Need a little help here....
 

Hey everybody. I have a question. With all the hooplah and bru-ha-ha over Mr. Bush I remembered that we still have a serious problem at LB. Outside of Simmons, Fujita, Buckwoldt, and...and......arrrgh. See this is my problem!! Who the hell are our other linebackers? Do we even have enough of them?

I know we have like 30 safeties and 17 recievers....what about our LB's??

RE: Need a little help here....
 

Well we will have to wait till June 1st FA cuts to see what happens. There is always the supplemental draft and expelled Virginia LB Ahmad Brooks , The only question NFL teams would have is on his character, his work ethic and his passion for the game. So with the type of draft we had I would look for FA or a trade to bring in more new blood to the LB corp.

RE: Need a little help here....
 

54 Rabe, Russel LB 6-2 228 23 1 Minnesota-Duluth
56 Fincher, Alfred LB 6-1 238 22 2 Connecticut
52 Fujita, Scott LB 6-5 250 27 5 California
58 Simmons, Anthony LB 6-0 240 29 8 Clemson
50 Allen, James LB 6-2 245 26 5 Oregon State
57 Bockwoldt, Colby LB 6-1 237 25 3 Brigham Young
55 Watson, Courtney LB 6-1 246 25 3 Notre Dame
53 Iwuchukwu, Bobby LB 6-2 246 22 R Purdue
54 Kuale, E.J. LB 6-2 232 22 R Louisiana State
49 Moore, Chris LB 6-1 235 23 R East Carolina
51 Melton, Terrence LB 6-1 235 29 3 Rice


http://neworleanssaints.com/roster.cfm?sortby=position

As stands, I write in Fujita. I pencil in Simmons with a big asterisk. He's good but it has been a while since he stayed healthy. Bock, I dunno in the middle. I'll trust them if they see enough in him. I only hope it isn't a make do with what we have move. Fincher is the guy I would like to see what he's got there. He's appears to have the tools and drive. James Allen has also had some flashes of looking like a real LB. I think injuries have hindered him like Fincher last year. Watson I have never seen much from. Maybe on the outside he could do better. For UDFA these guys have a shot on this team-
~Iwuchukwu blocked 5 Fg at Purdue, good special teamer
~Moore a little undersized but was a first-team All-Conference selection who led East Carolina in tackles as a senior with 96/17/4.5. Awarded All-League honors the prior two campaigns, registering 148 tackles each season.
~Kuale was a highly recruited big name that could be something big if he can avoid injuries long enough

The June cuts will provide a few more names. Correct me if wrong but I think Tommy Polley, Peter Boulware, Chris Claiborne, and Jamie Sharper are still available.

Thanks guys....I actually lost track of our LB's. Its like the problem disappeared from the radar for a while.

E,J. has a chance to be a good outside linebacker. Fast, strong, and a sure tackler.

Edit: We have a Halo sighting!

yea.. EJs senior season was a disappointment b/c of the injury... i thought all along he would be LSUs best linebacker... better then vaughn who was really a disappointment for the early part of his career.... EJ will surprise some people if he can stay healthy... he is fast and strong for his size an i think we got a steal

Ali Highsmith was their best LB by a longshot, even as an underclassmen. E.J. could be a good LB (but not great), but he has problems in coverage & isn't the surest tackler. Sorry Pak, but I'm just being honest. As LSU alum. & a season ticket holder, I've watched the kid play the last few years. He's alright, but don't get your hopes too high. :wink:

On a more optimistic note, I like the Moore kid from East Carolina. He seems to always be around the ball & he wraps up his tackles. I think he was a good pickup even if only for special teams purposes.

no im saying that i thought EJ would have been the best LB if he wouldnt have been injured... he only had 1 other year under his belt after transferring from JuCo...and i thought he was gonna have big year before he got hurt in spring training...but ur right.. highsmith did have a break out year..

