Stephone Anthony and other personnel questions (1 Viewer)

I wrote this in my notes yesterday to get ready for my end of season evaluation.


Mark Ingram is in his prime starting next year. Despite sharing carries with Hightower and being in an offense that primarily throws the ball he's on the verge of his 1st 1000 yd season and his 1st with 5.0 ypc or higher. I think you ride him out the last 2 years of his contract and you build the offense around Ingram, Drew, and Michael Thomas.

This will probably be one of the bigger Olines/talented Olines that we've had since his Arrival and he's probably the best he'll be at reading blocks.

1st - You sign a dominant G. I'm begging for Zietler here. I'll be fine with drafting one but if you can get a nasty guy like Zeitler here from the AFC west you make him prime objective #1. I've seen vids where he blocked 2 guys on the play. You open up the holes for Ingram wide enough and he'll get the yards.

2nd - You walk away from Hightower. The game where Mark got fired up about not getting his touches is the perfect barometer for where he's at now as a player. The confidence is there that he should get the ball more, the 5.0 ypc is a good indicator as is his chance at his 1st 1K season with under 300 touches. Give him the ball especially on the goal line. Just develop Lasco to spell him for 5-10 carries a game and ST's touches.

3rd- I noticed how the Jet sweep opened things up for him and we know he needs a speed compliment. Sign Reggie and call it a day. You can manufacture holes for him along with having a good line you can also make defenses play certain ways based on personnel, and I can guarantee Reggie is still more of a threat on a Jet Sweep than Cadet ever will be. You bring a LB out the box or force a team to put an extra DB on the field and this again opens up bigger holes for Ingram.

#4 - Just give him the ball. He's earned it.
I agree that Ingram has come into his prime and can and should be a feature back, as well as with your point about getting a premier G. But why get rid of Hightower? He's not expensive, he runs hard, he's got great character, and he pushes Ingram to play better. Plus, with the way RBs get banged up, you've got to have a couple of guys on the roster like Tim Hightower to help carry the load and fill in when needed. Ingram has been healthier the past two seasons than previously, but RBs get nicked up all the time. Also, Lasco doesn't have the power Hightower does and has had trouble staying on the field both in college and this season. Do you really think he's the answer as our main RB backup to Ingram?
 
I agree that Ingram has come into his prime and can and should be a feature back, as well as with your point about getting a premier G. But why get rid of Hightower? He's not expensive, he runs hard, he's got great character, and he pushes Ingram to play better. Plus, with the way RBs get banged up, you've got to have a couple of guys on the roster like Tim Hightower to help carry the load and fill in when needed. Ingram has been healthier the past two seasons than previously, but RBs get nicked up all the time. Also, Lasco doesn't have the power Hightower does and has had trouble staying on the field both in college and this season. Do you really think he's the answer as our main RB backup to Ingram?

You get rid of Hightower because he's eating into Ingram's touches and you drafted Lasco to be his backup. Already Lasco is better than Hightower in the blocking department. If he isn't better he's at least on par, and he's younger, and more explosive.

You also walk away from him knowing that in the event anything happens you can always ring him up, but as an organization you have to move forward with developing talent and I think SP has mentioned that Lasco deserves more touches.

So in that regard you move on from him because he's eating into Lasco's development and eating into Ingrams touches/production. There isn't any real risk in letting him go either.
 
You get rid of Hightower because he's eating into Ingram's touches and you drafted Lasco to be his backup. Already Lasco is better than Hightower in the blocking department. If he isn't better he's at least on par, and he's younger, and more explosive.

You also walk away from him knowing that in the event anything happens you can always ring him up, but as an organization you have to move forward with developing talent and I think SP has mentioned that Lasco deserves more touches.

So in that regard you move on from him because he's eating into Lasco's development and eating into Ingrams touches/production. There isn't any real risk in letting him go either.

If we're going to remain a run first/ball control offense, then I believe we need Hightower. We've always split carries among RBs, and it has also worked at keeping them fresh.

I don't think i've seen enough from Lasco to give him the primary backup RB job. Because of his "style" i'm sure the Saints will give him every opportunity to prove himself, but I don't know if he's ready.

I will say that Hightower has done enough to say he belongs on someone's roster. I'd probably let him test free agency and bring him back if no one picks him up.

As previously mentioned, Hightower has pushed Ingram into being a better player. I don't think we would have won the Seattle game without him, and I don't think Ingram would be running as hard. Of course..I could be wrong.
 
If we're going to remain a run first/ball control offense, then I believe we need Hightower. We've always split carries among RBs, and it has also worked at keeping them fresh.

I don't think i've seen enough from Lasco to give him the primary backup RB job. Because of his "style" i'm sure the Saints will give him every opportunity to prove himself, but I don't know if he's ready.

I will say that Hightower has done enough to say he belongs on someone's roster. I'd probably let him test free agency and bring him back if no one picks him up.

As previously mentioned, Hightower has pushed Ingram into being a better player. I don't think we would have won the Seattle game without him, and I don't think Ingram would be running as hard. Of course..I could be wrong.

