Random Musings, Links and Videos that Every Saints Fan Should Read
by Dave Cariello on May 26, 2010 6:00 AM CDT
Email
PrintHow's that for a title?
There was quite a bit of news coming out of Who Dat Nation and the league in general yesterday. From the NFL owners meeting, to the Saints Hall of Fame induction announcements to the first practice of OTA's; even trouble with the law! Yesterday was more action packed than your regular off-season Tuesday. So to make sure you haven't missed any of the latest Saints-related action, big or small, read this post. It should catch you up quite nicely.
Comments are wide open for chatter about any one of these topics.
I-55
From the moment he signed with the Saints, Clint Ingram has been pegged as the most likely replacement for Scott Fujita. Apparently, that doesn't bother Ingram the least. According to the roster found on the Saints official website, Ingram will be wearing #55, Fujita's old number. Ingram wore #51 in his time with the Jaguars.
Jermon Bushrod Joins the Twitter Party
Yet another member of the Who Dat Nation has joined the ranks on Twitter. You can now start following offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod @j_bushrod747. Here are his first two tweets...
IM addicted already... smh, Pickin up dinner n back to the crib... Thanks for the shout outs homies... lol
Watching chappelle show... Thank you instant netflix
Be sure to start following him and tell him about @csctweet. I'm serious...it might help us score an interview or get some cred. Help a brother out.
Induction, Junction, What's your Function?
I wanted to make sure this story got a little love on the front page. 'Hollywood' Joe Horn was introduced as the 2010 Saints Hall of Fame inductee. Obviously, we all remember Joe and can probably agree this is a well deserved honor. The actual induction will take place during an as of yet unnamed Saints home game this fall.
Watch this video from December when WDSU catches up with Joe Horn as he reflects on his career.
The Times-Pic has a handy Saints Hall of Fame roster.
Not to be outshined, head equipment manager Dan 'Chief' Simmons and assistant equipment manager Glennon 'Silky' Powell were both announced as recipients of the Joe Gemelli Fleur-De-Lis Award, given annually to those who have served the Saints in a significant capacity and have contributed to the betterment or the organization.
For more reading on all of this, check out this article and - oh, heck why not - this one.
Here is all your video footage. Your welcome.
Crystal Clear
While we're on the subject, I think Crystal Bowersox will win American Idol tonight. Lee DeWyze came out flat last night and Crystal really brought it, dawg. Plus, she's different. Who do you think producers selected America voted for to win?
NFL Owners Meeting: What Happened?
NFL owners had one day of meetings yesterday in Dallas, TX. The biggest news was the announcement that New York/New Jersey will host the 2014 Super Bowl, meaning we could likely see a cold-weather Super Bowl for the first time in many years.
There was a possibility that the owners would vote on whether to extend the new overtime rules into the regular season as well but, as predicted by many, there wasn't enough interest this time around. The vote may come up at future meetings.
Commissioner Roger Goodell also spoke and took questions. He announced a decision on Ben Roethlisberger would be made in a week and skirted questions regarding the vicodin allegations against the Saints.
Not discussed was the proposed sale of the St. Louis Rams to Stan Kroenke.
First Day of OTA's: In Their Own Words
Everyone hit the field yesterday for the first time this off-season and took to telling the world about it via Twitter. Below are all of yesterdays practice related tweets from Saints players.
Don't miss the requisite "Holy $&#% they ain't playin' with this heat" tweets from the new guys, Alex Brown and Jason McKie. You're not in Chicago anymore, ladies.
jgoody76 OTA's today. Man that helmet gonna be hot
usama_young28 Time for some practice!
LanceMoore16 Back on the practice field today. Time to really start on our grind to defend our championship!!!
reggie_bush First day of offseason practice! Feels good to be back! Let's go Saints!
HeathEvans 1st day of off-season practice= Felt gr8 to be back out there w/ the team & the knee is almost perfect! WHO DAT
bobbymccray 1st practice was a beast....just got in the car....and I'm sweatingalready http://tweetphoto.com/23927383
Jmack37 Woooow it's 400 degrees in N.O. ....I might weigh 200 pounds now after that practice
bobbymccray Back at Mr. Eds again time to try the double grilled snapper...I know I'm passing out after this. The dun drained me.
