Pick your dark horse....
 

Just a little prognostication exercise for members. Who do you think will be a surprise player for the Saints this season, in a good or bad way, and explain why?

I'll kick it off with my dark horse

Mel Mitchell
Should have been our starting SS last season, but now looks to be depth at the safety position because of Bellamy's career year. The move to SS clearly rejuvenated Jay's life as a starter by playing him to a strength we never knew he possessed. Mitchell has his work cut out not only coming off a serious injury, but reclaiming a starting role. I think he will play lights out special teams for a few games and get some serious notice. Coaches will start to see the possible defensive alternatives his speed and aggression can bring to the field and by week 4 he will be seeing considerable time as a starter, possibly spelling Bellamy on some true passing downs or in a 3 safety scheme. By seasons end....and here's the kicker.....Saints fans as well as some sportswriters will take great notice of his hard hitting style and he will be mentioned in the same breath as Roy Williams in terms of feared hitters in the secondary. Not an immediate Pro-Bowler by any means, but a corner stone of our secondary for some time.

Pick your dark horse....
 

Germane Crowell #82
Height: 6-3
Weight: 222
Born: 09/13/1976
College: Virginia
NFL Experience: 5

He is a cell phone call and a pulled hamstring away from the number 1 receiver position .

Pick your dark horse....
 

Montrae Holland....This guy is a beast. He could push to be a Pro-Bowler if he\'s knees hold up. With him and Bentley playing next to each other, the O-line is going to be flat out nasty in the middle.

Pick your dark horse....
 

I\'m going to go with Tebucky Jones. I beleive he will be a much better tackler this year and I think he\'ll be used more aggresivley this year. In other words, the defense as a whole will be better and he will shine.

Sedrick Hodge might get his act together too. Hodge had 74 tackles in 2002 and got injuried last year. He might end up winning the starting job at SLB.

Pick your dark horse....
 

I have to say this one because I know it\'s only a matter of time before someone does. TODD BOUMAN. I have never had anything against Brooks, and I am normally very optimistic, but something just scares me about the fumbles. I think AB gets benched by week 4 and Todd Bouman catches his break like AB did when Blake went down. I\'ve seen this guy play and he\'s a player. Good arm. I hate to be negative against Brooks, but I know someone has had this thought cross their mind. The Anti-Sunshiners will support this one maybe.

Pick your dark horse....
 

Germane Crowell #82 - I like that one. This guy could be a total bust - don\'t get me wrong. However, he could be a Joe Horn too. He certainly has the size you want in a recevier, and he\'s shown the ability to make plays in the past. We will see - still he\'s not my pick.


I say: DARREN HOWARD

No surprise the guy can play. This year, he stays healthy and is a beast - totally dominant. He fights for the league lead in sacks even while playing INSIDE at the DT position on obvious passing downs in the Delta package and has us all wondering why we drafted that guy name Will. ;)

Pick your dark horse....
 

Ok, I\'m greedy so I\'m taking two:

(1) Charles Grant - the selection of Will Smith will light a fire under this guy. With a healthy Howard and the acquisition of Young, Grant will see a lot of single blocks. I think he\'s got a two digit sack season ahead (provided he can beat all those other guys to the QB). Oh, I\'m salivating over our DL this year... :P

(2) Devery Henderson - here is my REALLY DARK horse. I think he\'ll be returning kicks for us, and he\'ll be an option in our 4 WR sets. If, and I\'m sure this is a BIG if, he can get the hands going, I think by the end of the season he\'ll be an option for streching the field if Stallworth needs spelling. Not only that, with Stallworth and Henderson on the field at the same time, I see draw plays (and maybe even the occassional Guard Toss) taking Deuce for BIG yardage!

Pick your dark horse....
 

Great post.

I like all of the choices so far, especially Holland and Mitchell.

I\'m gonna go with Zach Hilton. I know this is a risk because some would say he might not even make the team, but I think his combination of size and speed (great football cliche there) will make him the perfect combination to Boo in two-tightend sets (which we will implement much more frequently this year because of our rookie fb).

What about Conwell, you ask? I\'m thinking the injury bug may stick with him this year, giving Zach his shot.

.02

Pick your dark horse....
 

Awfully similar to this thread:
http://www.blackandgold.net/site/mod...hread&tid=4705

And I\'m still going with Tebucky Jones.

Pick your dark horse....
 

Two words.... Onomo Ojo.

LOL Just Joking.

Really I was thinking Zach Hilton and Montrae Holland. All of the picks so far are good. I\'ll throw in Talman Gardner, too.

I\'m still not sure about Mel Mitchell. I hope he\'s as good as everyone thinks, but have we even seen him play a single game? I know he played in all games in 2002 (according to nfl.com) but how much time did he spend in those games? I don\'t remember seeing him on the field. He certainly had the size and speed to be a good player, I just hope it transfers to gameday, especially since he played in the Sunbelt Conference. Not too many players in the league from there.