I Think it all has relevance. Yet your point about allowing Hightower to test out FA shows you just how much we don't need him. If we did you'd likely resign him before hand because you'd fear losing an integral piece to the equation. That I do not think he is.

There's also these quotes from payton that suggest even though "we" the fans haven't seen enough from him, the coaching staff itself has seen a lot and these quotes have been backed up more recently by Payton less than 2 weeks ago when he reiterated that they saw a lot they like from him.

"I think it's going outstanding," Payton said Thursday in a conference call. "I think I probably - we probably - just haven't given him enough touches, partly because of the last couple games and how we played. But, we really like the prospect and I would say that he's really done a good job of practice."

Sean Payton labels rookie RB Daniel Lasco's progression as 'outstanding' | NOLA.com


The easy answer is. You move away from the aging vet to develop/use new talent and if you need to call him back up you do. I do believe that motivation is real but I also think that Lasco/Hightower are at different points in their career trajectories with one on the cusp of falling off a map and the other an ascending talent.

Ingram can be a hammer, he can also get the ball on Goal line carries. Two roles that Hightower played. If you are going to improve the unit you expand Ingrams role, as well as expand the touches of the young player Lasco in year 2.


I also don't think we'll ever be a run first/ball control offense. SP has been top 10 in the league at holding the ball every year since he's been here with only one oddball year where we weren't. We can control the clock passing the ball and the proof is in the pudding that we've done it for 10 years including this year despite Drew heading for 5000 yds again. Yet I think within the offense Ingram deserves more touches, more time on the field. I think you trust that Ingram has made that leap in his career. Getting benched, having hightower steal goaline TD's, bouncing back with Big games, the passion he's playing with. I think as a coach you envision that carrying over to 2017 and you now know that the only thing Ingram can't do is showcase 4.3/4.4 speed. Other than that he's the all around back you've wanted to be and there isn't another back on the roster thats better than him at anything at this point in his career EXCEPT for being a WR/RB so you add one of those guys for cheap (Still think Reggie is the optimum fit here) and you maybe draft a RB late(don't see Murphy being much of an option going forward)
 
I don't think they give up on Anthony yet but I honestly don't know how you fix him. I was a huge fan of him coming out of Clemson but I guess I missed how poor his eyes and instincts were. He fails at things that are very hard to coach, things that take you off the field. He is super slow to react, gets confused, misdiagnoses runs vs pass situations. When reviewing last season on All-22 one thing I started realizing that a lot of the defensive breakdowns we experienced were due to him. Allen taking over, one of the 1st moves he made was getting him out of the middle of the defense. Notice how blown assignments, and gaping holes have drastically decreased from last year?

He's an outstanding athlete, and when he actually knows what he is supposed to do he can be dynamic. Maybe they can find a role for him where he can simplify his responsibilities and highlight his athleticism. Unfortunately this is feeling like another Martez Wilson situation. :jpshakehead:
 
I'm not sure Anthony was ever healthy this year. For some reason SP seems to hide injuries related to certain players when it seems to make no sense. Why not use him on STs if he was healthy?
 
I'm not sure Anthony was ever healthy this year. For some reason SP seems to hide injuries related to certain players when it seems to make no sense. Why not use him on STs if he was healthy?

According to Coach Sean Payton...Anthony was too dumb to even be on special teams. Troubling indeed.
 
I hope we can salvage Anthony, but considering who his positional coach is, I have limited hope.

Fleener needs to work with Brees every day next offseason to get on the same page as him with reads and also jugs machine 24/7. His lack of focus led to wayyy to many crucial drops this season. I would give him a pass for his first year, but he is making too much money for pedestrian mistakes like these.


Fleener just need to work on his hands and toughness. It is not like Brees aren't targeting him. He just need to catch these balls thrown to him. Chemistry can improve over time. But the fundamental of catching need to be there first.
 
Umm...sign Reggie?

Reggie Bush closes in on a dubious rushing record | ProFootballTalk


I wrote this in my notes yesterday to get ready for my end of season evaluation.


3rd- I noticed how the Jet sweep opened things up for him and we know he needs a speed compliment. Sign Reggie and call it a day. You can manufacture holes for him along with having a good line you can also make defenses play certain ways based on personnel, and I can guarantee Reggie is still more of a threat on a Jet Sweep than Cadet ever will be. You bring a LB out the box or force a team to put an extra DB on the field and this again opens up bigger holes for Ingram.
 
Umm...sign Reggie?

Reggie Bush closes in on a dubious rushing record | ProFootballTalk


I wrote this in my notes yesterday to get ready for my end of season evaluation.


3rd- I noticed how the Jet sweep opened things up for him and we know he needs a speed compliment. Sign Reggie and call it a day. You can manufacture holes for him along with having a good line you can also make defenses play certain ways based on personnel, and I can guarantee Reggie is still more of a threat on a Jet Sweep than Cadet ever will be. You bring a LB out the box or force a team to put an extra DB on the field and this again opens up bigger holes for Ingram.

