Each week here at Hakim we bring together a group of Saints bloggers to discuss all things Saints during the week. Here is their email chain. This week we had Grandmaster Wang from moosedenied, Dave Cariello , Andrew Juge and Hansdat from Canal Street Chronicles, and Ralph Malbrough from WWLTV.com. Oh and the boss man Kevin Held.The Saints got their asses handed to them in Houston but it was only preseason so they guys aren't worried. Just kidding they were angry and looking for some one to blame. They ARE LOOKING AT YOU PAUL OLIVER. DON'T YOU LOOK AWAY!
Ralph Malbrough:
That mess against the Texans was topped off with the turd cherry this morning when I read about Franklin's sprained knee. The wierd thing is I'm not really that concerned about the defense. Yeah it got gashed but the Saints don't win with elite defense. The Saints won the Super Bowl in 09 because their offense was a 500 point scoring unstoppable force.
Right now they aren't near 2009 levels and good god those offensive tackles are looking not NFL starter quality.
I also have to give props to Dave who on one of the podcasts answered Malcolm Jenkins to my question of ,"Most important Saint not named Drew Brees" His worst fears were on display as Oliver looked like a less athletic Tebucky Jones.
Right now the Packers game is scaring the crap out of me because the Packers rush the QB with abandon and I believe less in the Saints o-line everytime I see them.
Grandmaster Wang:
I agree with every word of that. I wish I didn't, but I do. It was a lot worse than Message Board Guy has been trying to convince everybody it was this morning. "IT'S PRESEASON!!!!" Granted, but the Saints got their asses kicked straight up. Doesn't matter that the game "doesn't count" or whatever. Preseason is for evaluation and my evaluation of last night was that the Saints' first teams got their balls handed to them.
It wasn't a COMPLETE trainwreck, there were some good things. The running game for one. That was nice, for the short period of time we got to see it. I just hope what we saw wasn't just a "flash" and in a real 60-minute game we'll still only get that kind of running effectiveness for a series or two. Guess we'll have to wait and see on that.
We were having a hell of a lot of fun last night bagging on Paul Oliver and repeatedly pointing out that he was wearing #25. What a horrible performance by that guy. Totally agree with Dave, Malcolm Jenkins is clearly this team's MVP Who Doesn't Wear #9.
I'm trying really hard to keep an even keel here and keep telling myself that there's a reason they call it "midseason form" and not "preseason form." But I'm getting real nervous real quick. And MBG can keep yelling at me that "IT'S JUST PRESEASON! THE GOOD STUFF COUNTS BUT THE BAD STUFF DOESN'T MEAN SHIT!" until he's blue in the face. Yo MBG, everybody knows it's preseason. We get it. But when you're getting straight up dominated on both lines, missing tackles, getting torched through the air, you bet your ass it's significant. Even in the preseason. Oh sure you can hide that to an extent in the regular season by scheming, and I'm sure they will, but the fact that you have to is not a good thing any way you slice it. This is supposed to be "the bestest, deepest roster in franchise history" and for the most part, they got skulldragged straight up, mano-a-mano. Ain't no putting lipstick on that pig.
My security blanket today is my absolute faith in Payton's and Williams's ability to get this shit figured out. That's pretty much all I've got right about now to keep me from curling up in a closet.
"Yeah, but everybody was pretty happy last week after the SF game!" Yeah, and guess what? SF blows and Houston doesn't. Unfortunately the Saints don't have the luxury of playing SF 19 times. Look, I know there are plenty of reasons to discount it and not worry about it too much. PRESEASON!!! Sue me, but I'm not finding that very convincing or comforting right about now.
Kevin Held:
Doesn't matter that the game "doesn't count" or whatever. Preseason is for evaluation and my evaluation of last night was that the Saints' first teams got their balls handed to them.
Best. Comment. Ever.
From what I understand, that O-line was more porous than the Second Death Star, with Houston's rush playing the roles of Lando Calrissian and Nien Nunb.
Dave Cariello:
Wang: "I'm trying really hard to keep an even keel here and keep telling myself that there's a reason they call it "midseason form" and not "preseason form.""
But, even better, the Saints were in postseason form...looking just like they did against Seattle last year.
Andrew Juge:
I'm sorry, did the Saints play last night? Hmmm, I must have completely forgotten about that and put it out of my memory. I wonder why I put it out of my memory, anyway? Was it because Drew Brees looked like the corpse of Babe Laufenberg? Was it because Paul Oliver might has been Pam Oliver out there? Was it because our new linebackers Herring and Casillas played like they weren't fit for being starters at Walsh College alongside Joe Morgan? Was it that the lowly Texans, not even playoff worthy competition, demolished the Saints in every single facet of the game? So many wonderful choices I just can't pick.
The one thing I will say: the Saints played A LOT of zone last night in coverage, with no attempt at adjustment. Andre Johnson found all the soft spots, and Schaub's accuracy was deadly. Once Leinart came in, the zone worked because his accuracy was horrid. If this were a regular season game, the coverage looks would have changed. Instead, they stayed the same because the Saints weren't interested in making in game adjustments. Not saying that's any excuse, or that I'm not concerned the Texans look so much further along... it's a huge cause for concern, but the Saints coaching staff is strong at making in game changes and they weren't concerned with doing that in this one. As far as stopping the run, that was a simple lack of effort and poor tackling. No adjustment needed there other than execution by the players, which didn't happen. There is no excuse for how they ran the ball on the Saints. 208 yards and 6.1 a carry. No excuse. None. Give me an excuse. Please.
HansDat:
Remember the idea of playing "complementary" offense and defense that feed off each other (by getting takeaways followed by quick scores) and lead the Saints to victory?
Another way to look at it is that the team played a very crappy version of the complementary game - Brees coughed it up in the red zone, and the defense (what? we've got to get on the field now? OK...where in the $%&$ is my helmet?) responded by giving up a quick TD drive with only token resistance.
Ralph Malbrough:
Hans done chimed in so I KNOW THIS IS SOME SERIOUS SHIT RIGHT HERE. Although the Saints checked every box in my personal 'Make Ralph Panic' exhibition football form. I'm going to invoke the Buddy D Preseason rule of 'If you see it back to back weeks in the Preseason go to church and light a novena candle because only god can help them'
I'm still in Wang's camp of trusting Payton and my guess is he'll chew ass in Cali and Saints will drop an ass kicking on the Raiders out of fear but if they don't and the line still can't pass protect and d-line is getting run over well I'll have to head to the nearest Catholic church on my lunch break next Monday.
HansDat:
I agree - let's get a look at how they respond to this, and see how healthy we can get in a couple of weeks for Lambeau...
And how's that saying go?
Once is an accident, twice is a trend, and three times is a SHIT SANDWICH OF 8-8 IF WE'RE LUCKY.
Kevin Held:
If this defense doesn't get it's shit together by week 1, Aaron Rodgers is gonna jam that championship belt of his right up our collective candy asses. The idea of having Paul Oliver covering Jordy Nelson or Greg Jennings is enough to wake a man in a cold fucking sweat here.
Andrew Juge: Has anyone mentioned that that was some awful shit yet?
Ralph Malbrough:
Now Nicks got injured and was replaced by Tennant. Jesus, hopefully it's not serious. Dave I believe the Cariello panic meter just went full scale meltdown mode like a Japanese nuclear plant.
Don't you mean a group Juge?? (sorry, couldn't resist)
Kevin Held:
Dave's having a meltdown and there's no salt water available for cool off!
/paid attention to news coverage
Ralph Malbrough:
Question for all. Wang, great job on the column today. When you punch the media in the face it's delightful. Today's question is what is the ceiling for the saints current o-line?
