New Orleans Saints: What Who Dat Fans Can Expect from Junior Galette in 2012

FinSaint · 02-12-2012, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by blackangold

In the thread "your spags fix our D" I gave my projected 2012 roster for starting D. I'd like to hear what you would disagree with.

There are a few things I kept in mind. First, re-signing the big three will eat most if not all of the cap space we have which will limit the ability to sign the big name FA. Second, I trust Loomis, look at the UDFA on offense he was able to get (Colston, Nicks, Evans, PT) and make into very productive players because of his ability to find the diamond in the rough. We have the diamonds on the defensive side of the ball, however they are still stuck in the rough because of a DC who played to complex and failed to teach fundamentals of the game. Spags will come in and realize he has a plethora of talent to work with.

Originally Posted by blackangold

Starting D for 2012 season (current roster)
DE Gallete
DT Johnson/Jorden
NT Franklin
DE Romeus (if healthy) McBride (if not)

WLB Casillas
MLB Vilma
SLB Wilson

CB Greer
SS Harper
FS Jenkins
CB Robinson

NB Patrick

Cut Shanle, Ellis and Smith--don't re-sign Porter or Rodgers. Use FA or draft to get depth at DT

Ok. I guess this was what you were referring to...

First of all, all the money lost down the drain with cutting Shanle, Ellis, and Smith is really not an ideal move, and I'm pretty confident that the Saints' FO won't do that.

I say keep all three - Shanle as a backup for one more year at $2M, Ellis plays out his contract at $6M and has hopefully a career year on a contract year, Smith's contract gets restructured and he returns hopefully with a deal worth about $4-5M/year. If somebody from that 3 is to be cut, it would be Shanle as it will be the smallest of the hits.

I doubt that Romeus will be a starter on day 1 - if I had to choose from the guys they have at the moment it would be Smith & Jordan on the ends and Gallette & Romeus in the rotation. You have to remember that Jordan might improve vastly during this off-season with full OTAs and camps, which he didn't have this past off-season - he is after all the 1st round pick, and I have to believe that the scouts and the FO saw something in him what impressed them.

Franklin and Johnson at DT could work, but I would seriously think about an upgrade there - no matter how much I like Johnson, I think he is better suited to being a rotational guy and not a day 1 starter. Of course that could change with the full off-season and Spags at the reigns, but that is all very uncertain at this point in time. Franklin wasn't very impressive, but like I have already stated on numerous other threads I wouldn't be against seeing him return, especially with a cheap contract.

I would say that the Saints need to acquire a big time DT to start in front of Franklin, then Franklin could sub in for this "Mr. QB pressure" on running downs etc. I don't think that the pair of Franklin and Johnson will be able to create the pressure and push we are all hoping for and, therefore, I can't agree with that line-up. Jordan is a DE and while I think that Spags might use him more lining up at center, that is only because he has done it before with DEs - lining even four of them on the front four.

While I love both Casillas and Wilson, I really hope that they are able to bring in a big time OLB. Casillas has a tendency to get hurt, so I don't know if they can really expect him to start the whole season long. M. Williams would certainly make that LB line-up look a lot more menacing.

But, on the secondary I completely agree with your line-up!

It's really hard to make estimates at this point in time on how the roster will develop through the FA period and the draft, but I do hope that they are going to bring in at least a good to great DT, OLB, and a DE.

02-12-2012, 03:51 PM	#18
FinSaint Site Donor 2015 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Finland... formerly Southern Virginia Posts: 4,963	Originally Posted by blackangold In the thread "your spags fix our D" I gave my projected 2012 roster for starting D. I'd like to hear what you would disagree with. There are a few things I kept in mind. First, re-signing the big three will eat most if not all of the cap space we have which will limit the ability to sign the big name FA. Second, I trust Loomis, look at the UDFA on offense he was able to get (Colston, Nicks, Evans, PT) and make into very productive players because of his ability to find the diamond in the rough. We have the diamonds on the defensive side of the ball, however they are still stuck in the rough because of a DC who played to complex and failed to teach fundamentals of the game. Spags will come in and realize he has a plethora of talent to work with. Originally Posted by blackangold Starting D for 2012 season (current roster) DE Gallete DT Johnson/Jorden NT Franklin DE Romeus (if healthy) McBride (if not) WLB Casillas MLB Vilma SLB Wilson CB Greer SS Harper FS Jenkins CB Robinson NB Patrick Cut Shanle, Ellis and Smith--don't re-sign Porter or Rodgers. Use FA or draft to get depth at DT Ok. I guess this was what you were referring to... First of all, all the money lost down the drain with cutting Shanle, Ellis, and Smith is really not an ideal move, and I'm pretty confident that the Saints' FO won't do that. I say keep all three - Shanle as a backup for one more year at $2M, Ellis plays out his contract at $6M and has hopefully a career year on a contract year, Smith's contract gets restructured and he returns hopefully with a deal worth about $4-5M/year. If somebody from that 3 is to be cut, it would be Shanle as it will be the smallest of the hits. I doubt that Romeus will be a starter on day 1 - if I had to choose from the guys they have at the moment it would be Smith & Jordan on the ends and Gallette & Romeus in the rotation. You have to remember that Jordan might improve vastly during this off-season with full OTAs and camps, which he didn't have this past off-season - he is after all the 1st round pick, and I have to believe that the scouts and the FO saw something in him what impressed them. Franklin and Johnson at DT could work, but I would seriously think about an upgrade there - no matter how much I like Johnson, I think he is better suited to being a rotational guy and not a day 1 starter. Of course that could change with the full off-season and Spags at the reigns, but that is all very uncertain at this point in time. Franklin wasn't very impressive, but like I have already stated on numerous other threads I wouldn't be against seeing him return, especially with a cheap contract. I would say that the Saints need to acquire a big time DT to start in front of Franklin, then Franklin could sub in for this "Mr. QB pressure" on running downs etc. I don't think that the pair of Franklin and Johnson will be able to create the pressure and push we are all hoping for and, therefore, I can't agree with that line-up. Jordan is a DE and while I think that Spags might use him more lining up at center, that is only because he has done it before with DEs - lining even four of them on the front four. While I love both Casillas and Wilson, I really hope that they are able to bring in a big time OLB. Casillas has a tendency to get hurt, so I don't know if they can really expect him to start the whole season long. M. Williams would certainly make that LB line-up look a lot more menacing. But, on the secondary I completely agree with your line-up! It's really hard to make estimates at this point in time on how the roster will develop through the FA period and the draft, but I do hope that they are going to bring in at least a good to great DT, OLB, and a DE.
	"I'm not bashing people, I'm bashing their opinions because in my opinion their opinion is wrong" - Danno