thefaniw

Reason For Hope:

Like every other Saints fan, I was deflated by the selection of Will Smith. Not only was I deflated, but also the failure to address the cornerback position made me second-guess every other selection…. After having two full weeks to sit on these selections, I want to say that there is hope. I still don’t think that our front office is the best thing around but there is hope.

Lets take a trip back in time……… The year is 2000.

Our defense is ranked #2 in the league.

Our d-line consists of Johnson, Hand, Glover, and Howard (who was then a rookie).

Keep in mind we had the #2 defense in the league.

Now lets remember who patrolled the secondary.

The irreplaceable Fred Weary.
The incomparable Kevin Mathis
And the world renowned Darren Perry

The only thing we could hang our hat on was Sammy Knight.

Ladies and Gentlemen there is hope!!!

The Will Smith kid is a top 10 talent. If the corners and LB’s that we coveted were not there, why not take him? If you can add a top 10 talent to further solidify your defensive front four, why not?

Remember, that same year the Carolina Panthers were 1-15. Common knowledge would lead you to believe that they needed some major offensive weapons to turn their team around.

They were 1-15 (for crying out loud)!!!!!

With the 2nd pick in the draft they selected a DE (we all know who he is).

Now how is a DE going to turn around a 1-15 team?

We’ll that year that finished 7-9.

The next year they went to the Super Bowl. I know that it wasn’t all on Peppers, but anyone with a pennies worth of football knowledge knows that there team was run by their D-line.

I’m not putting Smith in the same league as Peppers; I’m focusing more on the importance of the position.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is hope!

Think back to the 2000 Saints. No one ever complained about the corners because we didn’t have to. With a dominant front four everything else falls into place.

Honestly, who’s Reggie Howard and Ricky Manning without Carolina's front four?
Who’s Ronde Barber and Kelly without Tampa’s front four?

Ladies and gentlemen, there is hope!

Black and Gold for Life!!!!!

turbo_dog

That was very well put. However, Carolina also had (has) very good linebackers. Hopefully Courtney Watson will turn out to be just that and Cie Grant will do the same. If so I think that could be the key to turning the corner. ( no pun intended, really)

GumboBC

Excellent post thefaniw.

I\'m also of the opinion that we can have a very strong defense with the cornerbacks we have. It\'s a well documented fact that you don\'t have to have great cornerbacks to have an outstanding defense. You listed some great examples of that and so have other members here. Like you said, our corners success is going to be largely dependent on our ability to stop the run and generate a pass rush.

But, in the interest of not being overly optimistic, stopping the run and generating a pass rush should be a BIG concern of ALL Saints fans.

While I know there are some fans out there that weren\'t going to be happy unless we drafted a cornerback, I think there are other fans that are upset for different reasons. I also think they have a valid point on some of those issues.

From what I\'ve seen, some fans are not really that upset with the players we drafted. They are upset because we still have some of the same \"question marks\" we\'ve had in the past. Notice I used the term \"question marks.\" When you have \"question marks\", what do you do with them? YOU ANSWER THEM!! The truth of the matter is, we\'ve had those same \"question marks\" for 2 or 3 years. It\'s also the truth that those \"question marks\" have not been properly addressed for the last couple of years. So if there are some fans out there that are upset, I don\'t see how anyone can blame them.

I also think some of the fans that are complaining about this team are making things out to be worse then they are. If someone tells me there is no reason to be optimistic, then I should stop being a fan, because without optimism and hope, there isn\'t really any use in me watching the Saints. And for all the reasons to have doubts about this years team, there is also reason to believe that we have improved. And anyone that doesn\'t see that, well, they just don\'t want to see it.

We have addressed some of the problem areas on this team and let\'s HOPE that some of the players that are already on this team step it up this year. Because without hope, there just ain\'t much reason to follow the Saints!!

[Edited on 7/5/2004 by GumboBC]