I know it's hard to predict stats for lineman so your general overall view is fine. I'd say it's looking more and more like it won't be near as good as last year and last year it regressed from 09.
So I guess I'm leaning towards...barely acceptable.
Grandmaster Wang:
Sky's still the limit, but about 10 things have to go exactly right at this point. None of them are completely beyond the realm of possibility though. So it seems to me it's wide open right about now. If everything goes right, Strief is a much larger and much younger version of Stinchcomb, Tennant wins the starting gig at C and is the next Joel Hilgenberg, the light finally goes on for Bushrod, Nicks's injury is nothing and somebody re-lights a fire under Evans's ass. Or it could be a complete trainwreck. Anybody who says they have the slightest idea how it's gonna play out is talking out of his ass. Chips, they shall fall. Wait for it... wait for it...
So The Big Lead launched its 2011 Cultural Tournament last week. I was more than giddy over looking at the seeds and voting and what not. (Note: I'm a loser who gets giddy about a sports blog posting a nonsensical NCAA-style tournament about things in the sports/pop culture world. Fuck off.)
After looking through the seeds and basically accepting the fact that The Wonder Years will be on this from the end of time and that Kate Upton is lock of the century, I noticed many of the commenters were more than disconcerted by the entrants? "Where's Game of Thrones?" they cried. "How can Marv Albert be seeded beneath Gus Johnson?!" And so forth.
Well, after reading through several of the tournament posts on The Big Lead I decided to try and remedy this in some small way. With permission from the head honcho at TBL, I created an NIT-style tourney, featuring as many things that I could think of involving the pop culture/sports world that did not make The Big Lead's Culture Tourney.
Hey, remember the song "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Deep Blue Something?
Yeah, you hate me for reminding you. But if TBL is the band riding around on the back of a flatbed truck, I'm the bozos who saw that happening and thought, "We should do that, too!" And then we'd get a crappy pickup truck and ride around the back of that.
Yes, this is a half-assed attempt at ... something. I love the Culture Tourney and missed it when it didn't run last year. And I didn't want too many of the natives over in TBL land to "not get it" and lambast away at the guy. So maybe I'm doing this because it's a) fun to come up with entrants b) easy because I'm lazy c) copying as a form of flattery d) all of the above.
So here's the rules:
-16 "matches" featuring 32 entrants.
-The polls on this here page will be up for 5/6 days before a winner is declared.
-How do you decide who/what to vote for? Vote however you feel like voting. If you think it's "What do I like more?" then vote that way. If you think it's "What do I hate more?" then vote accordingly. It's all lagniappe, folks. This is to give folks who felt shafted that Game of Thrones and the Whip My Hair GIF girl didn't get any love in the TBL big tourney.
-These things are NOT seeded in any way, shape or form. It's a loose collection of references and things I hope people will care to vote for or against.
Here is the tournament lay out:
Bill Simmons' Twitter feed
CM Punk's Twitter feed
Unnecessary 3D effects in movies
Greenlighting sequels to awful movies
The Royal Wedding
The Kardashian Wedding
Archer
Louis
Brett Favre retiring (again)
Randy Moss retiring
Sending dick pics to someone other than your wife
Cheating in your fantasy football league
Game of Thrones
Watch the Throne
The term "Gladwellian"
The phrase "low 7 figures"
"Charlie Sheen is a train wreck!" jokes
"Lindsay Lohan is a train wreck!" jokes
Justin Timberlake making fun of Joe Buck
Artie Lange making fun of Joe Buck
Voting FOR something
Voting AGAINST something
Ron Swanson
Jack Donaghey
Tressel-Pryor Gate
Da U Controversy
Talking yourself into "playoffs!" this year
Dismissing critics with "it's only the preseason!"
This week Wang explains how the new kickoff rule will help the Saints special teams suck less and Andrew and Ralph argue over dumpster diving for an offensive tackle to replace Stinchcomb
Ralph Malbrough
Oh Wang, can't you see the Saints CAN NEVER WIN ANOTHER SUPER BOWLwith the LB's they have! Seriously though, I am trying to contain myself as this team looks tremendous. Nice angle to the preseason opener preview. After last Friday's column I took a pass on previewing this game and I'll write about the game and preview next week.
I think you can make the argument the Saints have no glaring holes and really only about 3 serous questions besides health which isa crap shoot for any team
1. Will the offensive line be better in 2011 even though they are returning 4/5 starters from a year ago?
2. Will the additions at DL help the Saints super shitty 1st down defense and add a pass rush.
3. LB's...which the Saints answer would be," We DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT outside LB"
Sure you could throw in Ingram and running game but that's o-line I mentioned above...I mean shit when does Sept get here?
Grandmaster Wang
Well, so far it looks like #1 is still a huge question mark. #2 and #3 are looking really good. If Casillas can stay healthy, there's your weakside guy. And surely there's something there between Shanle, Ingram and Herring. Maybe a rotation. I think they can get by just fine with that.
Is Joe Morgan about to go all Rod Harper with it?
Ralph Malbrough
Drew Brees threw 4 passes and got hit on two of them last night. Small sample but to me the more I think of it the O-line is the only serious question about the 2011 Saints. One of Drew's throws should have been picked. Last year his injured knee played a part in the 22 picks but I think him getting hit alot did as well. Any QB that gets hit consistently makes mistakes.
I know Stinchcomb didn't play but I'm not sold this offensive line can hold up. Maybe their play in 2009 was the exception and 2010, 2007-08 was the normal?
I know I'm sounding like panicked message board guy but it's not so much panic as me thinking this: This line is good enough to be 11-5 with no RB so the question isn't if it's good enough to win it's can it be great like it was in 2009?
Right now to me I'm not certain the answer is yes.
PS..It is a fucking sweet place to as a fan when the only serious question about the Saints is will their o-line be above average or great.
Andrew Juge
Overall I was encouraged. The coverage units were outstanding, they tackled pretty well, and they got pressure on the quarterback. Those were my biggest concerns coming in and they passed with flying colors. Pass the Abita.
Ralph Malbrough
I guess seeing Brees get hit at the knees was so unpleasant my negativity is high. The pass rush was tremendous and oh by the way maybe the Saints knew exactly what the hell they were doing resigning Roman Harper.
Gregg Williams knows Harper going towards the line of scrimmage is destruction waiting to happen so he puts him in position to do it.
I could be wrong but I feel like this defense will be capable of winning a knock down drag out 13-10 game. Not that they will be in many games like that but come Dec./Jan. that's good thing to have in your bag.
Grandmaster Wang
"oh by the way maybe the Saints knew exactly what the hell they were doing resigning Roman Harper. Gregg Williams knows Harper going towards the line of scrimmage is destruction waiting to happen so he puts him in position to do it."
Everybody but Message Board Guy knew that. MBG will catch up to the rest of us soon enough. Just as soon as it becomes so obvious as to be inarguable.
I'm beginning to worry about the o-line too a little bit. All of a sudden the argument could be made that it's a bit of a mess. I'd like to think that by September maybe Tennant is starting at C and Strief is starting at RT and that goes a long way towards solving it. On the other hand, there's not a whole lot that can be done about Bushrod and Evans, other than crossing your fingers and hoping that there's upside to be realized with Bushrod and that Evans didn't pull a Charles Grant as soon as he signed that fatass contract. I'm not sure what more can be done about those things at this point. Meantime, yeah, it's getting to where it might turn into a bona fide thing here shortly.
Really excited about Casillas though, and the defense in general. Both safeties will be "starting" the Pro Bowl after this season. Sacks and takeaways are gonna be back in style.
And, I'm half joking here, but MITCH KING, BITCHES! That's something nobody's really been talking about too, there's gonna be a 4th DT and he's gonna play in the regular season. Who's it gonna be? Tom Johnson? Mitch King? Jonathan Sullivan? Martin Chase? Pio Sagapolutele?
