rodjmaw

Ok, when the season was over I was expecting major pick ups in FA to help our defense. Didn't happen! Ok, then I was looking for at least 2 major player on defense in the draft. Recieved only 1. Now I am back looking at FA, (June 1 cuts), but they're no one. It is time for a new GM. This guy had all these chances, and didn't produce.

Saint's fans y'all can rip me all you want, but y'all have a idiot for GM.

WhoDat

I agree completely Rod. I know that people here are likely to side with the Saints even after this failure of a draft. They were the same people who, after a failed opening stanza to free agency, were happy and looking forward to the draft. Now they\'ll be looking forward to June 1st. And when we fil to add talent then, they\'ll be looking forward to training camp or the season... etc.

Bottom line is that nearly everyone who was a member of this board in December and January was talking about there being four, five, maybe seven new faces on defense. Everyone said they would make big free agent moves and draft for D. While I think the moves they made with Turley, Gandy, and Conwell are good (you could even throw Bouman in there and Berger), they\'re on the WRONG side of the ball. On defense, they\'ve made mostly bad decisions. T-buc was the one shining exception. Ruff was not good. Letting guys like Knight and Clemons go - bad ideas. Ambrose is ho-hum. Bottom line is the defense has not gotten any better on paper. I know how things look on paper don\'t mean sh-t when they take the field... but consider the range in the variability of play you might see in Mitchell, Jones, Carter, Allen, Ruff, Hodge, Jackson, Sullivan... You really don\'t know what you\'re going to get from them. If they all play up this defense might be ranked as high as 15 or so. If they all play down, look for another year with a D near 30th.

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"

pakowitz

i have to agree with both of u guys on this one, i can understand the move for sulivan and taking the OT in the 2nd round helps with line depth... but to pass on james not once but twice just burns my ass.... this just sucks... let me be GM... it cant really be that hard.... loomis... die mutha ****a die

lumm0x

I\'ll admit right now, I was one of the guys saying not to sign too many big momey names until we see what plays out in the draft. The draft has been a huge disappointment. I seriously believed we were two or three impact players from a reasonable playoff run. We needed one of those impact plays in each area of the defense, a CB, a LB and a DL. We now have none of those and have filled holes with mediocre talent and potential. Well guess what, when the potential, if and when it pans out, will be a year or two away, probably after the serious talent on this team has long gone due to salary demands. I was pleased with the opening FA signings if we followed it up with a strong impact draft, but we followed it up with a depth draft, no one will likely be a starter.
I like every player we drafted. Sulllivan will be a good DT, Stinchcomb will be a good OT, Grant will be a good nickle LB or weak LB, Holland will be a good OG. The problem.....we drafted them all (with the exception of Holland who we don\'t need anyways) well ahead of their draft value. All could have been had later if not way later than we took them. I don\'t even want to ponder what we could have drafted with what was left....bottom line is it was a head-in-ass draft!!!

I\'m perenially optimistic and still believe we can be competitive but we seriously missed the boat to take it to the next level and be a contender. We Sh&$ the bed with this draft!!!

rodjmaw

GATORMAN, IF THAT IS THE CASE THEN THAT\'S ANOTHER REASON BENSON SHOULD HIRE A GM, CUZ LOOMIS NOT DOING HIS JOB

saint5221

Ruff and Cie Grant this is the answer come up with so far to our horrendous Linebacker play last year. Yes I do see improvment in the secondary Tebucky and Ambrose will help, but compare the experience and potential of those two to Ruff and Cie. Sullivan will help the line and it is not unreasonable to expect more production from Grant and continued good play from Howard. Still, the Saints have not addressed a major area of concern and opportunities to do so a hard to find now. For the current crew of Allen ,Ruff and Hodge to be effective at the level needed for the Saints, it would require an improvement from all that is difficult to have to depend on for the comming season. We need someone who has produced and we can expect to continue to do so. Our LB unit is a study in if\'s and Maybe\'s Maybe Allen develops into a solid player, Maybe Ruff becomes a force inside, Maybe time has not run out on Smith, Maybe Hodge will develop the instincts and hitting his job needs. The whole crew needs to much optimism, everything rarely goes all well. What do we do if it does\'nt ,what is the plan then. Can you simplify a defense so much it elevates everyone as much as we are counting on? Can we count on June 1st to save us? I hope so but wish we did\'nt have to wait and see.

WhoDat

The thing that may be scariest of all to me, is that Haslett and the other coaches, talent scouts, front office people, etc. DON\'T SEE A PROBLEM WITH OUR LINEBACKING CORP!!! They\'ve come out and said that they like them. Further, their actions in FA and the draft make that all the more obvious. They past on big name FAs like Colvin, Quarles, and Spikes. Ok, those guys cost money. Then they past on REAL VALUES like Claiborne (who would have cost the Saints half a mill more per year than Ruff!!!). Finally, in the draft, they sh-t the bed by passing on talent like Bailey, Henderson, and James time and again. To me, that only says that they are happy with their linebackers just the way they are. Don\'t hold your breath for a LB come June.

The only thing I can say that may hopefully make some of you feel better (though I doubt it), is that I said this last year about the Ricky move. I thought Williams had the ability to be the rushing leader in the NFL (which he proved he did this year), and while I really liked Deuce, I was very unsure about his durability. I remember talking about how dumb it was to let a guy who only had 16 carries in 2001 take the reigns as THE GUY in his second year... especially when he had a slight history of injury, and we had no real backup. Well, I was right about Ricky and I was right about not having a backup, but I was wrong about Deuce\'s ability to handle the load. That move proved to be a great one for the Saints. Let\'s hope that happens again this year with our linebackers. Right? Optimism...? Well, actually, I can\'t be totally optimistic (you guys know me). Just think of how bad it\'ll be if one or two of our linebackers gets hurt!!!! Wow... they may suit JOE up in that case, or put Pak on the field and let him use the force.

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"