It's not like Sproles hasn't played in a Drew Brees system before. For the DT's, this system takes some coordination, especially with all the exotic blitzes. Responsibilities and recognition take some time. When you are learning a new system, then layer in diagnosing what the opposing offense is showing, the "thinking" aspect is causing delay in the doing. 1-2 tenths of delay can mean a huge difference in the outcome of a play.

The thread mentions Rogers, I immediately thought of Franklin, our other acquisition. Between Rogers, Ellis, Franklin - we should be putting a lot of pressure on our outside guys to mop up what's left after cleaning up the middle of the field. Ellis is not where I think he should be at this point. But who am I? Progress looks slow, but I could see things coming around soon. I still think we are giving up too many points each week. Vilma should be back soon, Smith picking up where he left off, Jordan coming into his own, Porter back to game shape... I'm hoping all the pieces fall into place at the right time. I hope we "start" to think the same way about our defense that we do about our offense. Wouldn't that be special?

i look charleston and shanle as our weak link. not the interior of the def. robinson's lack of run support is hurting too. will smith's return i hope changes some things. oppps wrong side of the line.

Granted that overall Ellis hasn't become the threat that we all probably envisioned/hoped he'd become when he was drafted, but I wouldn't exactly call him a bust either.

I remember being really excited when the Saints drafted him - probably had a lot to do with the Ed Orgeron connection - and I thought he'd become a solid anchor and a disruptive force on the D-Line. That hasn't happened yet, but I believe he will keep on developing and getting better and will reach his full potential in a season or two.

On the other hand, I don't agree with most of you on that he has been the worst out of the DTs. I know that stats don't always reflect the whole truth of the matter, but if we look at purely the tackle stats on the Saints' DTs: Ellis is at the top.

• Ellis 8 with 3 solo
• Rogers 5 with 2 solo
• Franklin 3 with 1 solo
• King 3 with 1 solo

Also if we look at the NFC there are only 3 DTs with more tackles than Ellis: Alan Branch 9w/5s (SEA); Cullen Jenkins 9w/7s (PHI); and Ndamukong Suh 9w/6s (DET).

Also I have noticed that #98 is the one who is getting the most penetration (consistently) out of the Saints' DTs and, for example, in the last game I remember him running after the RB and bringing him down close to the secondary.

All in all, Rogers has been a bigger disappointment to me, because I had such great hopes for him based on his showing in the Browns game vs the Saints last season.

He's been getting the malority of the carries so far and has the worst YPC. If he isn't ready then give it to PT or Sproles. How long did it take Ivory to start gouging out big runs?