PatRob21 Back to the room I go. I'm a lil tired
alexbrown96 Today was the hottest practice I have been apart of since 2001! And I am not kidding!! I am sure it will get better from here but WOW!! lol
T_Porter22 Fininshed first day of OTAs and the Boom....I'm faded. Ab to eat and get some much rest...is there a bball game tonight?
usama_young28 I'ma miss part of this game. I gotta get in this playbook
Harp41 Man first day of ota's. Had a long break since our run too. Drew hit me with a sick dbl move today to cols.
Harp41 I never get to get a chance to forget how good they really are cause I practice against them in practice every freakin day against them
Dirty Harry
Undrafted free agent Harry Coleman from LSU was arrested at 3 a.m. Sunday morning in St. Mary's Parish on a simple battery charge. I won't comment further since I really don't know any details and either does anyone else it seems. Given all the hope so many people had for this kid, it would be a shame if it ended like this.
New Poll
I apologize for the lacking with the featured poll on the left sidebar but I've finally changed it so go head over there and cast your vote.
61 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I thought a player had to be five years removed from his Saints career to be elected into the Saints HOF. Horn has only been gone three. Obviously deserving otherwise.
I still think it’s preposterous that Chuck Muncie and Wes Chandler aren’t in yet, but I won’t rain on Hollywood’s parade with that b**** fest.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
Joe Horn says Joe Horn is exempt from that rule because of Joe Horn’s greatness. Joe Horn!
"I want to hand this trophy to the MVP of the Super Bowl -- and the MVP of the entire league.''
-- Saints coach Sean Payton, handing the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Drew Brees after Super Bowl 44.
Then, why isn’t McAllister going in with Horn? He’s the team’s all-time leading rusher.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
Horn wanted all the spotlight.
"Obviously, we're all oil industry." -MMS Lake Charles District Manager Larry Williamson
Did McAllister ever officially submit his retirement paperwork with the league? Maybe he’s still considered an active player.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
An active player who weighs 267 pounds. But yes, he may still be active.
"Obviously, we're all oil industry." -MMS Lake Charles District Manager Larry Williamson
Thrice McAllister?
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
by coldpizza on May 26, 2010 1:51 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Man.. I don't think Harry Coleman is going to stay with the Saints much longer..
They’ve got enough problems and this will only add more.. I thought he would’ve contributed very well, it’s unfortunate
go check out nola.com
they said he only pushed someone and he was cooperative afterwards. I don’t think SP would kick him off for that
by Andrew Tessier on May 26, 2010 12:47 PM CDT up reply actions
Way too soon to tell.
Maybe the person who complained is just a wanna-be wide receiver; they’re always quick to run whining & complaining about a little contact.
"Dang! The Saints won the Super Bowl!" - my wife, Meso "Happy" Hu Dat.
Sounds like Drew is still hittin' it on all cylinders
Looks like Harper got burned by no. 9 yesterday. Madden Curse be damned! You won’t stop us this year!
"As soon as Tony (Dungy) said we had no chance, I knew we had 'em right where we wanted 'em"--Coach Sean Payton right after Super Bowl XLIV with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in hand. WHO DAT!!
by David "Satch" Kelly on May 26, 2010 9:41 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Boom Rec'd!
Payton Brees and our “Mentally Tough” won’t let anything get in the way. The madden curse will not work against “The Who Dat Nation”
To be fair, Brees could have burned Harper prior to his shoulder rehabilitation.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
Always down on Harper
I still don’t get it. Please write up a fanpost explaining your dislike of him. He may not be the best in the league, but I think he’s better than most.
"As soon as Tony (Dungy) said we had no chance, I knew we had 'em right where we wanted 'em"--Coach Sean Payton right after Super Bowl XLIV with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in hand. WHO DAT!!
by David "Satch" Kelly on May 26, 2010 10:04 AM CDT up reply actions
Harpers weakness is in his pass coverage
he’s great in run support, but he can’t cover a lot of ground.
Wanna say something? Sign up! It's free!
by Dave Cariello on May 26, 2010 10:13 AM CDT up reply actions
I think this is why they drafted Chip Vaughn and want to move him to Free Safety. They already know he can play in the box, they want to find out if he can cover people as well. And this is why Harper is playing on a one-year RFA at this point. After camp, they’ll know better how things will go and they will give Harper an extension if they don’t think Vaughn can take his spot next year.
