Saints' defense loaded with health concerns

jewagr007 · 05-15-2008, 01:38 PM

Here We Go....

Ok....from last year..who are we missing due to injury?

1) C. Grant (ankle)- Not much talk about him going on right now so it is either the tipical team keeping it out of the press because he is fine ( I call this the "sleeper" tactic) or he is worse then we thought. It is hard to say right now how he is doing. We addressed this with McCray and I feel he will do better than avaerage as a bzckup till Grant is ready (if he is not right now).

2) MM (knee)- Story on Mike right now is he is doing back peddle drills and seems to be coming along better than expected with his rehab. Will he be ready for camp? Doubt it! Will he be ready for preseason? Maybe! I think he will be ready for the season and even if he is 80% he is still better than the rest of the crew. If he can't go by seasons start we addressed that in picking up Gay. With Gay starting and Young on the other side I feeel we will be ok till his return. The reason I say this directly ties to #3 and #4...read below.

3) J. Vilma (knee)- Will he be ready to step in and take over in the middle for our "D" ???? If he is not ready are we really hurting at the LB position? I say no! The LB core last year was solid, not great, but solid non the less. Will Vilma be a great addition if he returns to full health? Absolutly!

4) "D" Line - Other than Grant, whom we are not sure of right now but have addressed that position already, no other injuries to speak of. So why am I bringing it up again you ask? PASS RUSH!!!!!! Why did the Colts nor the Patriots win the SB? PASS RUSH!!!!! We had no pass rush last year. Give any NFL Quarterback more than 3 seconds to look down field and find targets he will find one and he will KILL you! What do we need to better our "D" all around. You guessed it..PASS RUSH!!!!!! Did we address this? Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you S.Ellis! Those of you that have not, I beg of you, go find and watch film on this guy. He is a quarterbacks nightmare! Pass Rush is what he does! Can he stop the run...yes...but his forte' is the pass rush. I can't wait to see him lined up next to Young. And if we get Grant back healthy I believe we double our sack total and shave over 2ypc off of last years numbers. That is a huge improvement and will also help to improve our secondary. i will not even go into the depth but they are not to shabby either.

Taking all of this into consideration....i believe our defense will be much inproved even if the 2 injuries from last year are not ready to go. I think Payton and the FO did a great job at addressing the holes with keeping in mind that the holes may not even be there if MM and Grant are healthy.

Injuries...right now who cares...it is all speculation and what if...but I say that right now..we are way better than last year as far as talent goes and i am looking forward to seeing this crew getting on the field. With new faces all over the place there will be an adjustment period but make no mistake....THIS "D" WILL BE TOUGH!!!!!!

Jason David...aka "you want some butter with that toast"

05-15-2008, 01:38 PM	#10
jewagr007 Rookie Join Date: May 2008 Location: Houma, LA Posts: 27	Re: Saints' defense loaded with health concerns Here We Go.... Ok....from last year..who are we missing due to injury? 1) C. Grant (ankle)- Not much talk about him going on right now so it is either the tipical team keeping it out of the press because he is fine ( I call this the "sleeper" tactic) or he is worse then we thought. It is hard to say right now how he is doing. We addressed this with McCray and I feel he will do better than avaerage as a bzckup till Grant is ready (if he is not right now). 2) MM (knee)- Story on Mike right now is he is doing back peddle drills and seems to be coming along better than expected with his rehab. Will he be ready for camp? Doubt it! Will he be ready for preseason? Maybe! I think he will be ready for the season and even if he is 80% he is still better than the rest of the crew. If he can't go by seasons start we addressed that in picking up Gay. With Gay starting and Young on the other side I feeel we will be ok till his return. The reason I say this directly ties to #3 and #4...read below. 3) J. Vilma (knee)- Will he be ready to step in and take over in the middle for our "D" ???? If he is not ready are we really hurting at the LB position? I say no! The LB core last year was solid, not great, but solid non the less. Will Vilma be a great addition if he returns to full health? Absolutly! 4) "D" Line - Other than Grant, whom we are not sure of right now but have addressed that position already, no other injuries to speak of. So why am I bringing it up again you ask? PASS RUSH!!!!!! Why did the Colts nor the Patriots win the SB? PASS RUSH!!!!! We had no pass rush last year. Give any NFL Quarterback more than 3 seconds to look down field and find targets he will find one and he will KILL you! What do we need to better our "D" all around. You guessed it..PASS RUSH!!!!!! Did we address this? Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you S.Ellis! Those of you that have not, I beg of you, go find and watch film on this guy. He is a quarterbacks nightmare! Pass Rush is what he does! Can he stop the run...yes...but his forte' is the pass rush. I can't wait to see him lined up next to Young. And if we get Grant back healthy I believe we double our sack total and shave over 2ypc off of last years numbers. That is a huge improvement and will also help to improve our secondary. i will not even go into the depth but they are not to shabby either. Taking all of this into consideration....i believe our defense will be much inproved even if the 2 injuries from last year are not ready to go. I think Payton and the FO did a great job at addressing the holes with keeping in mind that the holes may not even be there if MM and Grant are healthy. Injuries...right now who cares...it is all speculation and what if...but I say that right now..we are way better than last year as far as talent goes and i am looking forward to seeing this crew getting on the field. With new faces all over the place there will be an adjustment period but make no mistake....THIS "D" WILL BE TOUGH!!!!!! Jason David...aka "you want some butter with that toast"