2012 New Orleans Saints Depth Chart
 

What might the depth chart look like for 2012?

Let's play General Manager ->

Note: Key Signing or Resign

WR Marques Colston, Adrian Arrington, Joe Morgan
TE Jimmy Graham, David Thomas
LT Jermon Bushrod
LG Carl Nicks
C Brian De La Puente, Matt Tennant
RG Jahri Evans
RT Zach Strief, Charles Brown
FR Lance Moore, Devery Henderson
QB Drew Brees
FB Jed Collins, Korey Hall
RB Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles, Chris Ivory

LDE Callais Campbell or Cliff Avril, Jeff Charleston
NT Aubrayo Franklin (UFA), Swanson Miller
DT Cam Jordan, Tom Johnson
RDE Junior Galette, Greg Romeus
SLB Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Martez Wilson, Will Herring
MLB Dan Connor, Ramon Humber, Ezra Butler
WLB Wesley Woodyard, Jonathan Casillas, Nate Bussey
LCB Jabari Greer; Rod Hood
SS Roman Harper; Jonathon Amaya
FS Malcolm Jenkins; Isa Abdul-Quddus
RCB Patrick Robinson, Johnny Patrick

P Thomas Morstead
K Garrett Hartley
LS Justin Drescher

First we MUST keep Colston and Nicks (Brees contract delay may be angling same) - and it won't happen if we don't let geaux of some high salaries elsewhere...

We will regret not resigning Colston and Nicks; factoring in also that we've got to start to get Jimmy Graham done...

AND since we've not drafted/signed clear impact players on the defensive side of the ball; that will have to be addressed as well...

Where to make the cuts, gotta be on defense where the production isn't justified by the numbers in contracts; Will Smith, Sedrick Ellis, Jonathan Vilma, Roman Harper are candidates for cap casualties...

Cam Jordan is moved inside to increase the upfront speed rush...

We can sign a high quallity DE with the money freed with the release of Smith; but a commitment to Mario Williams may negate the cap room sought to be created to resign both Colston and Nicks...

Linebackers get a major overhaul with both upgrade and cap relief...

Now Spagnuolo may come in and expose the infallible "GW" as a fraud; regardless of your opinion - I'd argue the Saints had a HUGE hole at FS since Darren Sharper was lost to age/injury...

Dashon Goldson and Michael Griffin are the only FA FS of note and Goldson is likely to be tagged and neither are that much an upgrade to warrant the increased financial commitment; Jenkins looks more like a SS and since Harper is there, Spagnuolo will likely have to get Jenkins up to the task as a FS or get ready to move one or both next season...

I 100% agree with the "GW as a fraud" statement. I know we would never really know but I wonder how much the "exotics" started to wear on the players. I think we are going to see a defense that is going to impress us like we were in 2009.

Not bad!! I don't think they slide Jordon to DT, I like the Avril signing, the lb.s look good too.

dont think vilma is going anywhere

While he may have been overrated, "Fraud" played a big part in the Saints winning their one and only Superbowl. It's amazing how quick fans can turn their back on one of their own.

Papz......he is not "one of our own". He is no longer a Saints coach.....and I for one am happy about that. If we wouldn't have led the league in turnovers in 2009 (thank you Darren Sharper), we wouldn't be talking about that defense either.

Shanle is one of our own, yet he's thrown under the bus?!?

Scott Fujita wasn't worth being one of our own, but I bet many here wishes we would have overpaid for his services...

Reggie Bush was one of our own, and what's left of his effigy is along I-10 between the Read Blvd exit headed east to the Mississippi state line...

GW, Gregg Williams, aka Turd provided some snappy quotes for the media, and some false hope that the defense would be a top unit and it never came to fruition...

It's apparent that Darren Sharper's play was a key part of what offset the shortcomings of the 2009 defense and allowed for a Championship...

To discuss GW, start a new group "We Heart GW" and see how many friends join in and sing Kumbaya in that private chat room...

