blacksaint

Lance Moore, who has spent most of the past two seasons on the practice squad, appears to be on a fast track to replacing Michael Lewis as the Saints' top kick returner

Tuesday, August 14, 2007
By Mike Triplett

JACKSON, MISS. -- Up until Friday night, Saints receiver/return man Lance Moore had been the star of training camp.

Maybe not quite this season's version of Marques Colston, but close enough to earn rave reviews from Coach Sean Payton about his work ethic and versatility.

But then Moore screwed up on a punt return in the first quarter in an exhibition game against the Buffalo Bills on Friday night at the Superdome, and he felt Payton's wrath on the sideline.

"I can't really repeat what he was saying," said Moore, who knew instantly he had made a mistake when he fielded a punt at the Saints' 6-yard line and ran backward before being tackled at the 2. "I saw a lot of white jerseys, that's what I remember. I kind of tried to make something out of nothing. It was just a bad decision.

"I got a little excited, but it shouldn't happen again."

It's hard to blame Moore for wanting to hit the ground running. After spending most of the past two seasons on the Saints' practice squad, the 5-foot-9, 177 pound speedster has a chance to break out in a big way.

The Saints released longtime return specialist Michael Lewis in the summer, in part because of Moore's emergence.

Moore, 23, has lined up as a starting kickoff and punt returner throughout training camp, and he also is emerging as a bona fide receiving threat.

"I feel good, and I think it's just about confidence," said Moore, who signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted rookie out of Toledo in 2005 but didn't make the regular-season roster. "It's my second year in this system here, and I know the offense and I pretty much know the special teams scheme. It just allows me to go out and be able to play and not have to think about what I'm doing or where I'm going."

Moore said he knows the comparisons to Lewis are inevitable.

He joked about being at least 20 pounds heavier than the local legend, but otherwise he praised Lewis and said he has a long way to go before being in his class.

When asked if he ever drove a beer truck, Moore joked, "No, but I did work for 7UP when I was in high school."

Moore also faced an uphill battle as an undersized player who weighed closer to 155 pounds as a senior in high school. He is from Columbus, Ohio, and could have walked on at Ohio State. But Toledo offered him a scholarship about two weeks before the end of his senior year.

Moore went on to set school records with 222 receptions for 2,776 yards and 25 touchdowns, and he finished his career with 4,146 all-purpose yards. He caught 14 touchdown passes as a senior.

In his second pro season, Moore earned a roster spot with the Saints last year, but he was demoted to the practice squad when Lewis returned from a knee injury.

Last preseason, Moore caught a touchdown pass against the Tennessee Titans, then he returned a punt 90 yards against Kansas City before being caught at the 3-yard line by Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt.

"I try to forget about that, but I still think about it all the time," Moore said. "People still give me a hard time about it. I say I ran out of gas, but they say, 'Well, it's a punter.'

"It was a big play, but I need to continue to perform well and hopefully get some more touchdowns in the preseason and then in the regular season."

Despite his mistake against the Bills, Moore bounced back and caught a team-high five passes for 50 yards against Buffalo.

With three exhibition games remaining, he still has a chance to solidify his status as the breakout star of the preseason.

Some other special teams observations:

-- The Saints have been pleased so far with new kicker Olindo Mare, who has lived up to his reputation as the best kickoff specialist in the league.

Mare was unsuccessful on his first field-goal attempt against the Bills, a 37-yarder that was blocked -- but Payton said there was plenty of blame to go around on that play.

"Well, I wish I could point to one specific thing," Payton said. "There was penetration, we were a little soft. Get-off time was a little slow, and the trajectory wasn't just how we wanted it. We want to firm up protection and speed up the process, and I think we'll be all right."

-- Payton said he is upset with the number of penalties on special teams in the first two games -- a total of eight, though one of them was an intentional delay of game.

He said it's always challenging in the preseason, with so many players rolling in and out of the lineup -- but he still called the penalties "troublesome."

"That's something we were good at a year ago, the lack of penalties," Payton said. "That is something we specifically want to address and work on."

-- The battle between punters Steve Weatherford and Chris Hanson still is "wide open," Payton said.

Hanson was supposed to get his chance to work with the first-team units against Buffalo, but the Saints punted only twice. Hanson's lone kick was a 49-yarder.

Through two games, Weatherford is averaging 46.6 yards, and Hanson is averaging 42.7.

-- Linebacker Troy Evans has emerged as a special teams demon, helping to fill the void left when Steve Gleason was placed on injured reserve.

Evans, a sixth-year veteran who signed as a free agent in April, spent the past five years with Houston Texans.

"I think he might be that guy," said linebacker Scott Fujita, who has been impressed by Evans' work ethic in practice and the offseason conditioning program.

saint4life
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FireVenturi

i think moore can make a much bigger impact at wr than lewis ever did, as far as returns...time will tell.