please, per the TOS - kd} up after the '06 season.

and i would like to see mike bell as the 3rd running back, you know the guy who brings water to reggie and pierre

 

[wnelson]

anyone else besides me think that meach will be a camp casualty due to his salary and lack of development?? this will only go to further the article from today's thesis that the offseason after the miracle '06 season was wasted and terrible..... god we should have gone DEFENSE that draft as we should this year (unless we trade back and take MACK as a starting center... and go D with the rest of the picks)

 

[Domeination]

Here are Wells' college stats:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=183932

Here are Deuce's college stats:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuce_McAllister

Wells had 585 carries for 3,382 yards and 30 rushing TDs in 3 seasons with Ohio State.
Deuce had 616 carries for 3,060 yards and 36 rushing TDs in 4 season with Ole Miss. Deuce also had good production as a receiver out of the back field and kick returner, skills Wells lacks.
Wells was somewhat hampered by foot, ankle, and wrist injuries while at Ohio State but was known for playing through his injuries.
Deuce dropped down the draft board the year he was drafted because of a history of ankle and shoulder injuries while at Ole Miss, which he also played through.

Deuce was a better receiver in college than Wells, but Wells had more yards per carry. They're both about 6'1" and 235. Deuce was a little faster coming out of college (a 4.4 40 to Wells' 4.5 40), but they're pretty comparable in terms of production. While Wells won't be able to get to the corner and take it to the house like Deuce could in the first half of his NFL career, he can definitely fill the role of a smashmouth back who can punish the defense running in between the tackles. Wells will be a very good NFL back, IMO. If Jenkins is there at 14, we should definitely take him. If Jenkins is gone and Wells is there, I wouldn't be surprised if we took him, although it might also be prudent to trade down if the FO can find the right deal.

 

[mvtrucking]

Welcome Infinite_Cresent, glad to have you aboard. Great post too!

 

[ktgoti]

PP with 1 career INT!

 

[Superfan]

greetings all 1st post on been a reader a while though

FS
Sharper-Major upgrade over Bullocks (Bears cant be THAT desperate?)

Usama Young- will make a good safety much better than at CB imo with his physicality and size being better suited for the S position. Should be main backup at FS & SS if he does infact make the switch. If he exceeds expectations he may even steal snaps from Harper in obvious passing situations

Prioleau-nice pickup for special teams and knows WIlliams system. Could start in a pinch and not be a huge liability (Bullocks). Not a playmaker though evidence of his 1 career int.

CB
Greer-upgrade simply by him him being on the field and not injured (MM)
plus he has an 85 on madden and a 94 speed

Porter-Wil start opposite Greer and basically be a new addition since he missed most of last season. I see Pro Bowl potential in this guy

FB
Evans-upgrade over Karney. Karney was so stiff and one-dimensional and always went down on 1st contact even though hes built like a tank. Evans with his speed,vision,running ability, and ability to get to the 2nd and 3rd level quickly will be why he will have a career year in this offense mark my words

DE
Spicer-love the signing. Should rotate all along the D-line at both end and tackle and if Grant/Smith dont get their act together he & Mccray are gonna take those spots. Charleston- was impressive but he may be stuck in a #s game

DT
Coleman-man im so excited about this signing i think he is going to come back and be a pro bowl caliber player. Him and Ellis 2gether on passing downs with Mccray and Smith/Grant/or whoever should be scary for any QB especially with the extravigant blitzes i expect from GW.

LB
Morgan-Not as confident in Morgan boucning back as i am in Coleman but i am hopeful he can come in and take a starting job from either olb because i think both our olbs need to be upgraded. At least one we cannot continue to have two unathletic slow LBs manning the olb positions. Id like to see Marcus Washington come in and compete and also draft a LB thats an athletic freak like Barwin

WR
Meach-I really think he will start opposite Colston. He just has too much big play potential to not be in the game. He did well whenever he was in last year.

Arrington-Should make roster but i dont expect him to be over any higher than 5 on the depth chart unless someone gets injured. I like him but I like Meachem more.

RB
Bell/Hamilton-I dont see why these two cant be competent enough as a 3rd/power back. I dont want a 1st rd RB. I liked what i seen from these two and am willing to give them a shot. Not to mention that FB cant remember how to spell his name olyiani sobeheimi or somthin like that he can tote the rock and block.

I think the Evans signing was huge. I wanted Jacob Hester last year to do what Evans is going to do. Evans will create such problems that our offense should own people this year. I want Colston, Moore, Shockey, Bush, and Evans all on the field at once.

