Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

Man, i love the forum. i live in the DC area now (Overload on Redskin b.s.) , so it is nice to keep up with the real news.

Just wanted to make a note. Most of y'all are upset about no CB in the draft and are *****ing about it. At first i was upset too and shocked at DE being taken first. But, i truly think they did the right thing IN THE SITUATION. For all those who know better, please tell me who you would have picked with the 18th pick when the 2 DB and LB's we wanted were gone?

Also, if you look at the stats (yds/game) from last year (check out NFL.com for example). You would see that we were 4th worst at run defense, . Our pass defense (over the whole season) was 8th overall. So I don't get the MUST GET CB OR ELSE mentality going on. Hell ya we need a good CB. Show me more than 4 teams that can say differently.

Being a Saints fan is like being in an abusive relationship. We're like the abused spouses, who every one tells to leave, but as much as we like to ***** about things, we're still here, taking the abuse. I truly feel Die Hard Saints fans (whether they are optimistic or pessimistic) deserve to be in the NFL hall of fame. ONE Playoff win in our history, and here we are debating CB's and if this is the year HAZ is canned or we make the Super Bowl. Amazing. We are either completely crazy...ok, we are. But if they win the Super Bowl one day before i die....OH how sweet that day will be.

Problem is, when you are used to losing (as fans or players) you start expecting to lose if things get hairy. THAT is what has to change for us all. I wish our team made it a little easier to have faith in that. But i remain a fan.

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

Welcome aboard St. Shrume. Whotang, 08-eraid, and plenty of sunshine out on the back porch.
:P

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

If you go into a game with half your defense injured and lose it on a last minute punt return which should have been called back because of holding, you can say: \"Well, things just didn\'t go our way, but we made the best of the situation.\" The Saints made the best of the situation (something I came to accept after reading what some posters here would have liked them to do), but it still feels like they lost the game.

A different statistic showed that we were among the worst regarding yards per completion. If teams choose to throw at us, they will succeed. Last year some of the teams just didn\'t have to (or they had other weapons that were more effective like Carolina). If our run defense improves dramatically (hmm yes, if) and teams are forced to test our CBs those cornerbacks will fail the test.

Welcome aboard.

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

BUT,,, when youhave to crowd the line because teams are running all over you, the big play pass in inevitable. I don\'t care how good your CB\'s are, they\'re gonna get burned.

If A is a definite problem,
And B might be a problem,
I\'d still fix A first before I fix B.

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

Well put DANO. If you put no pressure on the QB and force the throw BEFORE he is ready to throw then chances are our DB\'s won\'t look so bad. But on the other hand if you have no pressure then the QB has all day to just wait He\'ll find the open receiver and pick you apart. It all starts up front with intense pressure. No conor back in this league can cover a NFL quality receiver indefinately. WE NEED THE RUSH!!!!!!!!!!

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

I do believe a strong defensive line will cut tremendous slack to your DB\'s..........however I still feel a DB was the selection to pick.

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

Which selection? 18 for Gamble?
Loomis said they didn\'t get a good enough offer to trade down.
I will agree that our 3rd round pick could have been used on a CB project. I don\'t recall who was there in the 3rd but if thats the selection you are referring to then I agree with you 100%. But its kinda nice swapping a 3rd rounder for a 2nd rounder for virtually nothing.

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

QUOTE:

\"I do believe a strong defensive line will cut tremendous slack to your DB\'s..........however I still feel a DB was the selection to pick. \"
__________________________________________________________

Subguy, who would you have picked at #18?

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

CB was not the right PICK, given who was left on the board at our pick.

However CB was the right PRIORITY that was not ADEQUATELY addressed this off-season.

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

Nice post, nocloning. You captured the point I was going to make. In the rare game wherein we were able to marginally stop the run, we were passed all over. CB should have been a priority for us, whether that required us trading up (and if not possible) or trading down to pick up more selections. I believe the same thing about LB, as well. IMO much of our problem stopping the run last year was our LBs. The stat that Bellamy had the most tackles if very telling, IMO.

In the end, it looked like to me that we had a critical set of needs this off-season. A stud MLB to anchor the center of the defense (and be our best tackler) and a stud corner to shore up the pass defense that EVERYONE acknowledged needed help at the end of last season.

