Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

Desperation baby.

Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

And to think, we could have had La'el Collins, tisk, tisk...

Interesting conversations at lunch yesterday...

Bunch of the older guys (60+ years) were saying they never understood why the Saints were always reluctant to draft, sign LSU players...

I mentioned Martin, Henderson, Woods, Hicks (yes, he finished at Regina); but they mentioned several players that were there in the past that the Saints could've used...

Do the Saints avoid LSU players?

Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

You know, I used to try not to think about that because I figured I was probably just being a homer. But LSU puts out a lot of good to great players, and the Saints just ignore the crap out of them.

I don't expect them to draft every eligible player from LSU, but there are too many good one's for us to not have any of them.

Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

How does it look across the NFL with teams signing players from colleges close to them? Does the Browns and Bengals have more Ohio St players? Does Detroit have more Michigan players?

Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

It's not JUST LSU, although LSU is a very visible symptom.

The OVER focus on reaches, projects and small schools, in the draft, is one of the reasons that has left this team in the predicament it's in. They got luck with Colston, and a few others, but where are these guys coming from? Look at the school names next to their names on the roster, it's a real eye-opener.

Where are the bruisers from Michigan or Ohio State, the ballers from Florida, the big SEC guys? Where is the nasty, physical linebacker or solid defensive player from football powerhouses like Texas or Penn State? Who on our team besides Ingram has ever participated in the hooplah and hype of winning a national championship, or a big bowl game, under the bright lights? (I don't actually know the answer, I'd have to look it up).


The no-name, small school, spare parts approach is particularly evident on defense, where the Saints just don't have any elite talent from BIG schools, major schools, which are the programs who know how to produce elite football players. I'm sorry, but so many times these reaches, stretches, projects and little school guys have heart, but they are outclassed on the field, in terms of athleticism, physicality, and "football smarts." How many times have we seen our defensive players "learning on the job" or "developing" out there? A kid coming from a BIG football school, that's known for putting major talent in the NFL, he has most likely already learned that stuff.

It's not just LSU -- I'm tired of Payton and Loomis' "reach" and "project" picks, from John Jay Haircutting College, Saksaktoon Technical & Math Institute, and guys who played one year at the University of Rangoon. We desperately need some more major, boring picks from proven schools (like LSU) to balance it out. Over time it's been a huge over-reach to the small school side of things, with all these crazy reach picks and pet projects -- a lot of times Payton & Loomis are way too clever for their own good.

Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

KV= Texas, Swann is from Georgia, Jenkins from Georgia, (Prob was from Fstate), Anthony is from Clemson, Kikia from Washington, Jordann is from CAL, Ellerbe is Georgia, Hawthorne is TCU, Byrd is actually a duck, Lewis is oregon state, DJ Williams is from fstate

I'd go through the rest but don't want to. So what does that prove....nothing :(

Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

SaintsBro, I don't really agree with your assesment.

Of 53 players currently on the roster (I havn't updated for yesterdays moves) 43 played for a FBS school, 4 played for a FCS school, 5 came from D2 and 1 player don't have college experience (Breaux).

The FBS shakes down like this by conference:
SEC 8
B1G 6
PAC12 6
ACC 3
Big12 3
MW 3
AAC 1
C-USA 1
MAC 1
Sun Belt 1

So when you start looking at it, 81% of the players on the roster played for a FBS team and the majority of those players played for a bigger school.

Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

Here is a full breakdown by the active roster:

Division Conference College #
FBS PAC12 Oregon State 4
FBS SEC Georgia 4
FBS SEC Clemson 3
FBS PAC12 Oregon 2
FBS PAC12 Washington 2
- - None 1
D2 GLIAC Grand Valley State 1
D2 GLIAC Walsh 1
D2 LSC West Texas A&M 1
D2 MIAA Northwest Missouri State 1
D2 PSAC Bloomsburg 1
FBS AAC Southern Methodist 1
FBS ACC Boston College 1
FBS ACC Miami (Fla.) 1
FBS ACC Pittsburgh 1
FBS B1G Illinois 1
FBS B1G Indiana 1
FBS B1G Northwestern 1
FBS B1G Penn State 1
FBS B1G Purdue 1
FBS B1G Rutgers 1
FBS Big12 Oklahoma State 1
FBS Big12 Texas 1
FBS Big12 Texas Christian 1
FBS C-USA Louisiana Tech 1
FBS MAC Ball State 1
FBS MW Boise State 1
FBS MW Colorado State 1
FBS MW Fresno State 1
FBS PAC12 California 1
FBS PAC12 Colorado 1
FBS PAC12 Stanford 1
FBS SEC Alabama 1
FBS SEC Arkansas 1
FBS SEC Mississippi 1
FBS SEC Mississippi State 1
FBS SEC Missouri 1
FBS SEC Tennessee 1
FBS Sun Belt Arkansas State 1
FCS BSC Idaho State 1
FCS CAA Hofstra 1
FCS MVC North Dakota State 1
FCS SWAC Arkansas-Pine Bluff 1

Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

I can only hope Armstead is healthy enough to play, or will quickly recover, and Tony Hills can take over for Striefs bum self.

You think after being the reason for your QB getting hurt, you would step it up the first game he comes back, but nope.

Re: Saints sign Veteran Offensive Lineman Tony Hills
 

Armstead was solid.
If we now have issues on the right and on the left, perhaps we should let McCown take the licks.