No, I'm with you....I had big hopes for E.J. when he transferred. He just never could get it all together. Even when healthy, he looked out of place alot of times. 8)

well he only got to play in 3 games in 2004 and 6 games last year...i think the ankle injury really hurt him last year... he never really got to play up to his full potential and LSU has a lot of depth at LB so once u get behind its hard to come back in... ya know...

http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/playerDet...=365&player=51

Wait until you see the LB corp this year. Even though they will be young, I think with Highsmith & Cutrera they will be special. :lol:

Darry Beckwith :D

There's another freshman LB/SS to watch for also. Danny McCray from Spring, TX. He needs to put on a little weight, but the kid hits like Ronnie Lott & runs a 4.4!!!!

Cutrera from THE Acadiana High School. Brought us such special talents as Detrina White, Alley Broussard and....well... me!

I am just hoping some of these younger guys we have at LB can be coached up. Maybe if Hollis Thomas eats up some room in the middle it will make their jobs a little easier. Plus Joe Vitt is an obvious upgrade over Winston Moss...sorry i got back on the Saints...on an LSU note, I look for Trindon Holliday to be our next Skyler Green.

Maybe Im in the minority, but Im not thrilled about the Hollis Thomas acquisition. I'm sure he'll be serviceable, but he's seen his better years.

I am not thrilled about it in any way either...but at the same time, its better than what we have. Whitehead is too small, ditto for Young, Sullivan...nevermind...Rodney Leisle, not a factor...at least its someone with size that has a history of stopping the run.

Damn.

Breaking it down that way I didnt realize how crappy we were in the middle.

He's the one right there, and probably not many know about him. He didn't RS last year and played a lot of special teams. Pretty well, too. He's likely the starting Mike this year.

Here's a pretty good LSU video a guy I know put together. Look at some of the others on the site, like the '01 clips. Those were LSU/Saban made and really well put together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfSkp8XTekU&search=LSU

Jai Eugene...LSU needs him to be a shutdown corner.

He's a little bit undersized, but hopefully he lives up to the hype. It's gonna be Zenon and C.Jackson as the starters, with probably Daniel Francis as the nickle. LSU's got two real good safety's (Are you reading this, Sean?) in Landry and Jesse Daniels. They've got to find a way to get Harry Coleman on the field. He's going to surprise a lot of people, too.

Eugene's got a lot of talented kids in front of him. Another DB coming in with him that everyone I know over on the LSU board, The Lair, that saw his highlight video at the recruiting bash said is really impressive is Jason Teague from TX.

http://www.lsusports.net/SportSelect...64&SPSID=27812

LSU's got a LOT of talent stacked at every posistion, and as I'm sure is obvious, is putting a lot of players in the NFL the last few years. I hope our new staff pays more attention to their own backyard and doesn't let another Randall Gay go and sign as a rookie FA with some other team and start for them.

Gay only started because of injuries to the Pats' secondary.

Off topic, but I see that there are some late night stragglers. What is keeping you guys up? I'm cramming for finals week.

Budweiser, Crown and PokerStars keeping me up.

You're a little late then smyce... we've been crappy up the middle the last 5 years. :?

Umm, for those that have not already figured it out on thier own.. I think this should clear up some questions. To explain.. The New Orleans Saints hired a completely new coaching staff this year and are installing a new system. Obviously they dont feel that they have all the weapons they need at possitions like Safety, Wide out, and Tight End. In addition, they probly dont think it would hurt to bring in some competition and evaluate who they feel are the best fits in and in what possitions(FS, SS, 2CB). Also, seeing as how they have not persued anymore LBers, it would appear that they feel they have the players that fit thier system well enough to no longer need additional backers..

I think that alot of you are trying to dictate that you know the system that the coachers are going to use, the blitch packages, and so forth.. Just becouse some players did not perform like pro bowl players under the likes of Haslett and Rick Venturi, doesn't mean they are not good players. T. Jones was a star for the Patriots, he sucked for us.. Systems, coaches, let them do thier job and if the team doesn't perform, then tear them a new ass.. Right? Since when are we, Saints fans, lacking in optimism? We have all the reason in the world to be pumped this year and I've seen more complaining this year then most previous years.. Sheesh.