Be sure to include the playoff losses to Seattle and San Francisco on the tombstone of GW's body of work in New Orleans...

Back to the subject of this this thread though, which would be what the roster might look like or what we would hope it could like...

(Princess Leia Hologram) 'Help us Hagan, you're our only hope...'

You forget that GW being thrown under the bus happened well before he left us... it's easily happened since last year. The Darren Sharper defense was lead with Williams at the helm and a following that year, a highly ranked defense also. I'm find with moving on... I'm absolutely ecstatic that we now have Spags. I just find it somewhat tacky and disgusting people constantly throw GW under the bus at every chance they can get... especially since he's played a big part in helping our franchise turn things around.

Same here.

I like Vilma; but when you factor his age, health, and salary, he's a vulnerable salary cap casualty...

Recommended a younger solution in Dan Conner who could come in with a friendlier salary number that would allow the Saints some wiggle room when doing the contracts of Colston and Nicks.

Anybody got a mock-up of what they think the roster will look like?

I really don't know about the defensive pickups you have. Would love to have Avril. I don't think Jeff Charleston is going to be here. I also don't think Dunbar is going to be the starting SLB. That's not his position and should only start there because of an injury to someone else.

Offense, IMO Colston won't be here. I think Meachum stays. If I am not mistaken, we have a couple receivers on the practice squad. So we might pick up more for the PS.

You really think we'd keep Meachem over Colston?

Dunbar has played the OLB spot...

Meachum price tag < Colston.

I know Dunbar has played the OLB spot but that's not his position. He would be more productive in the middle where he belongs.

He looks to be a prototypical 4-3 MLB. He doesn't seem big enough to play the SAM and isn't fast enough for the WILL (generally speaking).

He was born to play the 4-3 MLB position

I have to say that I agree with you that Dunbar should only start as the MLB - but that being said - I'd be lying if I said that I would be confident seeing Dunbar be the starting MLB in 2012, unless of course they sign a monster of an OLB to work on his side.

In my opinion Dunbar would give depth at MLB if he comes cheap, otherwise they might as well let him walk.



And JP, I do like your pick of Woodyard as the Will, but I'm not convinced that Connor would be that good of a MLB, at least based on the Panthers' games I've seen.

I think thats what Spags. will go after, a monster of an OLB., Connor is a pretty decent MLB, I would like to see him and Dunbar fight it out for the middle, I think it would be good, the other monster is already on one side,Wilson..

I guess, I mean I haven't really focused on Connor's performances in the Panther's games I've seen, but on the other hand, he hasn't done anything exceptional in them either or I would remember him better.

If he would be a cap friendly solution (and Vilma was no longer with the Saints) while still good enough to start, I wouldn't theoretically have anything against that.

I wish we could just exchange Vilma for Posluszny, they have almost the same exact contracts in terms of average annual cap hit of ~$7M, but naturally Vilma is on the back end of his contract while Posluszny just signed his last FA period. He would be an awesome MLB to anchor that LB corps.

If Vilma is let go, then Dunbar is the natural replacement. I like Dan Connor, but why spend the money when we have a comparable player in house?

Well, you would still need to have depth at that position, and Humber isn't really a good enough backup to a starter.

Good Point, but can Dunbar "lead" the defense? That's why I suggested what I believe would be an affordable Dan Connor...

Part of his struggles were that he didn't have those defensive lineman to "absorb" those offensive lineman...

He is a player and would get us younger, cap friendlier, and healthier...

One reason we may not have seen contract announcements is that the Front Office would want to wait until free agency is wide open to make moves without having competing clubs time to study what their plan may be...

I gotta believe that if Brees weren't at least done, we'd be hearing more about it...

You made a good point! I hope that's the case.

Do you think Tennant can make the jump to starter in the NFL or is he just a journeyman/supporter?

Last year he was doing fine at OC, but DLP blew everything up.

Now we see that DLP over Tennant wasn't a knock on Tennant, it was DLP earning the nod.

I think the staff is still high on Tennant, they just found a surprise diamond in the rough with DLP.