I didn't think he was expected to cover a lot of ground
My understanding of the strong safety position is that they are primarily focused on run support and defending the shorter passes. When one has to stretch the field to cover someone it’s usually because of a breakdown in coverage by one of the CBs or free safety. Just remembering the SB, I saw Harper slap down more than one pass from Manning to Clark or another receiver up close. The only reason he looked kinda bad on the Garcon TD is because Young was there at a moment’s notice subbing for an injured Greer, which temporarily ruined the secondary chemistry needed to effectively cover an offense like the Colts.
My main point is that I concede that Harper may not be the best strong safety in the league but he’s a lot better than many others and Gregg Williams seems to like having him in his system. He’s an excellent tackler also.
"As soon as Tony (Dungy) said we had no chance, I knew we had 'em right where we wanted 'em"--Coach Sean Payton right after Super Bowl XLIV with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in hand. WHO DAT!!
by David "Satch" Kelly on May 26, 2010 10:25 AM CDT up reply actions
“He’s an excellent tackler also.”
No, he’s not. He’s a hard hitter. Opposing running backs have bounced off of his pops for additional yardage on numerous occasions. You’re right, pass coverage isn’t a PRIMARY duty of a SS, but it’s still in the job description and Harper usually does a p*** poor job at covering the TE and/or flat. Of course, most of that blame has to fall on Shanle — and Fujita, in the past — as well. I’ve compared Harper’s play to a pinball flipper before. I think that’s a fairly accurate analogy. That being said, there are quite a few starting SSs in the league with those very same shortcomings.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
CP, you remind me of my old boss
He changed the phrase “continuous improvement” to “Never Ending Improvement”. What’s the difference? Accent on the negative: Your quest to improve NEVER ENDs as opposed to “always trying to get better”. If you ever did anything good, he’d say good job and then go on a lot longer pointing out the areas where it could have been better. The downside is that his employees were frequently discouraged rather than encouraged and they all hated his guts. The upside was that he never lost an argument for a raise.
In your view, Saints players are never good enough, there is always something lacking. At every position, as far as I can recall. Conversely, you point out and amplify the slightest redeeming features of the ones who really suck (Dinkins).
In conclusion, I’m not being critical, not urging you to change, just making an observation. (Note to Satch: You are wasting your time here, move on.)
Oh, and {{{hugs}}}.
"Obviously, we're all oil industry." -MMS Lake Charles District Manager Larry Williamson
This coming from a guy who emboldens negative passages from Rotoworld blurbs, about as often as I post?
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
yes
I have my own “issues”, no doubt. Feel free to expound. Maybe I’ll learn something, because I’m into Never Ending Improvement. I worked for the guy for 13 years, he’s in my head.
"Obviously, we're all oil industry." -MMS Lake Charles District Manager Larry Williamson
I always post the Combine negatives comments too. But on the plus side, I do like that Chung kid and a few others. And Shanle. And Jenkins. And I like Harper too.
"Obviously, we're all oil industry." -MMS Lake Charles District Manager Larry Williamson
Of the Saints 22 starters on offense and defense, I’d like to see them improve upon roughly 8 of them. I don’t think that’s being overly negative.
Evans
Goodwin
Henderson (I think Meachem’s better, sue me)
Brown/Bushrod
Grant (may have been addressed)
Fujita (may have been addressed)
Shanle
Harper
That’s it. Obviously, our backups aren’t top notch or they’d be pushing to fill these holes. Overall, a good team … just not the dynasty material some people are preaching. That’s not to say we couldn’t become a dynasty with steady improvement, nor is it saying steady improvement would automatically get us there. Randy Moss is probably 2 to 3 times the WR Troy Brown or Deion Branch will ever be, yet he hasn’t contributed to the Patriots’ ring total whatsoever. Still, they’re better off at the position with Moss and he’s certainly not hurting their chances of winning another one, as long as he continues to produce at an elite (or near-elite) level.
That’s all I really want to see out of the Saints. Bring in the absolute best players possible across the board and let the chips fall where they may. While it’s true that no team has ever been stacked across the board, I don’t see that as a reason not to strive for flawlessness.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
Please tell me you're not referring to Jahri Evans.
