Team Report
 

The addition of veteran WR Az-Zahir Hakim bolsters the depth and experience at the receiver position. It also indicates the club is not sold on second-year speedster Devery Henderson as the No. 3 wideout. Henderson was enjoying a strong offseason until being sidelined by a hamstring injury. That setback concerned team officials, who still believe Henderson has the skills to be a starter. Still, the club didn't want to risk going into the season without a proven veteran reserve behind starters Joe Horn and Donte' Stallworth. Hakim was a productive slot receiver in St. Louis and Detroit and is more comfortable in that role than at the two outside receiver spots at this stage of his career. The Saints had planned to use Stallworth as the primary slot receiver before Hakim's acquisition. That is likely to change now. . . .

Veteran defensive lineman Willie Whitehead could be in danger of losing his roster spot. During offseason workouts, veteran Tony Bryant filled the swingman role Whitehead occupied in recent seasons. Bryant's emergence as a steady contributor, coupled with the presence of promising young linemen Jimmy Verdon, Jason Jefferson and Rodney Leisle, would render Whitehead the odd man out.


SCOUTING REPORT: Veteran strong safety Jay Bellamy has blossomed into a team leader in recent years after nearly being cut two seasons ago. Bellamy is smart, tough and knows the defense as well as any player on the roster. The 12-year veteran struggles to make plays in space and is primarily a run defender at this stage of his career. He's at his best in run support or blitzing from the box. His role will be reduced slightly this season. Rookie standout Josh Bullocks showed such strong ball skills in practice that he supplanted Bellamy in nickel and dime packages. Still, Bellamy is a favorite of coordinator Rick Venturi because of his reliability and leadership and will continue to see considerable playing time.


COACH UNDER PRESSURE: Defensive coordinator Rick Venturi is regarded as a cerebral strategist, but his defenses have ranked near the bottom of the league in his three seasons at the helm. Many fans called for his head after the defense ranked last in the league last year and were shocked to see him retained for a fourth season. Coach Jim Haslett considers Venturi a mentor and is extremely loyal to him. Venturi's cause has been hampered by questionable personnel decisions (safety Tebucky Jones, linebacker Cie Grant and defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan) and sub-standard play at middle linebacker. Nonetheless, his unit needs to improve, or he could be forced to move upstairs into a front-office position next season.


TIGHT ENDS ANALYSIS: Grade: D. Veteran Ernie Conwell is well past his prime, and Boo Williams was a bust as a starter. This unit is the biggest question mark on offense.


http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/team?statsId=18

Great -- the guy stinks the place up and the article thinks they will move him upstairs to the front office

Meier Should Surprise
 

I think people will be surprised by TE Shad Meier. This kid can catch! Look for him to get a lot of playing time.

I also think Zachary Hilton will prove to be a threat in the red zone. His size and ability are great!

if Boo Williams can shut his mouth and dedicate himself on the practice field, he could be great as well.

RE: Meier Should Surprise
 

Boo Running his mouth? Boo is great... just had an off year I hope. The man catches long balls like a WR.

Boo spent most of his time on the practice field clowning around rather thatn focusing on the task at hand. Then on Sunday he made more mental errors and dropped more passes than he caught. He needs to dedicate himself to being the best he can be.

This part of the report is scarier then being a gerbil in Malibu .

Hampered by questionable personel decisions - all decisions Hasbeen made about players he loved and brought to the team .

Venturi a mentor to Hasbeen and Hasbeen is loyal to him - by far the scariest part , despite pathetic showings on defense , Hasbeen is loyal to Venturi and Benson is loyal to Hasbeen . Sounds like a lovefest , not an organization trying to achieve sucess .

Sub standard play at middle linebacker - Linebacker was Hasbeens position in Buffalo and he later held the linebacker coach position for the Raiders .When a player coach cannot establish a level of excellence at his own position , you have to wonder ........

I agree completely 08.

The LB problem is very scary. Didn't Haslett also start as a LB coach in Pittsburgh too before being made D Coordinator there? The Haslett, Venturi, Loomis, Benson brain trust is seriously scary.

This almost makes me look forward to the thought of Rita taking over and the new jokes that will produce .