What a horrible example in Tebucky Jones... he's underachieved everywhere he's been. One can be optimistic and realistic at the same time.

I'm on board with some of what you are saying 66. I'm giving the new regime a wide berth to "show me what dey got". They can pull in some injury history players or reach some for draft picks. I won't care if the results are right. Time will tell.

Two things I disagree with-

Tesucky sucked at NE too. That was right in the midst of the Patriots rise to the top. At that time I said, Belicheck would not trade him if he wasn't suspect. I was surprised they resigned him though.***

You think there is more complaining?? Since you have only been posting here a few weeks I will cut you some slack. Whining, *****ing, and moaning is down about 500% from the previous two springs IMO.

**************
Memory of that made me revisit the trades and what the Saints lost in the giving...

the 2003 7th and 2004 4th provided no real gems for the Pats. The Saints could have taken Chad Lavalais with the 2004 4th though.

The Pats took the 2003 3rd pick acquired and trade it to Miami for a 2004 2nd. They then traded that to the Bengals for Corey Dillon.

A bit convoluted but you could say they traded Corey Dillon, Chad Lavalais, and a no name to get Tesucky. Like the Sullivan move up, these are trades that, in this case, break a franchise.

If we went by that, I'd assume our new system will be just two DE's (cause we didn't draft a DT so we must not need them), two OLB's (since we didn't draft a good MLB in the 2nd rd we must not need them). This will leave us with the ability to put 7 safety's on the field, and when the other team runs it down our throats we will then be capable of having numerous defensive players stop the RB 7 yards downfield.

By employing this defense we won't have to worry about the other team passing, possibly throwing incompletions, and stopping the clock. The game will be much faster, which means it will end much sooner. The Dome will get closed quicker, and Benson can turn out the lights and send all the concession people home earlier, saving himself money.

i said it before... 4 - 2 - 5

You're not thinking outside the box..

2-2-7

Football is evolving in to a safety's game.

i have more faith in our new staff then that....

In general, I do, but the DT/LB/S situation really irritates me.

People, People relaxs, I want all of you to count to ten. and just say Haz is gone, AB is gone, the whole coaching staff is gone.

You just have to hope that the new coaching staff is full of better "teachers" than the old regime. 95% of the guys in the league are athletes, but they have to be coached to do the right things and be in the right place...I will have to see it first.

1st....What exactly is a blitch package? I know with Sully in the middle we have a "BIYATCH" package. :D

2nd....Tebucky Jones? Where the heck did that come from? That dude sucked a** on every team he played for....and that includes the Patriots. :?

I like that 4-2-5 concept. If you've got 3 hard hitting safeties, one of them can be a blitzer. It can add a more complex wrinkle against some of our pass happy opponents for the 2006 season. Also, safeties tend to be quicker to the ball than LBs, so since none of our LBs tackle well on the edge, having solid backup there will be essential.

Never have to many safities that can tackle. Makes the special teams better. Besides we know we are weak at CB so a shuffle may happen. As for LB I am sick of saying it, we really have no idea what we got. This coaching staff is trying to see what haz left behind, He left a group that has played out position ever sense haz took over, Haz slowly broke down OL, DL, and LB positions on this team each year. We have a boat load of WLB and special teamers in the group. Colby in the middle is key. I think he can do it. with less open field to cover and safety help should be a good fit.

Re: RE: Need a little help here....
 

ok here is My problem....how many of these guess are really worth a damn....the ones that were here last years really werent hitting on nothing....and the new guys arent proven either....are we ever gonna get a few solid LB's....Im not askin for another dome patrol, it would be nice, but just solid atleast guys that could come close to makein a pro bowl