blacksaint

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
By Mike Triplett

It hasn't been a very smooth ride for the Saints' defensive tackles this summer.

One starter, Brian Young, has missed the entire preseason with a broken foot. The other starter, Hollis Thomas, reported to training camp overweight and out of shape.

But in the end, it might be the best thing that ever happened to the position group.

Young and Thomas have been steadily improving. In the meantime, backups Antwan Lake and Kendrick Clancy have excelled as replacement starters over the past few weeks.

At a position where the Saints do more rotating than anywhere else on the defense, they suddenly seem deeper than ever.

"That just makes them more dominant," defensive end Charles Grant said. "At that nose spot, Clancy and Hollis rotating back and forth, that gives you a full motor the whole game. You've got Brian Young coming back. Antwan Lake's game has increased tremendously. That's a great thing for this defense."

Saints Coach Sean Payton said he hasn't settled on his starters for Week 1 at Indianapolis, but it looks like all four guys will be available.

Young still has not returned to practice full time, but he is doing more work on the side, and he is targeting the game against the Colts for his return to live action.

Thomas, meanwhile, admits that he was farther along last year at this stage -- but he said he is "very, very close."

"It was actually good to get to this point, where I'm hitting the line better, I'm getting my reads better, my endurance is up, I'm a little quicker. It's working in the right direction for me," said Thomas, a 12-year veteran who said he doesn't get too worked up about whether or not he's the starter.

"I was a starter for my first six or seven years (with the Philadelphia Eagles), then they saw fit to start a young buck. But I was getting just as many plays anyway," Thomas said. "It's no big deal at this position. It would be different if I was playing defensive end. They rarely come out of the game. But at the defensive tackle spot, you know after about four or five plays, you're pretty much tapped out."

Clancy will be hard to unseat. The eight-year veteran was signed in June shortly after being released by the Arizona Cardinals. An experienced starter, Clancy quickly has adapted to his fourth defensive system in four years.

"You never want to become complacent, think that you're playing the best you've ever played. There's always going to be things I need to do better," Clancy said. "But I think I've been preparing myself pretty good week by week in the preseason to play."

Clancy, 6 feet 1, 305 pounds, was a little surprised and disappointed when the Cardinals released him -- partly because they are switching defensive systems under a new coaching staff.

But he said he immediately felt like New Orleans would be a good fit, especially because his former position coach at Ole Miss, Marion Hobby, is the Saints' defensive line coach.

"I think it was fortunate when he became available. It kind of shocked us all, because he was a guy that we looked at even before, when we first got here," said Hobby, who said he has been pleased with the progress of Clancy and Lake. "I'll tell you what, they're both doing a great job. I thought both of them had good camps. Both of them have great work habits. Both of them are good solid run players, improving on the pass. They're smart players, they don't like to make mistakes.

"You know, I think we've got a great meeting room. We've got good competition going on, even at the end position. We've got guys who are really working their (butt) off to be good. And I'm excited about that."

Lake, 6-4, [308] joined the Saints late last August and played well enough in a backup role to earn a two-year contract extension in March. But he said he didn't know where he'd fit in for sure after the Saints re-signed tackle Rodney Leisle, then added veterans Lance Legree and Clancy.

"I thought it was going to be an uphill grind, which it was at first," Lake said. "The Pittsburgh game, I didn't do too well. But then I started to make some plays and get a better feel."

Lake and Clancy also said they are better off after surviving their first Millsaps experience.

Lake joined the team just as it was breaking training camp last year -- so he took a lot of heat from his teammates for missing out on the heat.

"When I heard about Millsaps a couple times, I was like, 'camp is camp.' It can't be no worse than I've already faced," Lake said. "I went to West Virginia and I've been to Detroit and I've been to Atlanta in the heat. But Millsaps was real. There's nothing like it. And they said it was worse last year, so I'm glad I wasn't there last year. I'm sorry to say it, but I'm going to go ahead and say it. It was a grind."

Said Clancy: "It was a great experience, but I'm glad it's over."

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