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I just got finished this week's Saints Edge. I am a firm believer that having a great pass rush will help with the secondary. Forcing QB's to make decisions quicker will help the CB's and S make more plays. Now, I am only 23, and having been watching football for about 15 years. Now, to say that past few Super Bowl Team teams have relied on their lines and lB's for the past few years is crazy. Just to name some of the past few CB's to play in the "big dance": Barber, Kelly(led the league in int's), Woodson, Law, Smith, A. Williams, McAllister, Starks, Sehorn(when he was still top-notch), Lyght(when he was still kicking), Walker, Rolle. Whe these players where in the Super Bowl, they were widely considered to be in the top 10 at their positions. The best DL at the same times were: Sapp, Rice, Adams?, Seymour?, Winstrom? Strahan, Carter and Kearse. I put the question marks because some probably would not consider them as high as I do. Throw out the Ravens and Buc's, because they both had unreal defenses, and the majority of the strength was in the secondary, especially the CB's. The LB's have been great, but the strength was in the whole unit, same with the DL. There always seems to be a playmaker at CB or at Safety. Of course I very well could be wrong, it is just my opiniom

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I good front seven sure makes the secondarys work a lot easier. Converesly, a good secondary makes it easier for the QB to get sacked since they are all over their man. Hopefully this year, we can have the best of both worlds on the defense. :)

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Hey Cooky591, if you were a quarterback would you loose sleep at night because you were going to face 2 good cornerbacks or the 85\' Chicago Bears denfense who sacked the quarterback every other play? Name all the great denfenses of the past and the D-line made them what they were, not the cornerbacks.

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You hit the nail on the head. There have been many so called great CB\'s who swapped teams and flopped. The front seven has more to do with the defenses success than the DB\'s. Adequate DB\'s with a great front 7 is much better than an adequate front 7 and great DB\'s.

The Dome patrol era defense was an awesome front 7 with decent DB\'s.

Haz and company made the right choice with a stud DT (Sullivan) instead of a shut-down corner.

You could have the best 4 DB\'s in all the NFL, and if you give the Offense 2-3 extra seconds, even a 40 year old Rodney Peete would pick them apart.
Oh yea, he did!

But if you give the QB 1-2 LESS seconds, even Joe Montana in his prime would get slaughtered.

Also, a weak front seven usually translates to 2nd and short all day. Your DB\'s are helpless. A strong front 7 translates to 3rd and long, and about 2 seconds to throw the ball before a DT or LB slams his helmet into your chest.

AHHH can\'t you just see Darren Howard nailing Brad Johnson in his little bird chest at about mach-5. Ball flies into the air and one of our big fatties snags it and trots about 35 yards into the end zone before passing out from exhaustion... YEA!!!!

Damn, I gotta go hit somebody, I\'ll be back later....


[Edited on 28/5/2003 by tweeky]

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Although I agree that the front seven is more significant than the DB\'s, I had to correct your post. When I think of great cornerbacks, I think of shutdown cornerbacks. And a shutdown cornerback is a shutdown cornerback, doesn\'t matter what team he plays for. Example- Deion Sanders. I can\'t stand the guy, but I can\'t dismiss what he did in coverage. It pissed me off when he said he wouldn\'t tackle, but he was a shutdown corner- didn\'t matter if he was a Falcon, 49er, or a Cowboy. Darrell Green was the same way. He didn\'t play with the same defense his entire career, yet you knew when you played the Skins that you couldn\'t throw to the left side of the field without putting yourself in danger, no matter what decade it was.

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Ahh, the Deion response. Very good points, but he was an absolute freak of nature. Its much easier to build a solid front seven, than find another Deion. For every Deion that comes along, theres a 100 Alex Moldens. I\'ll take a can\'t miss DT over a can\'t miss CB anyday. A shut-down corner disrupts 1 guy on Offense. A stud DT can disrupt the whole Offense on both run plays and pass plays.

Don\'t misunderstand me, I\'d love to have both, and it appears there will be many CB\'s to choose from next year in the draft AND free agency.

I just think we\'re better off as a team shoreing up the front 7 before acquiring a shutdown CB, Especially in our division.

I\'m sure TB, ATL and Car wish we had drafted a CB instead of Sullivan.

