Mel Mitchell
 

This is about the indoor practice held last night.

I know Sammy Knight was a good player and a fan favorite, but with Mitchell and Tebucky this should be a very good tandem.

Anyone have any thoughts on our secondary....LummOx, B&B????

Mel Mitchell
 

Don\'t know if anyone has read this but this is a good article.



Saints fulfill Mitchell\'s NFL dream

Rockledge grad goes in fifth round

By Barbara Caywood
FLORIDA TODAY

ROCKLEDGE -- Mel Mitchell collapsed in tears in his mother\'s arms, as much with relief as excitement.

All around him, 50 friends, relatives and former teammates erupted with shouts of joy.

The wait was over. The dream had become reality. The New Orleans Saints had just made Mitchell their fifth-round pick in the 2002 NFL Draft.






The rest.....
http://www.thegatewayconnection.com/...ticles/13.html

Mel Mitchell
 

Sammy was a fan favorite and the year prior was a Pro Bowler. Had he declined so much? I think we have improved if Tebaggy is all he is suppose to be. I still feel it would have been nice to have been able to keep Sammy. And Haslett may really be high on Mitchell, but it is human nature to substantiate your moves(Knight), and also to soapbox your team pre season. What is he gonna say? I made a bad move, Mitchell stinks. I know Sammy was slow.

[Edited on 29/7/2003 by subguy]

Mel Mitchell
 

What scares me is depth at safety. Mel and Tebaggy are really all we\'ve got right now.

Mel Mitchell
 

Cie Grant is a potential safety.

Mel Mitchell
 

I think our secondary will be vastly improved over last year . I still would like to see another corner ,younger with speed and size to really challenge the top recivers but what team would\'nt, hopefully we\'ll deal with that next year.

As for this year The group of safties should be much more versatile and punish over the middle. Tebucky has all the skills and will add alot to our scheme with his cover and run support ability. Mel Mitchell I have not seen play much yet so I hope the hype is real, he has the skills ,but does he have the sense for the game? Most early reports say he does, we\'ll find out soon. Jay Bellamy is awfull Randy Muller brought him in and was one of his mistakes, why is he still here? I still have several horrible missed tackles for long scores vs. Atlanta in my mind. I\'d love to see us go out and get one of several vereran safties that are available for depth rather than this guy. How about Victor Green he\'s as slow as Bellamy but at least he can tackle. Hawthorne has size but was just toast as a corner I\'m not sure hell be any better as a safety. I hope Gleason steps up other wise our depth at this position is a real concern.

The corners should be much better as well. Dale Carter seems to be back and hopefully will not screw up again. His return to his form will do alot for our cover ability. I like Ashley Ambrose just wish he were not as old and slower. Would be a great nickle back. Fred Thomas has great cover skills but he is to small, I saw him in perfect position only to have the recption made over him for touchdowns several times last year. He would be a good nickle back also, we still need a second corner. Ilike Keyuo Craver he seems to have a real instinct for the ball and made some good picks last year before he got hurt. He\'s small as well but makes up for it with his leaping. He just flew into the air for one play last year that was amazing.

If the front seven can get better heat this group will do well. Depth is a concern so injuries will be huge also. This group should be much improved over last year, I can hardly wait to find out how much.



[Edited on 7/29/2003 by saint5221]

Mel Mitchell
 

We are soft at the DT position, which will expose our secondary. I think they will be judged unfairly as a result. Remember the 8 second rule.

Mel Mitchell
 

Well Billy since you asked:

I actually think our secondary has improved. Now this is contingent on both health and lack of off field distraction (aka Dale). A healhty and focused Dale Carter is not a top tier corner, but at this stage in his career he can still get near top 10 if he is on. I really like Fred Thomas. I think his is fiesty and he challenges for the ball and is as physical as his stature allows. Ambrose is a good depth pick, he doesn\'t get beat too often although he does allow plays to develop in front of him, which is safe but unfortuantely still moves chains. Keyou Craver will hopefully make an impact here. I think that hearing that Carter has adapted a mentor role and that Ambrose is here for that reason is a very positive sign on this group. Craver may be the X-factor that makes this a stronger unit than most will predict.
As or the safeties we will be better. A monkey with a tambourine is an upgrade over Jay Bellamy so Tebucky is a huge advancement. Given the athleticism of Jones and Mitchell I think we will change the way the safties look over the course of the year as Mitchell learns his position and the two will be more interchangable, like the way Dallas uses Roy Williams and Darren Woodson, neither is a defines SS or FS, but they mix packages to disrupt a QB\'s reads. The combination of Mitchell and Jones will improve the physicalness and range of the safety position compared to Knight and Bellamy. The will lose in the area of experience and recognition, a problem that hurt Knight because he was not allowed to play his style and had to be a cover man or a in the box safety. He needed to centerfield and our defense didn\'t allow that last year. Not Sammy\'s fault. With Bellamy, Hawthorne and Gleason as depth we\'re okay, but that\'s it. I don\'t see Grant projecting as a safety unless it\'s as a quasi-nickle backer in pass packages.
All said, our secondary is better. That sheer speed improvement of the group will allow our defense to be more flexible, implement a greater range of coverages and blitz packages that would have murdered us in the last couple years because our group did not have the athletic ability to run such schemes.

