lee909

And with the 6th pick of the draft the Atlanta Falcons select Paul Layton punter from Temple

hagan714

What drew does in 2015 is what drew does. his numbers are what they are. same with byrd. contract are structured in such a way there is plenty flux built in. i really stopped trying to figure them out to the penny. these two players will be saints bar divine inspiration of some kind. Thats why i only mentioned them and did not include them in playing around with the issue at LB.

The piece of the puzzle you are missing is the restructuring of Drew Brees contract in 2015 which would free up 8m-10m each year with out losing your QB.
No it was not because that money if restructured has to be ear marked for now. for other more important players to sign. Jordan has to be signed and is Graham is tagged for 2014 then you have to worry about him. Ingram could shock the world and have a pro bowl season so he might be a must sign. Robertson could do the same. then what?

So it comes down to it the most obvious area of secondary spending and that at LB next year. but like drew there is a lot of would of, could of crap not worth talking about. Besides if Drew does restructure as we all believe he will do then his money can help deal with all the above issues.

So i was pointing out that ILB can handle ILB without getting a bunch of other players involved. an in house approach. This very well could be the main side show topic of the 2015 season. so i stuck within the LB corp itself. you can wait and deal with it next year or you can see if you can find some players that give you options. add to it the obvious area of need to improve the LB unit as a whole.

I prefer to see the team go into the 2015 with LB's realizing that there jobs are not secure because they are being pushed. If you lose a player on defense like we did with sproles this year it would be sweet to have a player already on the team.

Do i see us losing lofton? no i do not. but then again seeing Darren go Philli was a huge surprise. As of right now the offense has a hug whole to fill and i hate to see us with a gaping whole in the middle of the defense. we are at a point were we can address the depth issues and try to minimize the off season issues. we are not desperate for a starter but need players that can develop into starters in a bad way. either way it is a win win

I see Lofton and Hawthon both in black and gold. Say they finish contracts here wouldn't it be nice to have an upgraded LB corp ready to step in and take over. especially a third rounder vs a first. cap freindly

there is a chance in this years draft to change the ILB corp like not seen in recent years. there are some seriously good players with a high floor to start and plenty ceiling to look forward to. Quality players like these very rarely make it this deep in a draft, Only because this is a very deep year at all the other positions.

Now the money is the money and the contracts are loaded with sliding scales on every level and change every year. guaranteed un guaranteed work out whatever the lawyers break it into both of our ILB are the prime players that maybe the topic of discussion in 2015. whether it is a big deal our not is mickey job and he will handle it. heck he signed Byrd.

once again. if LB becomes the area of surprise need in 2015 it would be nice to have found a player this year that can really push for the starting job if needed. It would be a waste not to advantage of a draft like this if the cards fall right. yes if you lose a veteran player there will be enough savings in the cap to cover addition mid to late round picks.

my picks that fit that situation would be

Round 3
Christian Jones ILB/OLB Florida ST. 6031 240 4.74
Round 4
Max Bullough, ILB/OLB Michigan St 6034 249 4.78
Round 6
Howard Jones, OLB/ILB, Shepherd 6025 235 4.60

Top Free agaent
Caleb Lavey, ILB, Oklahoma St 6021 235 4.64

It has a very good chance to be a win win for the saints going into the future no matter what happens.

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

amazin15

What if C.J. Mosley is on the board when we pick at 27?

hagan714

you had to throw a monkey wrench in there. gee thanks.

been looking at that one. funny thing is he is falling in the draft due to POSSIBLE nerve damage to his leg from that knee injury. as rumors have it. if all checks out ok enough i would love the pick up.

but i would still like to see the saints go even further into the draft upgrading the LB depth with more 34 LB that can play inside and out on the edges. LB is the one area on this tea, that has not been addressed for the 34 switch.

