pakowitz

The Saints’ offseason moves have been directed mostly at revamping their defense, which was in dire need of an infusion of speed and athleticism, and it appears they have collected the parts necessary to improve the unit. However, just how much better the defense will be is hinging on some not-so-reliable parts, including MLB Jonathan Vilma’s knee, which kept him out for half of last season, MLB Dan Morgan’s fragile body and DE Charles Grant’s left ankle, which underwent surgery in January to repair a torn ligament. If Morgan is healthy and able to contribute, it will be considered a luxury, but Vilma and Grant are being counted on to start. Additionally, DE Will Smith is threatening to hold out if he doesn’t receive a new contract. It’s a dangerous strategy for New Orleans to count on so many potential question marks, and one that could come back to haunt them if some of these feeble bodies don’t hold up



The Way We Hear It - NFL pro football rumors and insider news from Pro Football Weekly

I Live In Beastmode!

hagan714

I have been waiting for this write up. The saints are definitely playing the high risk/high reward game this year. If and it is a BIG IF, the saints can keep all the players healthy this could be a great year. My gut tells me this gamble will pay off in the long run no matter what. A record 12-4 or another 7-9 in the 2008 season is what is at risk with this gamble.

So I am going out on limb and say the saints will not play it stupid this year. Expect to see a lot of the bench this year. More than previous. No player will be rushed onto the field till they are ready. Ok the branch is not that small. That is the FO's MO right now. They have done it two years straight now and The philosophy of caution with players will continue this year as well.

This could be the best thing could happen to this club. In 2009 the saints line up could look completely different. Switching position and back ups becoming starter. The experience could make this club something special or then again show us we still have a long way to go. I banking on special myself.

Brace yourself this could be a roller coaster ride next year. But we will look back on it one day and thank god we rode it no matter how the season turns out.

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

saintsfan1976

The 600lb gorilla in the corner of the room.

Supersaint19

Vilma's knee is fine, they are blowing out of proportion

CantonLegend

haha although he did miss half the season last year....and...these guys arent the kid in ur gym class that gets pushed over and thinks he broke his neck...these guys play on things that most of us would be in the hospital for...if he was fine he wouldnt be a concern...clearly its not something that he can just walk it out....however..i do think our injuries arent too much of a concern overall....several of our projected starters are injured but we managed to pull it off last year and i think with the depth at most positions now we can manage to give up a few starters to the bench

"deal with it or you can go play the saints and get trounced by 30 and you won't have to worry about it."-colin cowherd

WillMacKenzie

i'm glad someone wrote about this so i didn't have to.

my theory is in order to make the Saints squad, a player has to have some sort of injury, or a huge laundry list of past injuries.

earn it!

Bobaganoosh

I dont have much doubt that Vilma is going to be good to go. Obviously the FO feels the same way since they didnt even invest a late round pick in a LB. I think MM is going to be ready to play but i think the injury will hurt his play, at the very least in the beginning of the year. I like our depth on the d-line, which is something we havent had in a long time. But i would bet $100 that Morgan doesnt make it through training camp. That being said, i think Vilma and Ellis make this defense heads and shoulders better than last year.

It's all in the reflexes.

papz

I believe Vilma will be at full strength and should give us 100 tackles in the middle. If Morgan is healthy and starting this year, we'll have one beast of a linebacking crew. We should easily be ranked in the top 15 in overall defense and could definitely make a run at the Superbowl. I hope Mike and Morgan will be ready for the season opener... it would be a big boost for our ballclub.

andersen

Offense has injury concerns as well. If we win the super bowl, the MVP will be our orthopedic surgeon.

jewagr007

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"