Ralph Malbrough
Wow, I could have sworn Strief was starting at RT against the Niners, I will have to watch replay to be sure.
I have to say cutting the starting RT 3 weeks before the season opener makes me wonder why the hell the Saints weren't more aggressive to fill the spot via the draft or FA.
Although the options in FA are Langston Walker of the Raiders and not much else.
Kevin Held
"SOMEBODY FUCKING HOLD ME!"
Grandmaster Wang
Wow, can't say I saw that one coming. Ralph, it could be that they're just now realizing there's a problem. You never know when a guy's just gonna hit the wall and suddenly he just can't play anymore. Especially without OTAs, minicamps, etc. to get a clue about it earlier. I'm assuming that all offseason they figured Stinch was gonna be back and healthy and starting. Then when they started full pads work a couple weeks ago, all of a sudden it was "Oh shit, this guy might be done." Then Friday night clinched it.
Now let's see if we can ditch the Olin Kreutz experiment and get Tennant in there. If it turns out that the solution(s) were already in house, and they're cheap and relatively young ones to boot, that'll be our first indication (in my opinion) that it's once again The Year. What with the Football Gods smiling down upon us again and all that good stuff.
Ralph Malbrough
Wang, I know you've been beating the special teams drum and the saints have seemed to make an effort to improve but with Moorstead just kicking touchback after touchback won't our special teams already be better by virtue of Morestead allowing them fewer opportunities to suck?
Grandmaster Wang
Oh yeah, no doubt about it. Allowing people fewer opportunities to suck is PM Flex's superpower. (Well, that and the ability to only test positive for Wheaties, Gatorade and Pantene hair products. Heh.) Funny thing is that between the new kickoff rule and Morstead's hang time on punts (of which there should be few anyway) seems there's a decent chance that there might only be a handful of returns this year anyway. I'm still glad they put so much elbow grease into the coverage teams, just in case, but it could turn out to be mostly a moot point. They're mostly gonna be touchbacks and fair catches.
Ralph Malbrough
I'm going to ask Bradley from WWLTV.com tonight when I interview if the Saints are satisfied with Strief/Brown at tackle or will they go trolling the FA dumpster? I tend not to listen to what the saints tell me, I'm more interested in the actual moves they make.
To me if the go and sign another OT before the Packers game then it's totally ok to start to have boarder line panic thought...
Andrew Juge
They already looked in the dumpster. It returned George Foster, Barron and Justin Black. No surprise the dumpster returns garbage.
Breesy (still refuse to call him Breesus as a God fearing simpleton) is going to step up in the pocket more than ever. I just hope Kreutz half way lives up to his reputation.
Ralph Malbrough
I should have clarified, will they look in the dumpster again? Because they won't be able to trade for one this late.
Andrew Juge
I agree Ralph, doubtful they find a tackle they can use, either by trade or free agency at this point. Even if they raid the final cuts waiver wire to find a capable tackle that got caught in a numbers game for a final place on a 53 man roster, is he going to be better than Strief/Bushrod? Highly doubtful. Even if such player existed, tackles don't grow on trees (though I think Zach Strief might be part tree), so there would be stiff competition to sign that player AND there's no way an offensive tackle could pick up the Saints' complicated block schemes in a week and be ready to start. At this point we're married to the guys in the building. Bushrod/Strief, for better or for worse, is our tackle tandem. At least in the short term. Hold me.
The Saints kind of suck at tackle. Not going to lie. I don't think there's a lot of NFL teams that would want that tackle tandem. Hopefully they're so awesome and deep at every other position that it won't matter, and at least we have by far the best guard tandem in the entire league. If something happens to Nicks/Evans, those are the two injuries that the Saints absolutely cannot afford. If you're all of a sudden patching up guard play when your tackle play is already suspect that's when things can really fall apart.
Anyway, why are we being so negative? I need to smack myself. The Saints just obliterated the 49ers 24-3 and the defense/special teams look sick. They're going to obliterate the Texans in a couple days, and we'll all be feeling awesome when they obliterate the defending Super Bowl champions at their place in a few weeks. BOOM, done.
Every Week here at Hakim Kevin and a few Saints bloggers exchange emails discussing all things saints, NFL and whatever they can think of. This week Kevin is joinded by Grand Master Wang of moosedenied, ralph Malbrough of WWLTV.com and Andrew Juge of canal Street Chronicles.
This week they discuss the addition of Olin Kreutz, how the Saints stayed in NOlA post Katrina and why Paul Tagliabue deserves blow jobs, lots of them
Yeah, that blows. They owned me on that one. How am I supposed to maintain my CREDIBILITY(!!!!) (LOL) when I post something and less than 24 hours later Loomis does something that makes me look like a total idiot?
I guess I'm still holding out hope that it's just insurance, but at ~$3MM I doubt it. I guess they could probably still release Kreutz before week 1 and pay him a fraction of that. But the smart money is probably on Kreutz being the starter for at least this year. I imagine Tennant has no chance to beat him out because then they'd be stuck without a backup C because they're not gonna carry Kreutz and pay him $3MM to be Tennant's backup. They'd have to release Kreutz and then scramble to find Tennant a backup, and I doubt they'd put themselves in that position.
But who knows?
Anyway, I'll get over it, but I can't say I'm a big fan of this. Not just because they made me look like an idiot, but because I genuinely do think Tennant is gonna be a stud, and Kreutz is 34 and costs just as much as Goodwin (granted though, only for 1 year instead of 3, but still.) I mean, they were just talking about (re: Tennant) how it takes longer than you might imagine for the C and the QB to get comfortable with the snaps, and now they're gonna replace a guy who's been here for a year with a dude off the street? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, given what they themselves said about it. Sure, I know Kreutz is a six-time Pro Bowler and all that, but so what? He's also at the end of his career.
And I was only half joking on Twitter about the fact that I don't like these 2006 Bears assholes (first Alex Brown, now Kreutz) coming down here to try to ride the Saints' coattails to get themselves a ring before they retire. I realize that's irrational, but screw it, I'm a fan. It's my right, no, DUTY to be irrational. Screw them. Yeah, I'm still bitter.
I don't know, I'm just not at all excited about this one. That $$ could have been better spent elsewhere IMHO. But hey, one dud out of the 4000 moves they've made over the last week isn't anything to get my panties in a bunch over. I'll deal.
Andrew:
I'm real interested in this Tennant vs. Kreutz battle at center. I'm not ready to give up on Tennant yet and I don't think the Saints are either. Just because Kreutz has the track record, don't forget he hasn't been to the Pro Bowl since 2006 and he hasn't smoked the Maui Wowie since his high school days (played college ball at Washington). Actually he probably smoked Maui Wowie this summer, nevermind. But does Maui Wowie improve or hurt your abilities as a center? Questions questions. I think Kreutz' signing is as much about his experience/mentor potential as it is about production on the field. If Tennant beats him out, he'll be better off for it. Then Kreutz can be a terrific backup and help Tennant hone his craft. If Kreutz is the center, hey, a washed up center that was one of the best centers in the history of the NFL over the course of his career isn't all that bad. Plus, let's face it, Danny DeVito could play center for the Saints and they'd still manage with Jahri and Nicks on either side of him.
Ralph:
Andrew, I agree with you about Tennant and just because the Saints signed Kreutz doesn't mean he'll make the team. I think there is a very good chance the Saints thought, "The veteran center market is drying up. We better go get one just in case and secure ourselves in event of worst case scenario." If Tennant ends up being the guy the saints can always cut Kreutz and be on their way but if Tennant doesn't workout and Kreutz isn't on the roster then plan B is hope for a solution and hope is never a plan.