Troy Evans maybe? You can’t possibly have problems with Jahri, can you? I mean, come on.
"As soon as Tony (Dungy) said we had no chance, I knew we had 'em right where we wanted 'em"--Coach Sean Payton right after Super Bowl XLIV with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in hand. WHO DAT!!
by David "Satch" Kelly on May 26, 2010 12:22 PM CDT up reply actions
Oh, OK
I forgot about Heath. You almost sent me into cardiac arrest. :)
"As soon as Tony (Dungy) said we had no chance, I knew we had 'em right where we wanted 'em"--Coach Sean Payton right after Super Bowl XLIV with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in hand. WHO DAT!!
by David "Satch" Kelly on May 26, 2010 12:28 PM CDT up reply actions
He means Heath
I know my jaw dropped two for about 5 straight seconds.
i would love to have a roster made up of probowl talent, too
but there is a limit to how much we can realistically do every season
AMBUSH!!
by DrewBreesManCrush on May 26, 2010 12:26 PM CDT up reply actions
not talking about replacements, talking about "never good enough" and "something lacking"
Bring in the absolute best players possible across the board
Satisfying your requirements in this regard would be harder than winning a second Super Bowl. Ever. Impossible. So you’ll always have a shortcoming to point out. And that, my friend, is negative. I’ve lived with it, I know it well. But it’s ok. I’d say your approval rating here is far higher than 12 months ago, so PROGRESS! “Onward and upward”!!
"Obviously, we're all oil industry." -MMS Lake Charles District Manager Larry Williamson
I know this is a waste of time, but...
all I can say is that I don’t recall a lot of missed tackles by Harper. I’m not saying it didn’t happen as you say, but just that I don’t recall seeing a lot of it. During this summer, I plan to rewatch all the games from this past season and I’ll watch Harper especially close to see if what you’re saying is true. Even if you’re somewhat correct, I still say we could have it a lot worse at the SS position. Maybe it’s my lifelong Bama devotion that isn’t allowing me to see the faults of a Bama alumni. It’s possible, but even if that weren’t the case I don’t think I’d be as critical of him as you are.
"As soon as Tony (Dungy) said we had no chance, I knew we had 'em right where we wanted 'em"--Coach Sean Payton right after Super Bowl XLIV with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in hand. WHO DAT!!
by David "Satch" Kelly on May 26, 2010 11:25 AM CDT up reply actions
Harper is one of the best in the league at run support and a DB1 in IDP leagues.That’s a lot of tackles. I’ve seen him hit and bounce off too, but he still gets his numbers.
"Obviously, we're all oil industry." -MMS Lake Charles District Manager Larry Williamson
If someone has an ESPN insider account
you can determine how good Harper was at tackling by comparing him to the rest of the defenders in the league here:
Sadly I am just a common insider-less peasant.
Me too
Other than as part of my satellite TV bill, I refuse to pay ESPN for the short-sighted dribble they usually put out.
"As soon as Tony (Dungy) said we had no chance, I knew we had 'em right where we wanted 'em"--Coach Sean Payton right after Super Bowl XLIV with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in hand. WHO DAT!!
by David "Satch" Kelly on May 26, 2010 12:36 PM CDT up reply actions
when i was in college everybody used the same insider acct
from some guy who lived in virginia who was a friend of a friend of a friend. (espn has since shut down the practice and wont let more than 5 ip addresses access the site)
AMBUSH!!
by DrewBreesManCrush on May 26, 2010 12:43 PM CDT up reply actions
That one just gives the teams though
you need insider for individual players
Here's a link to Harper's tackling efficiency on profootballfocus.com
http://footballoutsiders.com/fo-espn-feature-columns/2010/espn-2009-broken-tackles
I’m never sure how much I trust or credit these things though…
Here's a good article I just found there
It was a pretty detailed and interesting analysis of our two playoff victories against the Cards and Vikes. So much for this guy’s prediction that the Colts would win a close one. Other than that, it’s an interesting read.