EJW, I trust what you say for defensive evaluations, but we have shown very little ability to recognize good LB talent coming out of the college level. The two wake forest LBs, martez wilson, Kika (injury risk more than talent) and Anthony have all been busts. Ellerbe can't be counted on to be healthy for the full season and while I like the pick up of Feeney from the Steelers, we still need another LB. if something happens to Robertson and ellerbe is injured (not trying to be pessimistic) who calls the plays for the defense? I'd rather trust a proven vet out there like Brown instead of a rookie and 27/28 isn't that old. One of the prime FA pickups you want us to go after is Joe Haden who is "only" 27 but has been pretty beat up recently.

Plus they should be pretty cheap $2-4M/yr. Good pass rushers, CBs and WR will cost you more in FA so target those positions in the draft. Especially if it's reported to be a deep year for them.


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I agree with your assessment. I think our ability to scout LB's needs an overhaul (we seem to look for protoype guys and not FB players) and I don't think Vitt is good with coaching up said talent.

I would prefer a FA LB if possible. However, based on the avenue we took last year with signing 3 factored in wth the age of the others, along with the fact that great LB's don't make it to FA suggest that we'll end up drafting one.


The reason I'm going after aging veterans is #1 the contracts are cheap. The guys like Haden will be on 3rd contracts so they aren't about money. I'm looking for guys that will have something to prove. There is an article about how Reggie is washed up on PFF right now. These are the guys that SP talks about when he says you have to find the right guys that are motivated when building a team.

I also found an article that pointed out that a high ranking official in the Saints org suggested that the inquiry about Haden/Browns was more about contract/health issues and getting some info on the player. I'm willing to bet the expect him to be cut. This could end up a bargain bin signing (Sharper) that pays off with a guy that still has 1-2 good years left in him. Same with Reggie. He'd cost less than Spiller/Fleener (similar deal to Roman Harper) and the only thing you are worrying about is can he still play. He'd be a role player not the primary FA acquistion.

Take this information for instance.

In the article it notes that Reggie has 12 carries for -3.3 yards or so on a great running team. IE he's awful. In that scheme.

Travaris Cadet, RB for the New Orleans Saints at NFL.com

Travaris Cadets stats are above. On the season he has exactly 4 attempts for 19 yards and 37 receptions for 267 yds and 3TD's. He's been used very little. Now most people here are arguing me about Reggies injury history but if you don't think that reggie could give you 50 touches on the year at a higher return than Cadet something is wrong.

We split Cadet out wide to be used as a decoy more than we actually used him. A 32 year old reggie is still more of a threat out wide/on a jet sweep than Cadet will ever be. Even if you don't hand him the ball the way you use him can open up the offense and he's probably a better PR/KR.


The object is to find upgrades at legitimate cost and while you do factor in injury history you also have to take into account guys that are perfectly healthy can come in and end their career (Victor Butler).

These are the bottom of the bin/discount signings that are relatively safe. Even if you only get Joe Haden for 7 games out the year we could have used his talents in 7 games when Breaux went down and we were left with 3 UDFA's as starters.


I try to think my thought process out thoroughly.


You aren't signing reggie to Run the ball 10xs a game. You aren't signing him to catch 12 passes a game. You are signing him to fill the role of Cadet but with a better athlete/better pedigree and more than anything similar to the Harper signing its for ST's. Also would bring a little excitement back to the dome. Good for marketing purposesl, good for the media and for that role, would be good for the offense. You are also likely going to use him better than the Bills did this year. Reggie isn't an I formation back.

Pointing out how Reggie reeks n the Bills system is like pointing out how Graham reeks in the Seahawks system. Assuming its because he can't play as the article is suggesting isn't looking deep enough into the process and a standard fan will read that and say yep... "thats why you don't sign him"

Keep in mind Sharper was supposedly washed up when we signed him too!


Every RB can get injured....but every RB isn't going to be cheap and every RB isn't going to come in already knowing the system.


Fact is Reggie carries lower risk than the other RB's. Maybe not the higher reward because of his age but all he simply needs to be is an upgrade to Cadet and that, even at 32, I think he is.
 
Pointing out how Reggie reeks n the Bills system is like pointing out how Graham reeks in the Seahawks system.
Graham reeks in Seattle's system?... I don't think so.

Graham is the 3rd leading TE in the league this year based on total yards.

Only Kelce and Olsen have more yards... and they have seen 115 and 123 targets, respectively.

Jimmy has seen only 88. And he has 6 TDs... Kelce has 4 and Olsen has 3.

And based on yards, he's 30th in the league... yet based on targets, he's all the way down to tied for 59th.

I'd say that's some pretty good production... and certainly doesn't "reek".
 
Fleener, hit the weightroom.

The only flowers we need out there are the beautiful ones on the helmets.
 
He made a tough catch against the Bucs, I was happy for him.

Give him next season, then we'll judge if it was a hit or a miss. He made the biggest impact of all the FA TE signed last season and wasn't the most expensive one (at least HE was on the field).
 

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