Kevin:
I feel bad for the Lions. You think they should get Lynell Hamilton?
Ralph:
Kevin I just tweeted Ricky Williams seems like a perfect stop gap for the Lions.
Injuries suck and when do we start to worry about Colston, Porter, Ivory? Given Sean Payton loves to lie regarding injury we are always guessing. It seems to me Colston may be bigger if that knee(which has been worked on alot) stays balky. If Colston is banged up WR position looks very different.
At least reports say Robinson is looking pretty good so if Porter comes back slow they MIGHT be ok. . On the Dave Cariello official Panic scale I'm a 3 but it's definitely treading up. I just read the guy the Bears signed to replace Kreutz won't even start. So the Saints may be doing the same and I still say there is a 30% chance Kreutz doesn't make the opening week roster.
Wang:
I don't think Payton "lies" about injuries per se, it's more about his being tight-lipped about them and the local media constantly whining about it because he won't give them enough material to regurgitate into an article and call news.
When do we start worrying about Colston, Porter and Ivory? Not yet. Not even close. Resting is no cause for concern, it's cause for celebration that the people in charge are smart enough to give them the rest. Colston doesn't need the reps, he's not gonna get any better than he is. He's a known quantity. Nothing good can come of continuing to run him out there daily to practice, all it does is increase the chances that slight discomfort is gonna suddenly turn into "out indefinitely." Same for Porter. Both of those are just "Don't chance it until it matters" situations.
And I'll worry about Ivory just as soon as TWO out of Ingram/Pierre/Sproles are injured. Until then? Hey, I was impressed with Ivory last year too, don't get me wrong. But right now worrying about Ivory is a lot like worrying about Adrian Arrington.
Ralph:
Wang I agree to a certain extent but I think what bothers me is Colston and Porter both have history of injuries and how would them missing time affect the Saints?
I'm worried because at this point is it living in fantasy land to expect each to play 12-16 games?
Colston might but history tells us Porter will not
Wang, this is a riff on your theory about why Sean Payton does or doesn't run the ball.
Conventional wisdom says while Ingram will be pretty good, the Saints are a throwing team, and Ingram won't really be a stud RB. Payton loves to throw, he likes to get cute in play calling etc etc...Ingran will be nice but he won't get many touches and the Saints are deep at RB so the carries get split. I'm not denying any of that but while Sean Payton is alot of things I'd argue one of his best qualities is he is open minded. What if Mark Ingran can convert him to call more running plays because Ingram off tackle is just too good to resist?
Payton's never had a RB like Ingram. And I have a little theory that the less of Ingram we see in preseason the more excited we should get. Meaning, Payton knows what he has by watching practice and if why let the Packers see Ingramania on film?
Also New England is killing it in FA they got too guys I hoped the saints would have in Andre Carter and Shaun Ellis.
Wang:
Of course that's gonna be what happens, absolutely. I've been beating this drum for 5 years now, Payton might get "the disease" every now and then within a specific game, but for the most part, Payton's "refusal to run" is overblown and has become one of those Payton myths. He ran Dulymus and Reggie plenty in 2006. But ever since then, the Saints' tailback situation has been mostly a trainwreck. Dulymus was done, Reggie couldn't stay healthy and started proving that he wasn't a real tailback, and they started with the whole parade of undrafted free agents thing. It took until 2009 for Payton to finally get to the point where he realized that Pierre could be trusted and was "The Guy" and Mike Bell was the "complementary back" and Reggie was largely irrelevant, and they kicked ass running the ball. Then everybody started getting injured again.
So only 2 years out of 5 have the Saints had a running game that even resembled reliable and effective. And both of those years, Payton ran the ball, and the Saints have 2 NFCCGs and 1 Championship to show for it. But the other 3 years built up that myth that no matter what, Payton is gonna throw all day every day. It's bullshit. Of course you're gonna throw all day when you've got a Top 3 QB and your tailbacks are a mess.
Barring injury, they're gonna run the shit out of the ball this year. Why? Because (again, barring injury) the tailback position is finally "fixed." And like you said, they're gonna be even more inclined to run the ball with a 2-touchdown first-half lead every week. Cue coldpizza: "Yeah, but those two touchdowns came via the pass, which is wrong, and if Payton really knew what he was doing he'd have run the ball and would realize that he'd be far better off with the score tied at halftime. Two-touchdown leads are meaningless if they come via the pass."
Ralph :
I agree with you but I guess my question is "Will Mark Ingram just hog all the carries because he's awesome"? If 2009 is any indication the answer seems no because Saints ran the shit out of the ball but still....
Thomas had 793 yds rushing
Bell had 654 yds rushing
Bush had 390 yds rushing
If you say Ingram gets the Bell carry/yds and Sproles won't get as many carries/yds as Bush, and Pierre Thomas gets 600 yards then Ingram ceiling seems to me 1300 yards if the Saints are a Top 10 rushing team .
1250-1300 yds makes Ingram a Top 10 RB and Ingramania is in full bloom. Is this scenario very likely?
Pro Football Talk is speculating Will Smith might not get suspended. Obviously that's great news for the Saints but no one has really discussed in depth how much him missing 4 games will hurt. I'd argue it's one of the biggest reasons to be worried because of the Saints early season schedule. They need Will Smith on the d-line or the pass rush drops to mediocre at best. At least the front four rush does.
With Smith the front four is Smith, Rogers, Franklin, McBride/Jordan
*Charlston and Junior contributions are icing on the cake
Without it’s Rogers, Franklin, McBride,Jordan
*And Charlston and Junior need to be heavy contributors
Seems to be with Smith Saints are a B+, without just a C
Wang:
Really? After all that, the league is just gonna say forget the whole thing? I thought they had won all the court battles they needed to win and the suspensions were set in stone. Anyway, I'll believe it when I see it. Until further notice, I'm counting on that suspension sticking.
Sue me, but I'm not sure it's a big deal either way. I mean sure, you always hate to be down a body at any position. But I've just gotten so "meh" on Will Smith. He's such a tease, All Pro one week and invisible the next. Honestly, I'm getting to the point of being about ready to move on. Obviously I don't mean release him now, keep him this year until you know what you've got with McBride, Jordan and maybe Galette. (And I'm really glad they brought back the Vanilla Gorilla, by the way.) I'm just not sure there's gonna be any kind of huge dropoff when/if Smith is out for the first 4 games. Will anybody even notice? And unless Smith has one of his good years this year, I'm pretty sure he's gonna be firmly on the bubble after this year, and I think I'm fine with that.
On the other hand, who knows. Maybe Smith won't have yet another one of those "play through it" season-long injuries this year, and with Rogers/Franklin/Ellis on the inside, and being pushed for playing time this year which hopefully will make him play as if it's a contract year, maybe we'll see Good Will Smith this year instead of Meh Will Smith. I'll believe that when I see it too.
Ralph:
I agree with your 'meh' Smith take but I disagree on the drop off, maybe it's fear or whatever I just am not ready to count on the Vanilla Gorilla and Junior to get it done. I do think Smith will be better as this is clearly the best d-line he's been on as a Saint.
McBride intrigues me as a sort of 'All I do is rush the QB but DAMN I'M SO GOOD AT IT no one cares I don't do anything else.' Specialist.
Kevin, I was thinking about your text talking about thanking God the Saints won a Super Bowl and saving them from going to LA. One thing I completely forgot about was Gov. Blanco signing off on fast tracking all Dome renovations behind the scenes even as people were saying, "Maybe we should tear it down because of all the horrible things that happened there post Katrina."
I mean whatever people want to say about her, Blanco got that done and helped avoid the political fighting going on at the 911 sight. I mean it's going on 10 years and it's still a hole in the ground where the World Trade Center was.