Though I am praying that Watson turns out to be all that the posts of some here make him out to be, I am somewhat skeptical. Draft scouts had him placed anywhere from second to fourth round. We took him in the second suggesting to me that we went with the most optimistic approach. Only time will tell on the moves (or lackthereof) we made.

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

IMO, there is no question that cornerback was NOT the biggest area of need on this team. Linebacker was. I\'m not saying we didn\'t need an upgrade at CB, but, well, instead of me telling it in my words. Let me post a little quote by the Panthers defensive coordinator:

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

Couldn\'t agree more with that statement Sunshine. ;)

Coming into the off-season our top ten priorities in order were (IMO):

1. An IMPACT MLB
2. An IMPACT CB
3. A solid DT
4. A solid OLB
5. A new FB
6. Depth at CB
7. Depth at RB
8. Depth at WR
9. Depth on the O-line
10. me

We got:

1. A couple of unknowns at MLB - could be stars, could be depth, could be cut. Who knows right now?
2. A backup CB that will start for us b/c our secondary is so bad.
3. A solid DT that may be too small and a bigger rookie. Thumbs up here.
4. A DE who may play OLB... or the loser of the MLB battle... uuuhh, does that qualify as solid?
5. Two new fullbacks, one vet and one rookie. I like it, even though we never should have let T-rex walk.
6. We dropped one corner and added one corner - does that count as adding depth? LOL
7. Plenty of good depth at RB with Stecker, Banks... and one more I forget. Anyway, thumbs up here.
8. Henderson and Crowell - we overacheived in this area.
9. Added Nesbit - that\'s pretty good. I\'m happy about our O-line, even with the departure of Fontenot.
10. I\'m holding out for more money.

I think that we still haven\'t adequately addressed our major areas of need. Hopefully, Grant, Watson, Hodge, Allen, Smith (buck), Craft, Craver, and/or F Brown will step it up this season. If not, next year we\'ll be saying, \"So this off-season we need... uh... a stud MLB, CB...\"

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

OOOhhh this is absolutely classic WHODAT. I’m starting to get that eerie feeling I know you too well. Lets break it down shall we?
Wouldn’t any new MLB be an unknown?
Excuse me, he was a starter that got injured!
I think it was addressed.
Will Smith won’t be an OLB. Grant or Watson will. As solid as any we could have drafted.
T-rex was over-rated. We addressed this twice!
Dropped Carter? What did he play, 4 games? But I agree we still need one more.
And you would have taken who??? Staley? Levens? LOL.
We don’t need depth, we need dependability. I like the Henderson pick.
Agreed.
Can you play CB?

I think we failed in one area. CB. Its the lone glaring failure.

Stopping Run is Prioirty not CB
 

And that was classic Danno.

1. \"Wouldn’t any new MLB be an unknown?\" Not when you sign a known commodity in FREE AGENCY. Sure, they may get better or worse once they got here but at least you have some idea of what you\'re getting. Certainly more than when you draft a player.

2. Uh-huh. So was Jeff Blake.

3. I said thumbs up. I said it was addressed, why even comment?

4. \"Will Smith won’t be an OLB. Grant or Watson will. As solid as any we could have drafted. \" Didn\'t YOU say that he might play the \"Buck\" position? That\'s an OLB spot, no? So before you took solice in the idea that we didn\'t just draft a DE, but that we got a stud who could play OLB. Now you\'re saying he won\'t play that spot? MORE IMPORTANTLY, a) he was not AS solid as ANY we COULD have drafted, and b) have you completely forgotten that teams are able to add players through this thing called free agency. There were better more proven player available in FREE AGENCY.

5. I said this was adequately addressed. What are you reading? That being said, T-Rex was NOT overrated. We had a 1,000 yard rusher every year he was in NO. Before he came it had been 11 years since we had that? Coincidence I guess... oooh, no I know, it was luck. Some magical good luck in a land filled with Haslett bad luck.

6. See... nanny nanny poo poo! ;)

7. Again, I said I liked Stecker and Banks. I wouldn\'t have taken anyone else. Are you being argumentative just for the sake of being argumentative?

8. Fine. Agreed.

9. So I\'m right? Again. ;)

10. Better than most of our CBs, yes. ;)

CB is the MOST glaring failure, yes, but unless our LBs and DTs step it up as compared to last year, it is not the only failure.