Rookie Mini-Camp: Open Thread

The hills are alive, with the sound of music....

(Saintsational running through the open mountain field plush with yellow wild flowers. smilling and spinning in a milk maid dress with arms outstretched) 

Do you smell that?

There is just the slightest whiff of football in the air. I wouldn't necessarily consider this the official beginning of the 2009 season but it's a start. The Saints rookies, both drafted and undrafted, as well as some of the younger players on the team and a few NFL veterans will be working out today for the first time and performing "football like activities." This is, of course, fans' first look at the newest team members. T.G.I.R.M.C.F.

This thread will be open all day for everyone to chat and talk about all the reports we're hearing. I will update it with any news and links I can gather from around the interweb. For those of you who were here for the day one NFL Draft open thread, it will go down just like that. For those of you who weren't, now is as good a time as any to learn how we roll here at CSC.

In fact, here's a good start for the day. The Times-Pic has two articles. This first one is about our first peek at first round draft pick Malcolm Jenkins. And this one right here is a short little get-to-know Lynell Hamilton piece. Enjoy those. 

Also, for those that may not know this, SB Nation and thusly Canal Street Chronicles, is now hooked up with Associated Press photos. That means we get them here just as fast as any of the media outlets. I will be keeping my eyes open throughout the day; if and when they are released to me I will post one right here on this thread. You will then be able to click on that single picture to access all of the Saints mini-camp AP photos of the day. That means you want to be checking Da Chronic regularly today.

This thread is now open for business!  Updates are immediately following the jump!

Updates

Here is the official mini-camp roster per the Times-Pic

Number Position Name Height Weight College Draft Pick

1 QB Nathan Brown 6-1 219 Central Arkansas 1st-Year Player

2 QB Drew Weatherford 6-1 215 Florida State College Free Agent

6 P Thomas Morstead 6-4 225 Southern Methodist Tryout

7 K Parker Douglass 5-8 165 South Dakota State

13 WR Chris Vaughn 6-3 221 Louisville

14 QB Patrick Cowan 6-4 226 UCLA

18 WR Kenneth Harris 6-3 205 Georgia

22 WR John Halman 6-1 214 Concordia

24 WR Stephon Fuqua 6-0 208 Eastern Kentucky

26 S Ryan Walters 5-11 206 Colorado

27 DB Malcolm Jenkins 6-0 204 Ohio State

30 RB Lynell Hamilton 6-0 235 San Diego State

33 S Greg Laybourn 5-10 199 Oregon State

34B DB Marcus Griffin 5-10 196 Texas

34W RB Shannon Woods 5-10 202 Texas Tech

35B DB Reggie Jones 6-0 193 Portland State

35W WR Kayne Farquharson 6-0 186 Miami (Fla.)

36 CB Arkeith Brown 6-0 178 Texas A&M

37B S Chip Vaughn 6-2 221 Wake Forest

37W WR Otis Miller 5-11 186 Carson-Newman

38B CB Danny Gorrer 6-0 185 Texas A&M

38W WR Jackie Chambers 5-11 180 Lane College

39 RB Matt Moore 5-11 200 North Greenville

40 RB Herb Donaldson 5-10 226 Western Illinois

43B DB Dominique Williams 5-10 176 Arkansas State

43W RB P.J. Hill 5-10 218 Wisconsin

45B S Tim Turner 6-1 218 Arkansas-Pine Bluff

45W FB Brandon Smith 6-2 254 Ohio State

46B LB Blake Freese 6-2 244 Minnesota State

46W FB Tyler Jangula 6-1 249 North Dakota State

47 LB Jeff Souder 6-0 245 Nebraska-Omaha

48 LB William Newell 6-2 241 Newberry

49B LB Eric Ortiz 6-1 220 Belhaven

49W FB Collin Mooney 5-10 240 Army

50 LS Sean Griffin 6-1 241 Michigan

57 LB Stanley Arnoux 6-0 232 Wake Forest

59 G Roland Martin 6-5 337 Michigan State

61B DT Earl Heyman 6-1 289 Louisville

61W C Alex Fletcher 6-2 297 Stanford

62W T Michael Brown 6-5 300 Mississippi State

62B LB Jonathan Casillas 6-1 227 Wisconsin

63B DE Jermey Parnell 6-6 278 Mississippi

63W G Shawn Flanagan 6-5 302 Sioux Falls

65B DT Vaalyn Jackson 5-11 298 McNeese State

65W G Cedric Dockery 6-3 314 Texas

66B DE Aaron Lewis 6-3 270 Texas

66W T Reggie Youngblood 6-6 301 Miami (Fla.)

