MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

well, since we\'re into predictions around here...

I think our safety play will be much improved this year. Tebucky tried to do too much last year and misjudged way too many plays on the Dome turf. He\'ll settle in with Mitchell or Bellamy and be more effective this year. I also expect Haslett to use him in some CB situations against some of our more freakishly-sized WR opponents, e.g. T.O., Moss and use Bellamy as FS with Mel at SS

Yes. He\'ll be fine. If he gets injured this year, it won\'t be because of his knee. His knee should be 100% going into Summer.

Fluke I think. I\'d love to say it was real, but he stunk it up for so long at his \"natural\" FS position. I think his numbers looked better because more tackle opportunities were coming his way - see last year\'s Run D numbers for evidence.

With zero or one major injuries, yes. Two plus and we\'re hosed. Gleason is a special teams animal, but a downfield landmine.

He\'s got gas in the tank and the heart of a lion, but he can\'t give up 6-8 inches of height and still make the plays we need. See my above Tebucky comments for what I think Haslett may try in these situations.

Well, he\'s faster than Ambrose, but it remains to see what his instincts will be. Plus he\'s only an inch taller than Freddie T. I think \"might be\" will be his eventual category.

As a nickle back, yes. As a starting corner, nope. If Craft or Fred go down and we don\'t make a major personnel move, start counting on dem Tigers for post-season fun.

This may be the big question for our D. If one of them does (and I think both of them eventually will) we will see major improvement. If not, prepare to watch lots of footage of Ruff and D. Smith jogging up to help Tebucky/Fred/Mel out of tackle piles.

Sedrick Hodge at SLB. I don\'t think he\'s big enough, and he\'s probably better suited at WLB, but Haz seems hell-bent on putting him on the strong side. I think Cie Grant and Watson stand a real chance of snookering the WLB spot away from Rodgers (whoever doesn\'t win the MLB that is).

No. Too old, too slow.

I think so with Hodge. I think he\'d do better at WLB where he can run guys down from behind and blind-side rush, a-la LT, but I think if he continues to bulk up and adds the strength to throw off the OL in the second-tier, he\'ll give us what we drafted him for. Allen, on the other hand, is a bust. Pure and simple.

Yes. Last year\'s injury was a total fluke deal.

He\'d better slim down, or he\'ll watch Leslie, Kenny Smith, Young and the 2 LSU boys take his snaps. I often question our personnel logic, but I like the willingness to jettison dead weight (no pun intended).

I think he can be disruptive enough. He\'ll do o.k. for a year or two, but in the larger plan, he\'s a stop gap and not the eventual answer.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that\'s it for now. So sayeth SaintShreve...

MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

The topic still is if the Saints should go after Trotter, right? I\'m all for it. Like Bise I would rather see a veteran at the MLB spot.
If the coaches were NOT saying how well Watson and Grant look in practice, that would really surprise me. We will know when we see them on the field. Basically starting two rookies as linebackers is risky. If nothing else Trotter would serve as an insurance.

Now to the other subject at hand (just weighing in with my opinion): Why I am more optimistic now than I was in June 2003:
1. A relatively young team has matured one year
2. Defensive players know their teammates
3. New defensive line coach
4. McCarthy may have learned something from last season
5. No important free agent/retirement losses, added some interesting players through the draft

MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

Cie Grant\'s no rookie. He\'s technically a \"veteran\" now

MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

saintfan -- Never doubt me. ;) When I tell you WhoDat picked us to win the division, you can take it to the bank. If I tell you a flea can pull a wagon, hitch him up... :P

I enter into evidence:



[Edited on 4/6/2004 by GumboBC]

MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

I agree with #1 and #2. And I don\'t think Clancy was the problem last year as much as Big Wiggle\'s Wings and K-Paul\'s for # 3. I hope McCarthy learned (dear Lord, please let him learn). And I think we may find Terrell Smith a bigger loss than you think. Gash is a solid guy, but he\'s no spring chicken. T. Smith canceled a lot of OL mistakes last year but bustin\' heads.

All in all, I agree with you though. We should do better, but should and will get along as well as Kobe and Shaq.


For what it\'s worth, I\'d grab Trotter, put him in the middle and Grant/Watson at WLB.

MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

In defense of WhoDat ...
\"Oh, he\'s such an optimist right now, he has turned 180 degrees from the same time last season, now he\'s even predicting a winning season at 9-7. Unbelievable, is that still the same WhoDat we know?\"
Perception, all about perception ...
WhoDat, May 30th 2003 :
\"Sorry guys, call me the pessimist but I say 9-7\"

MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

LMAO :P Too funny.

Now I admit, WhoDat isn\'t exactly what I\'d call an optimist!! :P He\'s probably one of the guys that\'s got a basement full of bottled water and canned goods and is waiting on the world to come and end :P :P

But, never the less. He said we would win the NFC South. From WhoDat, that\'s optimisim folks. I\'m sure he just forgot he said it. Probably worried about paying off his bookie... :D



[Edited on 3/6/2004 by GumboBC]

[Edited on 4/6/2004 by GumboBC]

MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

Billy, Billy, Billy.

You got called out again, and again you\'re wrong. It\'s funny, it just keeps happening and you can\'t see it.

We very well may have a different STARTER at safety, corner, two linebacker positions, and DT. That\'s FIVE positions. Almost half. Still, my prediction was 8-8 or 9-7. I will admit that I never settled on either. So this year, when I say 9-7, I guess that I don\'t view this team so differently.

Now Billy, if you want to think I believe this team will win the division b/c of one post when I was trying to be a little optimistic, go right ahead. Shall I dig up posts when you said that Haslett deserves to be fired and Brooks deserves to be benched? They DO exist. I will be happy to find them.

In any case, your style of argument remains:
1. Whodat thinks things will be much different with the SAME team. Why?
2. Whodat predicted 9-7 last year and 9-7 this year... see that different... er... right?

So which is it Billy? Is the \"perception\" of me wrong? Or am I so up on what equates to the same team?


My tune hasn\'t changed Billy. It\'s been the same for a while. This team is way too talented not to be in the playoffs. The Saints almost have the players in place to make a SB run. They generally need upgrades at a few key spots. Year in and year out the coaches address those position INADEQUATELY (i.e. with the wrong players). Further, this team continues to underachieve, mainly b/c Haslett is outcoached time and again. They are talented but undisciplined and constantly underachieve.

I stand behind that view. Maybe they win the SB this season and Haslett and some key players prove me totally wrong. OK. Until that time, I stick by my guns.

Shall we discuss how your opinion has changed over the last year or so? We\'re going 13-3, Haslett deserves to get fired, we\'ll be 10-6 and make the playoffs. The model of consistency - no wonder you like AB so much.

MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

PS - Saintfan - WHAT? Amazing. Keep the WhoTang flowing my friend. The post was dually noted... ;)

MLB - Jeremiah Trotter a Saint? John Clayton says....
 

I\'m just trying to build up points for later use. Don\'t get too excited. LMAO