What we lack, and here is where someone needs to fill Knight\'s shoes, is the QB of the defense. When Sammy was allowed to do this we had more success. I look to Tebucky to earn some camp respect and grab the horns here. He is a veteran, has learned from guys like Green and Milloy, and needs to become like Lawyer in New Orleans.

Mel Mitchell
 

Thanks LummOx. I always like to hear what your take is.

B&B, made a very good point about the 8-second rule. At this time of year I try to be realistic about everything and I think our D-line should be good. The fact is though, that if our D-line doesn\'t force the issue, it\'s going to put added pressure on our secondary.

Mel Mitchell
 

8 second rule is a very good point. It doesn\'t matter who you have as coverage if you allow the qb to have all day to pick a receiver he will find an opening. It all starts and ends with the pass rush. Yes we do need quality coverage guys and I think we do now but we still need to put maximum pressure on the qb. This will force quick passes, bad throws, forced throws dropped passes and INT\'s. It all starts up front.

Mel Mitchell
 

I think our DL is better than last year,
I think our LB\'s are better than last year,
I think our CB\'s are better than last year,
I think our FS & SS are better than last year,

Hmmm, I\'m no John Clayton, but I think our defense might be awhole lot better than last year.

Mel Mitchell
 

Mel Mitchell...


Hmmm....

Does the name Ronnie Lott ring a bell?

Mel Mitchell
 

I\'d be happy with a Rodney Harrison comparison let alone Lott.

All I feel here is if we can say we didn\'t lose ground from Knight to Mitchell then it was a smooth transition and with the youth on our D (and the potential that comes with) we have the chance of being a very good defense for years to come.

Mel Mitchell
 

I read an article that said the reason the Saints got rid of Knigtht is when they went back and reviewed the film Knight was constantly beaten.

Now don\'t come hatin\' on me. I didn\'t say it.

Mel Mitchell
 

While heart may take you to a pro-bowl,
A 5 second 40 gets you league minimum.

Mel Mitchell
 

Not to shoot the messenger, but this is jusy my opinion. I\'ve spent pretty much the whole off season watching 01 and 02 game tape. I like to do that on Sundays so the family doesn\'t get used to me being around on those days. Anyways, Knight played closer to the line last year than in 01. He seriously was crowding the LB or lining up in a faux blitz position very much. In the 01 tape, when I could see him, he was 10 yards back of the LBers and surveying the offense. He just doesn\'t have the make up speed or turn and chase that was needed to be in the positions he was in. Yes he got beat alot, but it was clearly a case of playing away from his strengths and right into the hands of his weaknesses from what I watched. There were alot of passing downs where we lined him up on the slot man early in the season when Carter was out and Thomas was banged up and he was outran very often. Watch him in Miami, playing with two ProBowl corners. He will be a big play guy again.

Mel Mitchell
 

you guys can keep beating this horse but the point is:

WE CAN\'T BE ANY WORSE THAN WE WERE LAST YEAR!!!!

Mel Mitchell
 

The church of the painful truth!!!!

But the actual point is:

Of couse we\'ll be better, but how much better?

Mel Mitchell
 

Lee Zurik



Mel Mitchell - aggressive on the field and off
07/30/2003

Lee Zurik / WWL-TV Sports Reporter


His tendency is to cover what defensive coordinator Rick Venturi calls the “no fly� zone. Second-year safety Mel Mitchell will be a first-time starter this season and he’s ready to roam the middle of the Saints defense.


“When opportunity comes, you have to be ready to accept it and I’m willing and ready to jump into it,� he says. “This is what I want from day one but playing behind Sammy Knight, I learned a lot. He’s very helpful to me and now that he’s gone, I just want to let them know that I’m here to replace him.�




Mitchell had quite a beginning to camp. On Sunday, he got into a scuffle with fellow safety Tebucky Jones and Monday he injured Michael Lewis in an inadvertent collision. He said he feels bad, but that he’s not going to change his playing style.


“I’m a very aggressive person and I’m just trying to prove to the coaches that I’m capable of doing this job and to do that, I’ve got to show a little physical-ness once in a while.�


Last year’s fifth-round draft pick spent the season as a standout of special teams and Jim Haslett felt in the offseason that the Western Kentucky product was ready to start.


“Mel’s going to be a good football player,� said Haslett. “He’s really into it right now. Obviously, the speed and the stature, he’s always going to have. He’s a physical guy and he loves to play the game.�

Mel Mitchell
 

He will knock out cold, six opponents, and two of his teammates before this years over.

This guy has what it takes to become a major superstud.

I can\'t wait to see Vick float one across the middle to Price and this guy explode him.

Remember the dove Randy Johnson exploded?

Lightning strikes pillow!!!

Mel Mitchell
 

Did anyone know that Johnathan Sullivan and Sammy Knight both run the a the 40 in 5.1 seconds?

Mel Mitchell
 

I will now refer to Mel Mitchell as \"Mr. Physical-ness.\" It\'s very poetic.