68 LB Nathan Williams 6-1 225 Murray State

68B DT Brandon Nicolas 6-3 294 Colorado

68W T Augustus Parrish 6-4 302 Kent State

69B DT Eric Schroeder 6-4 296 South Dakota State

69W T Sam McNaulty 6-3 323 Clark Atlanta

72 T Dakari Grimsley 6-4 363 Morgan State

73 DE Chris Dowdell 6-4 269 Mars Hill

74 DE Chris Coy 6-1 240 Eastern Kentucky

75 G Tim Duckworth 6-4 318 Auburn

76 DT Richard Clebert 6-0 320 South Florida

77 DT Anthony Maddox 6-1 295 Delta State

78 DE Victor DeGrate 6-3 253 Oklahoma State

79 C Stephen Hamby 6-3 293 Texas Tech

81 WR Matthew Simon 6-1 199 Northern Illinois

82 TE Ian Jorgensen 6-5 267 Massachusetts

84 WR Steven Whitehead 5-7 171 McNeese State

85 TE Shae Reagan 6-4 251 Texas Christian

90 TE Steven Brouse 6-4 252 Connecticut

99 DE Chase Pittman 6-4 255 Louisiana State

Update [Note by Saintsational, 05/08/09 12:41 PM CDT ]

The Times-Pic just released their first practice report. Here it is. Read the article for some info regarding Malcolm Jenkins. Here are some of the other highlights and lowlights.

Linebacker Jonathan Casillas of Wisconsin spent practice on the exercise bike with an undetermined injury. ... Ryan Walters, a free agent who played his college ball at Colorado and was getting a tryout, wore No. 26 at the workout -- the number of Deuce McAllister. ... Owner Tom Benson and his wife Gayle watched practice from a balcony at the practice facility

It's a testament to either the slowness of the news period or the power of the NFL that an overflow crowd of media representatives were in attendance. I counted more than 16 reporters, seven TV crews and at least six still photographers in the throng. The entire five-man staff from WWL-TV was in attendance. All of this for a rookie minicamp with a bunch of players most fans have never heard of before today.

Update [Note by Saintsational, 05/08/09 12:41 PM CDT ]

I have just put up the AP Photos from mini-camp. Just click on the one picture and it will take you to all of the days photos so far.

Update [Note by Saintsational, 05/08/09 2:50 PM CDT ]

Here is another quick article from the guys at the Times-Pic.

There were a handful of injuries today. Linebacker Stanley Arnoux, the Saints' fourth-round draft pick, suffered an undisclosed leg injury. We'll try to find out later today how significant the injury is. Hopefully he'll be more fortunate than tryout candidate John Halman, a receiver from Concordia College who tore his Achilles tendon during a set of "routine drills."

Linebacker Jonathan Casillas, who signed as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin, also is not participating because of a pre-existing knee injury, but Payton said he expects him to be on the field within the next month.

The Saints' top two draft picks, cornerback Malcolm Jenkins and safety Chip Vaughn both made a good first impression in brief chats with the media. They said all the right things, showed a fiery attitude and a willingness to work. Vaughn, in particular, seemed fired up to be here and to help the team wherever they want to stick him, at either safety spot or on special teams or all of the above.

Update [Note by Saintsational, 05/08/09 3:43 PM CDT ]

Here are some pictures from the Times-Pic staff.

The Times-Pic also released another update, this one focusing on the running backs.

The weather was a "hot topic" among the rookies today, as usual. It seems like Mother Nature always cooperates with the Saints in trying to give these rookies a rude awakening. According to accuweather.com, the temperature cracked 83 degrees with a "real feel" of 97 degrees during the heart of the morning practice.

"Well, it's a lot hotter than New Jersey and Ohio," first-round draft pick Malcolm Jenkins said of his home state and college state when asked to give his first impressions of his first NFL practice.

Update [Note by Saintsational, 05/08/09 4:24 PM CDT ]

Another update for you from the Times-Pic. This is the transcript of Sean Payton's press conference.

Update [Note by Saintsational, 05/08/09 4:46 PM CDT ]

Here is an article from the New Orleans Saints official website.