Louisiana politicians: "We do one thing exactly right EVERY 10 YEARS WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?"
Final thought, "Is Clint Ingram and his trick knee really going to hold up and win a starting spot?" I think so.
Kevin:
Look, I can give a "smedgen" of credit to the former "deer in the headlights" governor, Ralph, but I'm giving most of the cred to Paul Tagliabue on this one. He didn't want the city to lose its football team and--until somebody convinces me otherwise--strong-armed Benson into staying for the time being, and providing NFL funds to help with the renovations and cleanup. I mean, sure, if we're giving credit for people keeping the team in the state, I suppose Blanco gets listed ABOVE Benson, but below....say....Al Scramuzza. SEAFOOD CITY, FTMFW!
When it comes to tearing shit down, New Orleans in general is pretty fucking ridiculous. Could you imagine if that had been torn down? The team would still probably be playing in Baton Rouge ... or worse. You saw how pissed folks got when Landrieu sacked up and tore down collapsing homes that had been abandoned. And you've seen the ilustrious city council basically cock block new building because of some kind of goofball "historic" codes or whatever... Fuck it, I'm getting off this soapbox before I get really angry. LOUD NOISES!!
Ralph:
I guess my bigger point is when history looks back I think we'll say, "While dam near everything went wrong right after Katrina. Almost Everything went right for the Saints."
Tags is commish and strong arms Benson.
Fast Track of Dome renovations
Green Bay passes on McCarthy
Dolphins pick CullPepper instead of Brees
Texans pass on Bush
I'd believe you remove anyone of those and the LA Saints are more likely than not. Except maybe Bush but I still think he helped build excitement post Katrina that no other draft pick would have. We got Reggie! way more exciting than "We got AJ Hawke!"
Andrew:
As far as I'm concerned, Saints fans should be sending Paul Tagliabue primo Hollywood quality hookers monthly for the remainder of his life. A $15 tax on all per game ticket season ticket holders should cover that. That's a little over $10 million a season if you're decent at math. Actually, that would only cover his libido for about 4.2 years. Does he die by then? If not we may have to up the tax.
Seriously though, Arnold Fielkow tried the same things as Tagliabue and his career was wrecked from it. Benson's weekly game of hop scotch and parcheesi with the San Antonio mayor was interrupted by Uncle Arnie's conscience, and so he got fired. Uncle Arnie then attempts a pathetic foray into politics. The poor guy tried to do the right thing and he has never been the same. At least he can sleep at night. Of course, things worked out pretty rosy for that crook Benson, who now sleeps fine at night too next to a silver Lombardi. It's amazing to me how much love Benson gets now. At worst, most people ignore what he did or maybe they choose to forget it. Things worked out, Payloo comes to town and immediately builds a winner, no thanks to Benson, and all of a sudden he is revered like nothing ever happened. The only other person who had the stones to spit in his face, besides Fielkow (who's balls were chopped off and fed to him for doing it) was Tagliabue. The difference is Tagliabue eats pieces of sh!t like Benson for breakfast and Benson was forced to take it on the chin like a champ. God bless that man.
This email chain isn't happening right now if it isn't for Paul Tagliabue. And while Uncle Arnie's attempts were dismissed (pun intended), I give him the assist for being a quality human being. Maybe season ticket holders fund Uncle Arnie's mid range gulf coast hooker once every two years.
Ralph:
"Saints fans should be sending Paul Tagliabue primo Hollywood quality hookers monthly for the remainder of his life." Funniest Saints line I've read all off season. So true.
I think to a certain extent Andrew you nailed it about Benson. We just want to black it out. We'd rather not remember Benson totally wanted to take the team to Texas but Tags was like, "Dude I'm not going to let you unleash the mother of all shit storms on the NFL and I'm not going to be the commish who let the Saints leave NOLA."Thank God for the fear of bad PR. What makes Benson wanting to pack up and go worse in my opinion is when he bought the team then governor Edwards helped make sure he got the financing to buy the Saints. Still I think most people don't give a shit because the Saints are still in NOLA and they are awesome. The details of how/why don't matter.
I'm not sold the LA team is a done deal. We'll see but California is screwed up politically and economically I still think they have a ways to go.
Last question for the chain...
Who comes out of Friday's game as the internet's new darling ie Arrington?
I nominate Paul Oliver...why? Why not...
Wang:
"Last question for the chain... Who comes out of Friday's game as the internet's new darling ie Arrington?"
JOIQUEMANIA, BITCHES!
Saints fans have been DYING to trade Pierre to the Patriots for their next 6 first round picks for about 10 months. Why stop now? Hell, at this point I'm pretty sure they'd settle for the Patriots' next 5 first round picks and Tom Brady.
After all, Chunky Chase Daniel(s) blow(s) and IF DREW GOES DOWN WE'RE TOTALLY FUCKED! Surely Brady is worth at least a 2016 first round pick. Make it happen, Loomis!
Honorable mention to Joseph Morgan because back in the 70s he was the best 2nd baseman since Honus Wagner. (If you don't believe me, just ask him.) And also, he hates stats because they usually don't support his own subjective conclusions and therefore they're damn lies. Saints fans are gonna LOVE this guy!
Hmmmm...I wonder what that would be like... (strokes imaginary beard)
NARRATOR: At Frankie & Jermon's we offer low prices and home delivery! Bad credit? No credit? NO PROBLEM!! Frankie & Jermon's can help you even if you've filed bankruptcy or just get by on food stamps. And our knowledgable sales team will help YOU find the right living room set or bedroom set TO-DAY!
FRANKIE: Can I help you?
OLIN: Um, yeah...I'm kinda new in town and need to get some furniture.
FRANKIE: Do you have any credit?
OLIN: Dude, I'm making, like, two million dollars this year. OF COURSE I've got credit!
FRANKIE: Even so...YOU HAFTA SEE THE BUSHROD!!
BUSHROD: Let'em have it!
FRANKIE: He's got it!
OLIN: Oh...okay. That was easy, I guess...
(JUMP CUT TO LATER...)
FRANKIE: Can I help you, sir?
PAYTON: Yeah, I recently moved all my furniture to Dallas and need some new stuff in my New Orleans home. Our old long snapper recommended we shop here.
FRANKIE: Do you have any credit?
PAYTON: What, you mean credit cards? Yeah, I got like 20 of them.
FRANKIE: Well you STILL gonna hafta see the special Jerod!
BUSHROD: Let coach have it!
NO PROBLEM GUY: With noooooooooooooooooooo problem!!
The Saints resigned Carl Nicks today which means the only two big Saints FA left are Jonathan Goodwn and Dave Thomas. Regarding Nicks I'm really torn about giving him a long term extension because if the Saints are going to pay both guards 8-10 million what position do they not pay? They can't pay everyone. I lean towards paying them both because if you have something that's the best you keep it. Nicks/Evans are both Top 5 guards so I'd rather them keep their elite interior line and cut corners at LB or as strange as it sounds offensive tackle. Brees is so good at getting rid of the ball on time and avoiding sacks I'd argue Saints can get by with B- OT
I just said it over at the Chronic that if the Saints resign Goodwin and Thomas all that's left to satisfy me is a DE and depth at DT. I'm not so worried about LB as some others are. I think Saints can win with Vilma/Shanle/Wilson but I'm not sure they can win with what they currently have at DE which will include 4 game Smith suspension. And the fact that Jordan is still unsigned isn't good either.
Also I love the Falcons signing ray Edwards as I think he is a mediocre DE who benefited from playing in Minnesota with 3 Pro Bowl lineman around him. I didn't want the saints going near him.
The Eagles getting Cullen Jenkins was a tough because of the price they can cut him after 1 yr. Saints still need depth at DT
I'm not sold on Michael Vick winning anything and he won't play 16 games. When Vince Young needs to win them a December game all this 'Eagles won the off season' will be forgotten.