 

[mister pc]

i like the offseason so far. We resigned our own FA, and picked up Sharper, Coleman, Greer, and Morgan who could all be starters for the Saints defense this season. here's an idea what the 53 man roster could possibly look like:


P - Pakulak
K - Hartley

DT – Ellis, Coleman, Clancy, Pressley
DE – Smith, Grant, McCray, Charleston, Spicer
LB – Morgan, Vilma, Fujita, Shanle, Dunbar, Evans, draft pick
CB – Porter, Greer, Gay, David, Torrence
S – Sharper, Harper, Prioleau, Young, draft pick

OT – Brown, Stinchcomb, Strief
OG- Evans, Nicks, Nesbit, Duckworth
C- Goodwin, Leckey
TE- Shockey, Miller, Kapanui
WR- Colston, Moore, Henderson, Meachem, Arrington
RB- Reggie, PT, Bell, draft pick
FB- Evans
QB – Brees, Bruenell, Harrington

 

[dat dam dog]

now I have heard everything... CBs are not supposed jump routes ??? The safety is there so CBs CAN jump routes .. it all depends what type of coverage scheme the secondary calls... the job of the safety is to " not let ANY offensive player get between him and the goal line" that is football 101...the safety is NOT the gambler...he is .. the last line of defense..

Thanks, I've been wrong many times before.

We don't can CBs for not getting enough interceptions, we can them because they let the receivers catch it too many times.

We can Safety men for not getting the big turnover, which we and other teams rely on the Safeties to do.

Many times when MM jumped the route he got nailed by the wide open receiver.

I'll also mention that I didn't say either position should jump the route.

The Safety can look at the field, the CB has to keep his eyes on the receiver.

I guess now you've heard more than everything.


ddd

 

[rjames0016]

Thanks, I've been wrong many times before.

We don't can CBs for not getting enough interceptions, we can them because they let the receivers catch it too many times.

We can Safety men for not getting the big turnover, which we and other teams rely on the Safeties to do.

Many times when MM jumped the route he got nailed by the wide open receiver.

I'll also mention that I didn't say either position should jump the route.

The Safety can look at the field, the CB has to keep his eyes on the receiver.

I guess now you've heard more than everything.


ddd

Yes you did. You said the safety is the gambler which means you are implying that he should be the one to jump the route. The safety should never jump the route. That's what josh bullocks did and look at him now.

 

[Marlboro Man]

Welcome to the board and great first post. I too like the way the team is shaping up. I am very happy with the Tracey Porter draft pick and I think this kid is going to be something special. My only concern is that he keeps his head on straight and doesn't turn into a problem child player or high maintenance player. I can't say that I know a lot about Jabari Greer. From all that I'm hearing from SR, Sirius, and articles from all over, I must say that I'm very encouraged with this tandem of Porter and Greer, they just might be one of the best young tandems in the league this year and for years to come. Leigh Torrence is another player that I have no knowledge of and it would be great if one of our members could get some film of him so we could see what he has to offer. So I believe that this year we finally have a good to very good CB tandem and rotation. Some may argue that Porter is still young and will make mistakes to which I will have to reply, hence Darren Sharper to play center field so that for once in a very long while our CB's will have some good intelligent and experienced over the top help. I too realize that Sharper is only a 2yr max patch to our secondary but I feel that it's going to help us a lot more than a lot of people think not just on the field but in getting our safeties more help learning how to be legitimate NFL safeties. Roman Harper is perplexing in that in his first year he looked really pretty good but it seems that he's lost an awful lot after that knee injury and I think it's gonna force him into the box a lot more for the rest of his career. We now have a little depth and just a little in our safety rotation but this position still remains our greatest weakness. If we draft Malcolm Jenkins at 14 I know that they will definitely try him at corner but I think that during TC he and the rest of us and the team will see that he will have to move to FS. The question then is: We need a playmaker on defense with our first round pick that will definitely see the field hopefully in a starting capacity or at least starting by mid season. I'm ok with trading down but not more than 3-4 spots and taking Sean Smith in round 1 and have him learn under Sharper and contribute immediately on ST and getting the 14th pick in round 3. If that scenario takes place I still don't think we would be able to get a pure FS better than Smith but could definitely get the OLB we're looking for there and then address C and RB in round 4. With the 7th round pick I'd just take the tallest, fastest CB or FS left.

As for offense, I still think our O-Line is lacking in the run blocking area. I am definitely not a Jon Stinchcomb fan and I also think we need to get stronger at C. As for our WR's I guess I'm going to be the first to say that I'm a little disappointed in Marques Colston. Everyone here raves about him and rags on Henderson, but I'm seeing a lot of easy TD passes and 1st down passes along with some very crucial passes being dropped by Colston over the last two years not to mention I'm still not seeing him being as aggressive as he needs to be, going for the ball. With his size and strength he lets way too many corners and safeties keep him from the ball. I hope he starts to correct these things this year because I believe that we're all going to see a much different Devery Henderson now that the Saints have shown him the love with a 4 yr. contract and I also think that Adrian Arrington is going to show us something special this year leaving Robert Meachem in the dust. I don't know what Meachems' problem with learning the playbook is but by now he should at least be able to run 4 routes correctly so as to become at least some kind of weapon for the Saints. Lance Moore is a good receiver but he doesn't scare anyone deep. He is your classic possession receiver and that's why you haven't seen that much interest in him so far. If he has another good year for us then you'll see a lot more interest from teams wanting him. To me, if we can get that second round pick for Lance, we need to be like New England and be smart and take it and get a player that can help us in an area of need. We already have Lance's replacement on the team in either Meach if he can get his act together or Arrington and we need game changers on D. JMHO