Dt Roster Depth.............
 

Once viewed as one of the weakest positions on the team, not anymore. With the addition of Clancy, it could be look at as a strength, below are the DT's on the roster:

No._____Player______Pos_Height_Weight___Born___Exp_College
70__Clancy, Kendrick__DT__6'1"___305_08/17/1978__7__Mississippi
96__Lake, Antwan____DT__6'4"___308_07/10/1979__4__West Virginia
77__Leisle, Rodney____DT__6'3"___315_02/05/1981__3__UCLA
99__Thomas, Hollis____DT__6'0"___306_01/10/1974__11_Northern Illinois
90__Villarreal, Brandon_DT__6'2"___289_06/01/1983__R__Purdue
66__Young, Brian_____DT__6'2"___298_07/08/1977__7__UTEP

I can't wait for training camp to start, this will be the most competitive we've ever seen.

Don't forget McKInley Boykin, he's playing in Europe right now.

You have to wonder is a Antwan Lake DE/DT type? The answer is yes.
So the signing Clancy has also given us more depth at DE. Nicko will be one of Smiths back up on the depth chart and Lake will be one of Grants.
Willie and Lake are our two DE/DT hybrids that fit a LDE mold.
Boy oh boy this is going to turn into a battle Willie, Josh, Niko and Cooper.
Talk about how one signing and its effected the whole DL.
Flexibility baby Flexibility

Good pick up JOESAM, I completely forgot about ole Boykin. Man ,I really believe this defense is going to shock a lot of people this season.

Lots of veteran depth at the DT position, and it might be hard to run up the middle on the Saints.

How's it going to be a shock? Last year the defense had three major problems:

1. Big plays
2. Run defense
3. Lack of turnovers

The team addressed each of these problems in the offseason:

1. Big Plays: Freddie "GameShow" "Double Move" Thomas was picked on by teams last year. This year there will be a stable of good young fast talent to address the big play issue. Also adding Harper and KK into the secondary mix will help limit big plays down the field.

2. Run defense. Part of that is attributed to point #1. The Saints gave up 14 rushes of 20 yards or more last season, including two 70+ yarders to Willie Parker in the Pittsburg game. Eliminate the big rush play and the average goes down quite a bit. Last year just eliminating the big rushes would have dropped us down to 4.2 YPA which is right in the middle of pack of the league.

3. Acquiring the top safety intercetpr last year in KK and Coach's point of emphesis on turnovers should make quite a difference.

The Saints were #11 in total yards and #13 in total points last year on defense. All the defense needs to do is stay healthy, stop the big play, and create turnovers to be a top 10 defense.

SFIAH

help for young
 

i think this signing helps brian more than anyone. If you watch him closely, he is very disruptive to start off, but when teams start pounding the rock he wears down when against big guards. But if you can limit his number of plays, he is very quick and can give you a good, more than good pass rusher and get in the backfield on running plays. Just my opinion.

When I said shock a lot of people I didn't mean the Black & Gold Nation my friend, I meant people outside our world. They'll going to shock the NFL and the fans that watch the game because they didn't go out and sign big name FA's, they resigned their own players, signed a few guys that fit our defensive scheme and philosophies. So not much is expected on that side of the ball, everybody will be focus on the offense while the defense will slowly be doing their job, shutting people down. And trust me dude they will SHOCK A LOT OF PEOPLE.

you are one of those likee young talent type saints. bro, i dont mean to judge or anything, but its true. every kid, that deals with our team, you seem to have high hopes for them, i cant wait to see what happens when some of them fail. dude, i was at camp more then 80% of the time last year, and that kid sucks. he is very string, but doesnt move well at all! i dont see anything in him, he got dealt with on more than one occasion. so where do you get that good camp last year crap from? the guy minucci came in and did tons better than him, this is sick