WANG: Good stuff, Ralph. I was gonna email you a little while ago and give you props for being right about DE > OLB. Turk McBride is an exciting signing IMHO. Loomis still might have something up his sleeve, but I get the feeling that you're right again and that the Saints will continue to go cheap at OLB. Will Herring, Danny Clark, Shanle, Clint Ingram are your vets. Casillas, Tez Wilson, Dunbar and Marvin Mitchell are probably your young guys. Probably not a whole lot more on the horizon there. And I guess that's fine, probably what I should have expected. The Saints have been "just getting by" at OLB for half a decade, I'm not sure why I ever expected them to change that strategy now. I'm betting now that they're just gonna cross their fingers and hope Casillas and Tez work out. Again, I don't have a problem with that because OLB is clearly the least important position on the defense to the Saints braintrust, and it's served them just fine so far. And you've gotta cut corners somewhere, can't have 53 pro bowlers.
Dave Thomas is a must-sign. Goodwin is a would-be-nice but IMHO not necessarily a must.
I'm not worried at all about Jordan. He'll be in camp sooner than later. Judging by the twitters, seems like he's as pissed off as anybody that it isn't already done. I think it's a non-issue, it'll be resolved any minute now.
I'm ashamed to say that I got caught sleeping on McBride. Dude's got Shaun-Rogers-like "impact in limited playing time."
DE is in some serious flux right now. They need to bring Charleston back. And I'm beginning to wonder about whether or not Will Smith is gonna play for the Saints this year. 4 games is a long time, and Smith makes a lot of $$$ for 12 games max. Just sayin'.
The Eagles hype is really starting to annoy.
If any of you assholes scoop me out of this before I get a chance to put together a blog post on it tomorrow, I will kick you in the nuts. But I really REALLY like what the Saints have been doing to fix the special teams coverage units this offseason. You've got "Reis Nuts" and Casillas coming back from injury. Re-signed Prioleau and Roby. Brought in Amaya, Herring, Johnny Patrick, Nate Bussey and maybe this DeAndre McDaniel dude sticks because of ST. Now I'm not sure they keep Casillas on ST if he's the starting WLB, and I don't know if Roby makes the 53 if Sproles returns punts and kickoffs. But still. Even if you don't count those 2 guys, the Saints' coverage units are likely to be RADICALLY different this year. Improvement? Remains to be seen. But clearly a balls-out effort to fix that problem. Now let's just cross our fingers and hope that Payton is right and we're all wrong about Greg McMahon being a terrible ST coordinator.
KEVIN: Thank you for starting, Ralph. Beat me to it.
Sorry for the diversion, but: FUCK Mike & Mike. I'm driving to work and nearly swerve off the road cause those two clown shoes have the audacity to suggest that Andy Reid is a "real good coach" and that anyone says otherwise isn't looking at things clearly and doesn't know what they're talking about. Bullshit, fellas. They were naming all the other accomplished coaches of "the era" and not one of those dipshits mentioned Sean Payton.
In his first year as a head coach, Payton beat Reid in the playoffs. Why? Cause Andy freaking Reid has the clock management skills of an impatient toddler.
So if the league was stripped of all its coaches and the teams could essentially "draft" a new head coach, based on current results up until now (guys currently coaching), where does Andy Reid fall?
1. Bill Belichick 2. Sean Payton 3. Mike Tomlin 4. Jim Caldwell / Peyton Manning 5. Mike McCarthy 6. Rex Ryan 7. Tom Coughlin 8. Andy Reid 9. Mike Smith 10. John Harbaugh
After that it's an absolute shit show. I wouldn't touch Shanahan now with a ten foot pole.
And speaking of the Eagles...Mike & Mike then had the audacity to suggest that the Saints were the FOURTH--let that sink in--best team in the NFC, behind Green Bay, Philly and Atlanta. I know everybody slurps Ashmongudusuduasd whatever his name is (including me), but that doesn't mean Philly is more a threat to win the NFC than the Saints. And Atlanta? Are they fucking high?!?
Eagles will get credited for "winning the off-season" but that's nonsense. If the Saints aren't up there, it's ridiculous. And the NFC is basically: 1. Green Bay, 1a. Saints ... 3. everyone else. Am I off in this line of thinking?
Theme of my post: AUDACITY!
RALPH: Kevin I'd agree about Reid but I'd put him #4. To me he's alot like Les Miles. He's fantastic but his one flaw when it comes up is a burning herpes sore on super model. It can ruin you. I mean Reid runs that team and never forget he is really good at kissing up to the media with his aww shucks fat guy act so they love him. The Redskins won a bunch off off season titles too.
by the way this line slayed me...Cause Andy freaking Reid has the clock management skills of an impatient toddler
now onto Wang…
I won't scoop you on the special team angle but it's a good one to talk about. I really think Payton is finally giving Greg McMahon no excuses. If we don't see improvements this year I really think he goes to the chopping block. My worry about McBride is the Ray Edwards reason. Was he benefiting from the Lions very loaded D line? Suh is just a fucking freak and I watched most of the Lions games and by week 3 teams were like, "Suh gets double teamed or our QB will be dead."
I think McBride's ceiling is 2008 Bobby McCray. In '08 McCray started 8 games and had 6 sacks. I'd sign up for that right now.
Is McBride the Saints 'big move' at DE? I hope not but my gut says it probably is.
If Dave Thomas isn't resigned where do saints turn for TE help?
WANG: "If Dave Thomas isn't resigned where do saints turn for TE help?"
BUCK ORTEGA!!!!!!! Drew still owes him a TD.
Tyler Lorenzen! Shawn Ryan! Nate Lawrie! Eddie Boo Williams! Lamont Hall! Hoby Brenner! John Tice!
But seriously..... ZACH HILTON!!!!!
RALPH: Problem Solved!
Eddie Boo Williams dropped that TD against the Bengals in 2002 and I'm still very bitter about it.
Should Saints pursue Osi Umenyiora of the Giants via trade? New York wants a #1 which the Saints don't have but I say even if they come down in price it should still be no. He's been injury prone the last few years and the Saints already mortgaged a bit of the future for Ingramania. It will be totally worth it but I think they shouldn't trade any more of the 2012 draft away.
WANG: Around my house, we refer to him as Osi HumanUrine. And while it would be BIG FUN to be able to say that several times every week, I think I'd pass too.
Bring back the Vanilla Gorilla and call it a day. (Unless the plan is to part ways with Will Smith, which I admit might be a little far-fetched, I'm just saying that if they DO do that, then you've probably gotta make another move.)
DAVE: The Saints will definitely need to re-sign David Thomas. There is currently no depth behind Jimmy Graham. Without Thomas, they're fucked at tight end.
But I want to know whether Heath Evans is coming back or not? Do you think he's pooping in his pants right now? Do you think Payton refuses to re-sign him because he blew Payton's cover on the whole Drew knee surgery story this off-season?
RALPH: Dave, I'm not sure what to think about Evans. On the one hand you are completely correct to think Payton would not resign him because he doesn't toe the line and Payton bullies everybody to do things exactly how he wants even the media. On the other hand I can't think the Saints wouldn't sign him if they think he's the best guy for them.
My guess is it's Payton/Loomis knowing they can make him sweat because Heath Evans isn't in high demand by other teams and it sends a message of, "Do what we tell you and SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DON'T TALK TO THAT SAINTS BLOG CHRONICLES OF CANAL STREET OR WHATEVER THE FUCK. "
I'll be interviewing Drew Magary of Deadspin and Kissing Suzy Kolber this week (Thursday).
What do you think Saints fans would want to hear from him?
