Good article & I think that you guys make some excellent points. BUT I am confused by the failure to upgrade our LBs

Probably because they spent so much time fixing and improving other areas on the team, and they thought that it was better to trade weakness at OLB for strength in other areas (say D-Line and TE.) Its also possible that there simply weren't any good options (the guys that were there may have not fit well with what Gregg needs in an OLB, or had personality issues with our locker room.)

I know that GW is looking for solid OLBs to run his blitzes, so if he didn't pick up any big names, its because they weren't going to work any better than what we have, or at least not as much as they were asking for in return.

Well they signed an ascending free-agent in Will Herring.
They drafted the number 1 ranked MLB in the 2011 draft in Martez Wilson.
They have Casillas (last years starter) returning after missing the entire season.

Potentially we may end up replacing two slow OLB's (Dunbar/Shanle) with the fastest LB in the 2009 draft and the fastest LB in the 2010 draft.

Don't worry... yet.

Only thing im concerned with is will this bottle last the night...

And don't forget we're up against the cap with Nicks and Brees to sign next year, so I'd imagine that kept our options down.

It never does my friend.

Both of these quotes caught my eye. To kinda combine them -- I have always felt that GW's philosophy is that, you don't necessarily always need BIG NAMES or MONEY SUPERSTAR players on defense, but if everybody does their JOB or sticks to their assignment, and plays their role (containment, blitzing, pass rushing, eyeballing the QB, whatever it is) then the defenses that he calls WORK, even if they're not amazingly great players. A lot of the times where things DO go wrong on the Saints D, it looks to me like it's because somebody was out of position or didn't do what they were supposed to do on THAT PARTICULAR PLAY -- it's not that they got out-muscled, outplayed, or that the scheme GW called was wrong. I mean excluding the obvious "WTF?" things like Marshawn Lynch runs, Paul Oliver, and those Shanle football follies type plays. But the idea to me is that solid, aggressive, no-name (and cheap) guys CAN do it, you don't need top-dollar marquee name players to run a Gregg Williams D. And that philosophy also helps keep the money down. At least that's my theory about it.

I totally agree with the criticism of Ellis...

We've moved up in the draft to grab this guy and his play has not warranted the move...

; a move I think that was affected by the emotions of not getting LSU's Glenn Dorsey...

I think alot is asked of Shanle and while he gives max-effort, his breakdowns, or appearance when he's covering other's mistakes, brings him harsh criticism...

Can Strief Run Block is my big question...

And while Ingram looks really good thus far, where do we get a front line Left Tackle if we've no Round 1 picks?

We trade picks away a little too easy...