I like 34 defense. you need a boat load of LB on the team. that is always good news for the special team coach.


here is were i would rethink the LB. it is a tough call. you got
Round 3
Christian Jones ILB/OLB Florida ST. 6031 240 4.74
definitely the well rounded LB of the two. inside outside in the slot. Jones came into the season ranked behind CJ at LB round 1/2 player. Skill set is there but FSU put him at DE and killed his rankings and development. but anytime he was put back at ILB you could see why he was so highly rated. he would call out coverage and almost always point out the right player to cover on a given play. i was very impressed with this ability above all the others this year.

Round 4
Max Bullough, ILB/OLB Michigan St 6034 249 4.78
Here is the the thumper. Pass coverage is ok but he has great instincts
Max IMO was the heart and soul of that MSU defense. Off field issues killed him. talk about nit picking. the kid really did not do anything that serious just had bad timing.

misdemeanor assault and eluding a police officer. Bullough was also charged with eluding, as well as underage possession of alcohol. It was reported that the police had to use a stun gun to subdue Linthicum.

Michigan State and Auburn Football Players Arrested | Sports in the Courts Blog

sorry i was lmao at that one. brought back memories of my youth. difference was the cops never caught me and my friend got beat with a billy club not a stun gun. cops have not changed just their weapons. they hate to run.

this wish list remains the same
Round 6
Howard Jones, OLB/ILB, Shepherd 6025 235 4.60
Inside outside quick solid pass coverage skills and should big plus on special teams from day one. level of competition is the concern.

Top Free agaent
Caleb Lavey, ILB, Oklahoma St 6021 235 4.64
Same as Jones but the upside may not be as high, but a solid all around player. under rated on the boards.

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

WillSaints81

Next up I will be analyzing my cornerbacks. But don't feel its as big of a need as first thought.

WillSaints81

Here are my top 11 cornerbacks after reviewing some game tapes and all.

1.Justin Gilbert...Not much needs to be said, he played in the offensive Big 12, has incredible speed and great defensive abilities.
2.Jason Verrett..Also Big 12 cb, and not as good as Gilbert, but its not that wide a gap.
3.Daqueeze Dennard..If not spelling right sorry, but he had best highlight reels........he also played against Big Ten teams. Because of that he gets moved to 3.
4.Bradley Roby.....Beware though as we know what happened with Jenkins. Roby had some great plays, had one big defensive td. He is a buckeye, a team whose players have not played best in recent memory in the pros.
5.Kyle Fuller.......He's a turnover beast, but the speed is not all that there. The most he returned was 10 yards
6.Stanley Jean-Baptiste...Another Big Ten but he played for a team who has produced defensive talent. He's not great at garnering turnovers but forcing incompletions and tacking.
7.Jaylen Watkins....Some are saying he's a safety, he was more effective to me than his teammate two spots below. The fact that he's in SEC I give a pass as given the competition he played I would say he did well for this spot.
8.Lamarcus Joyner....He had too many tacking plays and sacking the qb. Not much I saw as far as defending the pass was concerned. He was good with what limited stuff I saw, but turnovers not so much.
9.Marcus Roberson...The other UF teammate, his stuff didnt look as strong as Watkins. Didnt see much turnover production from him.
10.Bashaun Breeland....Might be too big in size for a cb, while better than where I rank him I see this guy as injury prone.
11.Pierre Desir......Other than one game where he was going off, he looked average everywhere else. And he's also in division 2. I think strong players who play motivated in division 2 are pro caliber, but this one wasn't.

lee909

I think it was Marvin Lewis who made a good point in the coaches breakfast yesterday.
Too much is being made of 3-4/ 4-3 as teams are spending more and more time in sub packages.

Id day we are very close to one of the best fronts in the league but we need to stop the run better. It wasn't as bad as stats suggested ladt term just very inconsistent.

hagan714

even more reason to look for well rounded lb in my book.

amazin15

Couldn't agree any more. Versatile and physical, two words that need to describe our next linebackers..

jeanpierre

There were alot of gashes late in games on draw plays...

We have a very good line, with great depth...

Our Linebacking corps is probably our weakness, not bad, just the weakest part of the unit...

We really need to upgrade the Inside Linebackers...