SAINTS NATION: Heath Evans will be back. I feel pretty strong about that. Locker room presence, character, combined with the fact that the fullbacks they have in training camp right now aren't as good as what they had last training camp (Zak Keasey & Jason McKie).
I'm getting pretty sick of this Cameron Jordan routine. He was pretty much handed a starting spot when he was drafted. Alex Brown is over the hill, and Will Smith is going to be suspended the first 4 games. He has almost no competition for a starting role. He was guaranteed a starting role until he pulled this holdout BS. His agents need to get this done TODAY, period. Who cares about 3 years guaranteed vs. 4 years, if Jordan plays the way we all expect him to the Saints will pay him the length of his first contract regardless of what's guaranteed. The bottom line is that every single minute he's out of camp, the more behind he gets. This isn't a 7 year veteran we're talking about, we're talking about a rookie who's never even smelled a down in the NFL before. He needs to be there on time. I realize the lockout delayed things but for F's sake there's only 6 guys left unsigned. What is his agent waiting for??? The pick ahead of him and the pick behind him are gone. He needs to sign TODAY. Enough is enough. I thought the new CBA was supposed to fix this bullshit.
RALPH: Mike Florio on PFT had an interesting solution to the 'I want 4 years guaranteed' issue. Teams could guarantee years 2-4. It basically means everything is locked in because what team will cut a #1 pick who gets injured this year in camp? But team can save face and say, "We didn't guarantee the whole contract"
Andrew you are totally right though, everyday he misses he'll be less and less of a factor. And the Saints I'd argue need Jordan to be a big factor especially early with Will Smith likely to sit the first month.
Andrew is fired up now about Jordan missing time but when do we hit the high digits on the Official Dave Cariello Chronic Panic Meter* on his holdout? I say if Jordan is not in camp by Friday it's a 9 for me...that's threat level Orange for those using the terrorism scale.
*The Official Dave Cariello Chronic Panic Meter is sponsored by Yahoo Fantasy Sports and Crack Cocaine
KEVIN: Maybe Jordan's agent is trying to strong-arm things knowing that Will Smith will miss games?
And I'm with Dave on Heath Evans. Payton's definitely letting him twist in the wind.
RALPH: I think the agents of rookies are probably trying to set the precedent with the first batch of new rookie deals that while the money is lower the contract is guaranteed. Think of it this way, if most rookies get 4 yrs guaranteed this year then next year the agents say "Well everyone did it last year." And GMs realize rookie contracts will grow over time and while that extra yr may not be so much now it might be in say 2018. So they want to hold the line.
Anthony Hargrove possible departure makes me even more nervous about D line. That position is looking extremely thin to me.
WANG: "Anthony Hargrove possible departure makes me even more nervous about D line. That position is looking extremely thin to me."
TOM JOHNSON, BITCHES!
RALPH:
If Tom Johnson has either a preseason sack or a regular season tackle you can pick the song and I'll sing the first two verses on the podcast.
Wang's optimism brings up a good question: Who will be surprise cut and who will be a surprise guy to make the roster?
Courtney Roby is my surprise guy to get cut. Not a shocker but I think he'll be squeezed with Sproles able to return kicks and special team depth Saints have added
Surprise guy who makes it: Clint Ingram gets healthy and pushes hard for a roster spot
By the way I know it was the 1% douche bag fans that smiled over Jim Henderson fainting at Saints camp because of his Bush Commentary but Henderson is a treasure all Saints fans should appreciate. He's over 60 and won't do play by play forever much less his commentary and once he's gone the Saints will find some 30 year old kid to do play by play who paints his face and yells Who Dat between plays who Benson can pay nothing. Most NFL teams are going towards running their own radio network and owning the station the teams games are on. The Redskins do it and while fans hate the teams print money doing it.
Eventually the Saints will do the same. Hell Benson already owns Fox 8. All I'm saying is enjoy Henderson because when he's gone listening to the Saints won't be the same and there won't be any objective voices left in the regular media.
WANG: The whole "Henderson deserved what he got for talking shit about REG-GIE!!!!" thing was absolutely disgusting. Some people just don't deserve to breathe.
Surprise guy who sticks: Jared Fayson (the new Adrian Arrington beats out the old Adrian Arrington) Surprise cut: Dare I say it? Chris Ivory? Can't make the club in the tub.
I'm not saying I'd WANT that. Hell, stick him on PUP and then IR if it comes to that. Just pulling a bold prediction out of my ass is all.
KEVIN: Actually, when I saw Wang's tweet about Hendu getting on a golf cart, I just made the "Did he make sure to back over Reggie's corpse this time?" joke, not knowing he had a heat stroke or anything. I wouldn't dare try to crack on Hendu about his health or anything bad happening to him. And Ralph is spot fucking on about "enjoying it while it lasts" with Hendu. He makes us seem big team in the broadcast booth. Who could possibly replace him?
As for cuts: I'll go out on a limb and say the safety from Clemson, just to be goofy
Don't know about a surprise keeper. Clint sounds fine.
RALPH: I will not even acknowledge the who could possibly replace him? Because I don't want to consider it because that future is dark and scary. I think the way Kevin described Henderson 'He makes us seem big team in the broadcast booth' is about the best way I've ever heard him described. Henderson could have been a national play by play guy and was for a few years. He just likes living in NOLA and didn't feel the need to go to a bigger market. So the Saints have an A+ play by play guy because of a lucky break.
DAVE: Ugh, what if Deke, Hokie or Bobby replaced him? Oh, dear.
Also, what's going to happen when Jerry Romig dies? Who will do in stadium announcing?
RALPH: And suddenly the 'Chain' turns into Deathwatch.
Ok, I'll bite...
When Henderson retires all Saints fans should get on their hands and knees and pray WWL radio has as little say in Henderson's replacement as possible. I find their Saints coverage just above poor. They never break news and my mom is more objective. But if you love homerism and pom pom waving then WWL radio is fantastic.
Ken Trahan would probably walk through glass to get the Saints play by play job but I'm guessing Saints go young and keep and it's someone not local. My hope is Henderson would maybe decide to retire from WWL-TV but keep doing Saints games and as long as he stays relatively healthy he can go into his 70's? Hell the Astros have an 83 year old doing their radio play by play although baseball is different.
I'd guess the guy how does Hornets games and announcing at Saints games Romig doesn't do wold take over everything.
KEVIN: I'll be honest: Jerry Romig has a good voice, but I can't understand a god damn thing he says in the Dome. Could it be his voice or is it the system?
DAVE: I think it's the system. "COOOOOOOOOLSTON!"
RALPH: Roming is one of the touches that make Saints game so fantastic. By the way one of my most favorite yet overrated experiences every year is going to/watching Saints first preseason game.
I'm always geeked for it and then like 10 minutes after it starts and Chase Daniels is taking snaps and Drew is on the sideline smiling I'm like, "Stupid preseason game." Although that first SuperDome hotdog is glorious I tell you GLORIOUS.
Read on Bucstats.com that Da’Quan Bowers' trick knee is looking delicious and dude is tearing shit up. What is everyone's thoughts on the Bucs going into 2011?
I think Josh Freeman will be better than Ryan eventually and blount and Williams give them a nice offense to build around. I'm guessing they regress to 7-9 , 8-8, but Freeman for some reason scares me way more than Ryan
KEVIN:
Uh, Ralph, Bill Simmons' legion of devout interns contacted me and demanded that Mr. Freeman from here on it be called "Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaash!" Freeman.
Yeah, he looks impressive. I don't know yet if I'd put him above Matt Ryan. Speaking of Ryan, ESPN has some new QB calculation that lists Matt Ryan as one of the 6 elite quarterbacks in the game, along with Brady, Manning, Brees, Rodgers and Vick. Are you kidding me? Boot Ryan. I'd be tempted to boot Vick too, due to injury concerns.