JP
I like the line up you have for the D-line, however I can't see the linebackers working out the way you have them...

"SLB Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Martez Wilson, Will Herring
MLB Dan Connor, Ramon Humber, Ezra Butler
WLB Wesley Woodyard, Jonathan Casillas, Nate Bussey"

I am a fan of Dunbar but when he was moved to the outside he was less effective. If (and a BIG IF) Vilma gets let go I could see Dunbar in the middle, a position which he excelled at. Dunbar>Conner

The SLB should be Wilson. He showed that he can play the position well and has the size, speed and pass rushing ability to be one of the best SLBs in the league. Wilson>Dunbar

I have not watched Woodyard play the position and his stats aren't all that impressive. I realize stats don't mean everything. Casillas has shown, when healthy, that he can play the position very well. Casillas has the speed needed at WLB plays the run decently, has the best cover skills of our LBs and can rush the passer well. Casillas>Woodyard (although I have not seen Woodyard play)

Let me tell you that Woodyard is a better LB than Casillas and the Saints would be lucky to have him.

Woodyard is a really good tackler, has very good closing speed, and is excellent in coverage. But I think that he is a natural MLB rather than a WLB, but Broncos used him more like a WLB, so it shouldn't be a problem.

He would be a huuuuuuuuuuge upgrade over Shanle, and a huge upgrade over Casillas, who has had his problems with injuries. BTW, Casillas is a RFA, so there's not a 100% certainty that he'll even be with the Saints next season - if the Saints/Spags should for some reason decide that he doesn't fit into what they want to do going forward.

Ill take your word for Woodyard.. So I won't mind him at the wlb, however I would not be upset to see casillas there.

Of all the younger players returning I am most excited about Wilson. He was really looking good and has huge upside. Dunbar just doesn't look right to me. Maybe it's just.....aw heck I don't know what it is. We are about to go from being one of the oldest teams in the NFL to one of the youngest. Kasay can sway that stat if he stays.
I know one thing we miss Darren Sharper badly and we need veteran leaders who know the game. That's one of the reasons I want to keep Vilma.

Couldn't have said it better myself, and I totally agree with your feelings on Dunbar - he'd be ok as a depth guy, but he's not a starter at MLB in my opinion.

If he goes into the FA pool, there's no way some team is going to sign him to be their starting MLB, so why would the Saints settle for that?

Jo-Lonn outplayed, albeit an injured Vilma...I think he just needs a chance to get some reps with live bullets...

I'd be glad if that was the case, but with a week of Training Camp with Tennant, FO went out and signed Kreutz; so was it a question of not being ready or is there a ceiling there for the BC Center?

That's exactly what I was thinking also after they went for Kreutz, and when DLP won the center role over him when Kreutz got injured and later retired.

Hopefully just insurance. The fact that they let Kreutz quit after a few games tells me they were comfortable with not only De La Puente but with Tennant as a back-up as well.

DLP has been another great surprise, but we're getting thin on the OL and that will need to be addressed in the draft as Free Agency is murky at best right about now...

If Nicks leaves, we're gonna see how much a drop Strief has been...

And we'll see how mediocre or worse Bushrod is.

It is truly tough to gauge how much of it is the OL and how much is Drew's ability to read and release quickly...

But running behind Nicks would surely be missed; but that's alot of money to commit to the guards...

As long as they keep Nicks' cap hits low for the coming season and for 2013, they should be able to afford the pair of them without having to go to extremes in saving money on other positions.

Evans' cap hit for 2012 is ~$4.7M, but in 2013 it'll be ~$8.9M, but after that the cap increase should make their combined cap hits sustainable.

And we have to remember that Bushrod's 2012 cap hit of $6.75M will come of the books in 2013, so that would decrease the effect of Evans' cap hit in 2013, if they were to replace Bushrod with a more affordable LT.

All I'm saying is that they can keep both Nicks and Evans if they so desire, but none of us really know if that is what they want.

This from Walter Football...