Saints pleased with Sullivan's early play
 

METAIRIE - During the off-season, the New Orleans Saints labeled one of the biggest priorities as strengthening their defense up the middle.

That meant finding a defensive tackle capable of plugging the center of the line of scrimmage and one competent enough to battle double-team blocks in the trenches.

In April, during the NFL draft, the Saints figured they would solidify their defensive unit by trading their two first-round selections to move up to the No. 6 overall pick and draft Johnathan Sullivan, a star in college who was adept at bringing just what the Saints wanted.

So far, Sullivan hasn't disappointed.


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Saints pleased with Sullivan's early play
 

What a friggin idiot. I guess Kevin Williams with his 29 tackles and 5 sacks don\'t count, for some reason. Half-ass reporting from Shreveport Times- what a shocker! There were six defensive tackles selected in the first round. Who let Bobo, the circus chimp, at the keyboard again???

Saints pleased with Sullivan's early play
 

Kevin Williams is playing DE for the Vikes. (He can play both but he\'s playing)
I think Hovan and Robbins(?) are their DT\'s.
Oh, he has 20 T and 9 assists, 5 sacks.

But back to the basis of the story. Sullivan is starting to play well. I think most of knew he wasn\'t going to come in and dominate right away since practically no DT ever has in the history of the NFL.
He\'s progressing about as expected. I think next year his performance will parallel Charles Grant\'s. Also remember he\'s a year younger than most. This was his senior year at Georgia. This guy should be really good for a very long time.

Now lets start looking for a SDCB and a solid LB.

Should we make Cie a MLB or put him on the outside?

Saints pleased with Sullivan's early play
 

You are correct, sir. Kevin plays DE for the Vikings. But he was a DT when he was drafted, and is still listed as one by the Vikings. Ty Warren was the 6th DT drafted in the 1st round, but was quickly moved by the Pats to the DE position, because of the scheme they run. The Pats had their hopes to get Robertson first, and if not him, Sullivan. They had hoped that Warren would be able to play the NT position, but I guess decided against it after camp.

Saints pleased with Sullivan's early play
 

Sullivan is pretty much playing the way you would expect a first-round selection to play. Like a rookie, but with the force of a great athlete.
Most encouraging sign has to be that he is already adjusting to play in the NFL from week to week. The Jets fans are saying much the same about Robertson: Give him time and he\'ll be a force for years to come. Sullivan hasn\'t disappointed, but he also hasn\'t exceeded expectations. Same goes for Robertson.
He has to have the desire to get better, to keep working in the off-season. I don\'t know enough about him to be able to tell how he will work out (or if). But so far he looks like a good pick.

AfterEdit: Tweeky, I like Cie\'s speed at the outside. Maybe it\'s old-school, but the MLB is the field general of the defense to me.

[Edited on 7/11/2003 by nocloning]

Saints pleased with Sullivan's early play
 

For the desenting opinion this is in Pro Football Weekly\'s the way we hear it section. It was obviously written before Gradys being cut.

We hear that Jackson has been nothing but a distraction to rookie first-round draft pick DT Johnathan Sullivan. Team officials are not ready to label Sullivan a bust but admit that he has been a disappointment. Sullivan is still a work in progress and lacks self-motivation, an area in which Jackson’s poor example has had an effect. The Saints will make no effort to re-sign Jackson, who is in the last year of his contract.