Danno

THE GOOD-Tebuckey Jones-Looked like the guy we were supposed to get last year. I hope this is a sign of things to come. He looked solid and gets my defensive MVP.

CB's-Our CB's are NOT the weak link on this defense so far. Not great but not horrible either. The Craft injury bothered me. He appeared to be improving and bammm, injured.

Ki-Jana Carter-Looks like we may have found our 3rd RB. He still has good vision and a good burst. He's lost a bit of top end speed but he looked better than any back-up I've seen here in a while. I think he'd be fine for several games if you-know-who got hurt and missed some PT.

Mel Mitchell-Looks to be 100% again. I'm not as concerned about our SS depth as I once was.

Will Smith-He's making a push for extended PT. In my own opinion he's outplaying Darren Howard versus the pass and versus the run. And we could have had Chris Gamble...Yeah right!!!

Pathon-Right now its hard to argue, he's our best WR. He was open frequently and actually catches the ball when thrown his way.

Devery Henderson-It appears this kid may only make a couple big plays a game. But it seems to always result in a TD. This kid is fun to watch. i can't wait to see some of those Brooks bombs headed his way.

Brian Young-Made the play of the night catching a RB from behind. What a motor. Was frequently applying pressure in the backfield on about every pass play, as were most of our D-line.

Mike Karney-I think you saw glimpses of what this guy can do. He'll still make some rookie mistakes but he is going to be a solid addition to this team. T-who?

THE BAD-The run defense still needs work. I saw way too may cut-backs for huge gains. I thought our front 4 did a decent job but our LB's have the same problem they've had for 4 years now. They over-run plays allowing cut back runners HUGE gains. Maybe we're better off with Ruff starting. I don't see him over-run too many plays. ;)

In their defense they did try their 3-4 version a lot. Its pretty obvious that alignment should only be used on passing downs.

Darren Howard-I didn't even know he was playing. Right now if pre-season means anything (and I don't think it does) he should be 2nd string. Definitely not what I'd consider a franchise DE. He can't contain the run.

Aaron Brooks-I placed him in the bad category simply because without him, our offense looks bad.

THE UGLY-Too many guys over-analyzing the play of the defensive line. Did any of you actually think Pease was gonna change things over-night? As bad as you may think they looked they still looked light years ahead of last years unit. I don't see us being pushed around nearly as much as last year. The pass rush looks absolutely violent.

LB's-Yeah, they still ugly. ;) OVER-PERSUIT!!! Maybe they're just too anxious to explode somebody but the cutback is gonna kill us if they don't start playing smarter. Shaun Alexander is one of the best cutback runners in the league and he will eat this unit alive if they don't get it straightened out now. Not to mention Priest holmes, LaDanian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk, and any Denver RB. This is the weak link. I'd be scanning the waiver wires for a vet SLB 24-7.

I can understand with Watson being a rookie he's gonna make these mistakes. He's a smart kid and will get better. But smart isn't a word I'd use to describe any other LB. Maybe Rodgers, but I still see him over-persue too often.

Talent wise I feel a ton better about the 2004 Saints than I did the 2003 Saints.