[Edited on 28/5/2003 by tweeky]

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Not arguing that a good DT is more formidable on defense. Defensive backs only play the run when they have to (ie the tailback has already made it into the secondary or on blitz packages). However, due to the lack of legit shutdown corners in this league, I\'ll take the can\'t miss CB over the can\'t miss DT every time. For every can\'t miss CB, I can name you three can\'t miss DT\'s. And, yes, I\'m a greedy little bastard that wants it all :P
On a side note, after seeing the CB class of 2004, I\'ve changed my ways, and am now happy that the Saints drafted Sullivan over Trufant. Yes, you are reading this correctly, the man that nearly cried when the announcement was made and lashed out at everyone who argued the point, has now <gasp> changed his opinion. Hey, the sun shines on a dog\'s ass every now and then. :P

[Edited on 28/5/2003 by BlackandBlue]

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BlackandBlue. Your not seriously saying that more high prospect corners coming out of college make a bigger impact in the NFL than high prospect DT\'s are you? Come on now......

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Big difference in high prospect corners and a legitimate shutdown corner. Smoot was a high prospect corner who is nowhere near being referred to as a shutdown corner.
Not that we had a play at him in the draft, because he was gone by the time we picked, but Newman may be the real deal, and the first of what I refer to as a \"legitimate shutdown corner\" in several years. From what I\'ve heard out of the mini camps is that he naturally gravitates towards the ball, like it\'s automatic. They\'ve moved Derek Ross over to right side, and it is expected that Newman will roll right into the left side corner position (which is where you put your best corner) by the start of training camp. You don\'t do this with just any rookie corner, unless your corners are the worst in the league, and Dallas already has a pair of good corners.

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BlackandBlue, I beleive you said for every can\'t miss corner you could name 3 can\'t miss DT\'s. I\'m assuming you meant that there were more corners that make an impact than DT\'s. Is there something that I\'m missing? Pleazzzzzzze let me know.

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What I meant was that legitimate shutdown corners are a rare breed, moreso than a great defensive tackle. For every one shutdown corner name you throw out, I can name three great defensive tackles. While we are all in agreement that a great defensive tackle will have a greater impact on your team, the scarcity of a legitimate shutdown corner warrants, in my opinion, taking a second look at one if he is available.
This is a subjective discussion, I don\'t think there is a right or wrong answer. If you feel that taking a great DT over a shutdown corner is the better move for your team, there are several points to support your argument. I, however, would take the shutdown corner, strictly because they are rare.

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B&B, I see your point now. If we already had a pretty good front, I may also be tempted to go with a SCB.

The best CB and the 7th best DT may be a better combo than
The best DT, and the 7th best CB.

If the DT wasn\'t such a desparate need, they may have gone that route.

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BlackandBlue, I misunderstood what you said. I totally agree with you on the shutdown corner. It is much harder to find a shutdown corner than a good DT and anyone who thinks otherwise has been smoking his lunch.

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The front 7 baby!! Those guys mean more than anyone on D. Not that the DB\'s mean nutin, buuuuut..it\'s the front 7..get ready for the pain train baby!!! Want proof? 2 words.

Dome
Patrol

Just ask Montana or Young. they dreaded seeing our guys.

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Past is past and we must live the present to survive the future.
--Martin Ducavne

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Someone asked me if I was a top-flight QB, a Brett Farve, would I have bad dreams about a great front seven or two good CB\'s. I would defintely be more worried about the front seven. There would be constant pressure and I would be getting hitting and having to make quick decisions, ala Bucs v. Packers this past year. But I do have a o-line to stop before I get they get to me, also If I am a Farve, I will make the right decision with the ball more than the wrong one. However, after I release the ball I have to depend on where I put the ball, my receivers skills and the DB defending the play. If I am throwing to Driver and Walker vs. Bailey and Smoot, I will make sure if my guys do not catch, that no one will be able to catch either. I think we will all agree that Farve had several good games against the Buc\'s, who have Sapp for most of that time. What I am trying to say is this, A QB has more buffers and weapons against a good front seven than he does against a good secondary. A front seven is definitely more importanty because of the role they play in entire defense, but to say that the secondary is in just fact that, secondary, is just plain wrong. An entire defense wins championships, proven by the Bucs and the Ravens. The Pats and Rams strengths were in the secondary when they won the Super Bowl. But it is all depending on the players, I think we may be missing what is this, I believe the Saints will have the players this year. If the defense gels togther correctly and does not make as many mistakes, we can be witness to a championship. If not, we will be discussing this situation next off-season.

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Just looking at the article at blackandgold.net I think the author overemphasized the influence of the linemen on stopping the pass. Can they help to stop it? Absolutely. Are they \"the key\"? I don\'t think so. They can be the key if you have a tremendous pass rush, but very few teams have that and the Saints won\'t have it next season. NFL quarterbacks are (or should be) used to let go of the ball in 3 seconds. If they let it fly it all depends on the DBs and the WRs. If you have inadequate CBs your defense will be picked apart.
I liked the Sullivan pick for several reasons, but not because CBs are utterly unimportant. The secondary should get more respect from this writer. They already have gotten the respect from the organization, just look at the contracts.