But I definitely see the Bucs regressing. I can see them going 8-8, with Freeman maybe saving them on one of those games. They'll still be a tough out in Tampa.
RALPH: (Cam) Jordan signs! I can stop worrying about DE until I see the Saints play a preseason game and make snap irrational judgments off of 10 plays by the #1 defense.
KEVIN: What? No love for Tory Humphrey? Our tight end troubles are over!!!
WANG: Aubrayo Franklin dickwads!!! Just hand us the fucking Lombardi now!
RALPH: Yes YES YES AND FUCK YES!
From Bill Barnwell Football Outsiders/Grantland:
Why: Because he doesn't rush the passer or accrue stats in his role as the nose tackle in the 3-4, Franklin has flown under the national radar. He lacks the elite athleticism of Haloti Ngata or the massive frame of Albert Haynesworth, but no interior lineman in football is better at reading blocking schemes and manipulating the offensive front. He creates double-teams by occupying two offensive linemen on most plays, freeing up Patrick Willis to make plays behind him. It's safe to say that he's popular with his teammates; as Willis noted during the 2010 offseason, "I pray to God they keep Aubrayo."
Why not: Franklin really has only two seasons of dominant play underneath his belt, and they both came in contract years. (Franklin was franchised by the 49ers after the 2009 season.) The 49ers are trying to get the word out that Franklin's 2010 season wasn't all that great, but if he did slip, it was only because he was downright incredible in 2009.
Switching to 4-3 could be a concern but Saints under the Double G are all over the place formation wise. This might seem strange but I think the Saints just got better at LB.
They now have two huge DT Rogers and Franklin to clog the middle while the LB roam free or Harper blitzes.
This is the best FA Period ever. NFL needs to do this every year.
Sign Goodwin and Baconator and this Bitch is ready to ROLL!
RALPH: AND (now) THE BACONATOR. Just awesome. Having a kick ass GM running my football team is great and makes watching Ed Wade of the Astros huff paint thinner while doing trades appreciate it even more.
KEVIN: Aubrayo? Sounds like a hard to pronounce/spell name! I win!
RALPH: On twitter someone asked if this Saints defense with all the new additions would be the best Saints Defense in 10 years or maybe 20?
I say it could be best since 2000. That defense was spectacular at one thing, sacking the QB. The Saints had 66 sacks that year. It's still the NFL record for sacks in a season I think.
3 guys (Darren Howard, La'roi Glover and Joe Johnson) all had double digits with Glover dropping 17 and putting on a display no other DT ever has in a Saints uniform. He was an unblockable force. The game in St. Louis that year was his master piece; 4 sacks including the game clincher. That team had Sammy Knight in the secondary and Keith Mitchell made a Pro Bowl. Besides that not much besides an old Darren Smith and Darren Perry.
This year's team I think could be a wall against the run because of DT(Rogers, Franklin, Ellis) and great at safety(Harper/)Jenkins and good at corner. I'm not so sure they'll be as dominant in one area as that 2000 team was at killing the QB.
Still this team was Top 5 last year and they are clearly better at DT. So expectations are right to be sky high?
WANG: Damn right expectations are sky high. I feel like a douche for going all "19-0!!!" with it (again) but seriously, holy shit. When I saw that Pat Kirwan was saying yesterday that the Saints have basically built the Ravens' defense from 10 years ago, I popped a huge chubby.
The sky is the limit. The next 6 months are gonna be some serious fun. In my opinion, this team is not just a little better than the 2009 team, it's a good bit better. I'm not sure Tampa is really ready from primetime just yet, and Atlanta blew their shot last year. EVERYTHING went right for them last year, just like it did for the Saints in 2009. It was "their year" and they blew it. What was it, 5 games they pulled out of their asses on dumb luck? They're gonna regress this year.
RALPH: I really like Pat Kirwan because he is a hard core tape watcher not just a Peter King, "I write a column so you think I know shit but I don't really watch actual games."
Wang here is where I think the Saints plan on defense is brilliant. Injuries or poor performance could make it not unfold but on paper it's awesome and here's why:
The Saints offense will score a crap load of points with Brees so what's the book on how to beat the Saints? Pressure the crap out of Brees and pound the ball on the ground with your offense to shorten the game.
Well on defense the Saints literally have a fucking ton of DT that says, "Run it at us bitches. You'll get stuffed like my granma's bellpeppers and oh look Drew just hit Jimmy Graham and it's 14-0. Still want to go 3 and out? Didn't think so. Now Double G is going to unleash blitzagedon on you because you have to throw."
Rinse and repeat until at least week 6 when teams give up running? Nice.
Plus the experiment at DT is a one year thing so if it works..Lombardi if not no long term commitment By the way the additions at DT make me think Double G will get the absolute best out of Martez Wilson.
KEVIN: Does Kirwan have a Twitter feed? The only NFL guys I follow are Schefter, Breer and Glazer, and I'm considering dumping Shefty.
Look, the 2009 defense was built on turnovers; taking chances at turnovers. I remember us saying during the preseason and even early in the season: even if we're middle of the pack, I want a defense that is prepared to KILL! KILL! KILL! (KSK'd). Sure we'll get beaten big on some plays, but I'd rather be seen as aggressive. We just wanted a wake up from the Jason David "error." #imakethefunny But now we may have a defense that can have an effective blitz AND stop the run? And we might be making strides in pass protection? Yeah, I'll go 2000.
We have a playoff team on paper.
And if Breesus cuts back on the INTs, we can all ask the Philly fans to tell us how our ass tastes.
WANG: Shit, you're not aiming high enough, Kevin. This defense is finally gonna be able to pressure the QB without HAVING to blitz. Even better. Which isn't to say that GW isn't gonna unleash the hounds, because of course he will. But being able to pressure the QB with the front 4? There's your turnovers. And far fewer dump off options over the middle with RBs & TEs. Malcolm Jenkins is about to turn into Ed Reed, and McBride and Ellis are both fumble producers (along with Roman Harper who's also a fumble producer.)
This shit is gonna be nuts.
Oh and Ralph, I need you to do me a favor while you're interviewing Big Daddy Drew. Pick a thing he says about the Saints that's negative but true, and tell him I said [BostonGuy]NO ONE DENIES THIS!!!!![/BostonGuy]
RALPH: Nice. I'll also be asking him who isn't real; Him or Rex Ryan? Ryan just got fucking tattoo on his leg so clearly either Drew is a writer who secretly coaches the Jets or Ryan is a coach who secretly writes. They both can't possibly exist.
Also when and how does a team go from warm, cuddly, and everyone loves them to I FUCKING HATE THEM, THEIR FANS, THEIR CITY, THE COACH, AND I HOPE THEY FALL DOWN A WELL. The Pats were America's team in the NOLA Super Bowl in 2001. Now...they are pretty much loathed. Send anything else you want asked my way. I'm open to ideas and want to hit this one out the park.
KEVIN: Yeah, extend that parellel to the Saints. I mean, Drew's a Vikings fan. Shouldn't he have hated us in 2009? KSK really didn't blast us that much. Even in 2010. Hell, anytime Brees gets mentioned, everybody has an ongoing joke about how nice he is.
RALPH: Does anybody have Matt Roth fever? Oh I do. He seems like the perfect guy for Gregg Williams. Versatile and gives the Saints more depth at DE. Of course part of me hats that the signing would make my podcast with Magary an afterthought today but whatever...MATT ROTH.
Mickey Loomis is maxing out the 'Sign a Veteran who wants a title' credit card. GOOD TIMES.
KEVIN: Ralph, Simmons' legion of angry interns have said Billy Baroo owns the term "good times" apparently and no one else is allowed to use that phrase…ever.