What has 108 legs and needs a tampon ??

The New Orleans Saints

In Boo's defense I think he was interfered with on every single pass that came his way last season. Just ask him.

I wish they had done this after last season. Probably would have created furious debate on the board, but think about it this way: Just keep him as far away from the players and the scheming as possible.
Haslett is obviously loyal to him (I mean OBVIOUSLY) and isn't likely to just fire him. So the best case scenario is to promote him to a position where he cannot do as much damage.
Kind of sad, but true.

It's hard not to agree that TE is the biggest question mark on offense. Not sure if Conwell or Boo will be getting the majority of playing time. Maybe someone like Shad Meier will step up. I also like Hall for his blocking ability. Still not sold on Hilton.

Haslett can't fire Venturi. Venturi is protected by Benson. Venturi stepped up when Benson needed him and so Benson is the one remaining loyal to Venturi... the reason Venturi will be moved to the front office is that reason. Venturi was good and had his day but now its come to pass. Venturi needs to move on now, and to the front office in some capacity isn't at all a bad thing, gets him off the freakin field.

Euph, I'd like to know when was Venturi was good?

The reason I bring it up is that I did a little research on his career when he came to the Saints -- and the results I found were shockingly bad. I mean ABYSMAL, so bad that I can't understand why he was ever hired in the first place.

I searched and researched, but I never found a single program of success with him at the helm - college or pro, head coach, cordinator, or position coach. I did find a plethora of embarrassing failure, however. A good example is his stint at Northwestern.

So obviously, I must be missing some info. Please fill me in.

But LOE, he's a "strategist." Or is that strategerist? Results don't matter when you're cerebral. You just have to strategerize...


How can you possibly be called cerebral when you have a history like Venturi's? If by cerebral you mean he thinks about actually being successful but never is, I guess that might qualify. I think Ryan Leaf was a cerebral QB.

STRATEGERIE!!! Ah, I understand at last. LOL

Well, I think that I'm in agreement with the rest of the board that he needs to be promoted out of the way.

As far as I'm concerned, he can 'cerebralize' his happy butt in the front office, safely out of harm's way.

But isn't that going on already?

I was pretty sure that defensive "assistant" was brought in during the offseason to effectively replace Venturi anyway, leaving him as nothing more than an overpaid figurehead. At least, that's the way I'd interpreted it, and that's what I continue to hope.

just when i thought i was havin a good day. i read an article with rick the clueless in it. question? if a head coach has the worst record in the nfl in a particular year, and he has been the coach for about four years will he be fired? almost definitely......so why should it be different for a troll-like defensive coordinator? unless of course you have naked pics of benson and haslett.........together!!!!

i am not sure why he is still here as our d coord. the guy hyasn't done anything and to be honest the d has stunk since he took over. i know it could't hurt any worse to move him somewhere else as long as he really didnt do anything.

That's the rumor going around. But then, the rumor began at the end of last year when the defense made an abrupt 180 and started playing well. The question is whether there is any truth to the matter, and that's something I don't know. There's certainly circumstantial evidence that would suggest a change (mainly the fact that the defense was going to set records for the worst defense in NFL history up until week 11 or 12 when things seemed to improve drastically, seemingly overnight).


I think I've figured out why the Saints are never successful. This organization is NOT run like a business. It's run like a government agency. The team doesn't expect to have to make it's own money, but instead wants to "levy tax" on the state for its presence. When employees underperform terribly in business (I'm referring to Venturi here), they're fired. Fat is cut. However, high ranking officials are seldomly fired in government. They always "know too much" or have too large a "political profile." So they are moved laterally or "promoted out of the way." Why would the Saints promote Venturi? It's bueracracy - not something you see a lot of in business. The team is run with essentially total immunity - I mean they set attendance records in their 35th and 36th years, with 1 playoff win in the previous 35. Fans continue to show up, no matter how bad they are. Friends and family seems to all be connected and taken care of.... No wonder this team never succeeds. It's like expecting the DMV to be able to put together a Super Bowl contender. Maybe the State should just annex the Saints and call the new department the Office of Football Operations. I doubt performance would change much.

The Department of Mental Vegetables ???

Can you imagine what the ticket window lines would be like ......