"As soon as Tony (Dungy) said we had no chance, I knew we had 'em right where we wanted 'em"--Coach Sean Payton right after Super Bowl XLIV with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in hand. WHO DAT!!
by David "Satch" Kelly on May 26, 2010 12:51 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Is that taking missed tackles into account, though? I don’t see that listed among the statistical columns. I know he has a ton of tackles — which doesn’t speak very highly of our front seven, incidentally — but I know he’s missed a bunch, too. Admittedly, I’ve seen both Sharper and Porter take the same shoulder-first kill shots at player’s legs, in lieu of wrapping up, so maybe some of it is to try to force fumbles and appease GW. Regardless of the reasoning, it’s poor form and he’s missing too many takedown opportunities.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
Maybe Harper's trying to appease GW
but he’s been tackling that way his entire career. I don’t think it is taking missed tackles into account either. Since they put up this new posting for missed tackles and seem to be advertising it as new material, I doubt they calculated it into the statistics they’ve had for months.
If they're just using total tackle numbers instead of applying missed tackles
seems like a pretty bogus way of rankings player’s run defense proficiency. These sites have always seemed a little funky.
i read the insider thing
no saints were listed as the worst, but greer was listed as about 8th best tackling db. it only ranked dt’s, lb’s and db’s though (no ends).
AMBUSH!!
by DrewBreesManCrush on May 26, 2010 12:41 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm not really surprised about Greer
What a pick-up. When healthy last year I have no qualms about saying his play rivaled Revis’.
asante samuel
was the worst tackling db on the list…. he missed one out of four.
AMBUSH!!
by DrewBreesManCrush on May 26, 2010 12:49 PM CDT up reply actions
i have an account
If you’re curious….the only Saint to appear on the best/worst tackler list for LBs or Dbs…was Jabari Greer. 2 broken tackles all year out of 41 i believe it was. That placed him 9th best in the NFL.
On the other side Will Smith was one of only was one of only 3 defensive lineman to have at least 7 broken tackles. Not good.
The Will Smith bit is interesting
because the profootballfocus site ranking him awful against the run (way below McCray even), which I blew off because I’ve always heard he was solid. I guess not, I’ll have to watch him specifically when I go through last years games. Could that be why he was shunned in the probowl?
That’s not terribly surprising, as there are a lot of missed tackles that happen at or behind the line where you know SOMEONE whiffed, it just happens so quickly — and usually in a crowd of bodies — that you don’t know exactly who it was. More often that not, it’s going to be guys like Shanle and Harper, who are out in the open missing one on one tackles, that are ultimately going to be seen by everyone in the stadium including myself and therefore draw ire in the form of cumulative occurrence.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
And in Shanle’s defense, he DOESN’T miss a ton of tackles, he’s just slow to react. If they kept defensive statistics by position based on tackle distance from the line of scrimmage, I’d bet a paycheck he’d rank among the Top 10 in OLBs. 7-9 yards upfield, almost without fail.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
Part of that Colts touchdown that everyone likes to blame Usama Young for
was also Harpers fault. I think he should have been giving more support. You can start with that play.
Wanna say something? Sign up! It's free!
by Dave Cariello on May 26, 2010 11:43 AM CDT up reply actions
I disagree
As I posted nine spots above, I think the temporary insertion of Young created a mismatch for Manning to exploit. Did Harper even know that he no longer had Greer over there to cover Garcon? I’m sure he probably did, but those guys have feels for where the other members of the secondary will be on any given play. Young disrupted that when he had to come in at the worst possible time. Manning took advantage of it. I agree Harper could have done more, but Young clearly missed his block on Garcon when the ball was snapped and Garcon ran right by him. I guess I’m one of those that mostly blames Young for that TD.
"As soon as Tony (Dungy) said we had no chance, I knew we had 'em right where we wanted 'em"--Coach Sean Payton right after Super Bowl XLIV with the Lombardi Trophy firmly in hand. WHO DAT!!
by David "Satch" Kelly on May 26, 2010 12:07 PM CDT up reply actions
they are both to blame
sean (and manning obviously) recognized it immediately cause it is what he and drew would have done. young isnt that great in coverage and harper should have realized that and “got his a** back”. there were a million different things we could have done on that play, but we have to give some credit to the (undeserving) nfl mvp and garcon for making a great play.
AMBUSH!!
by DrewBreesManCrush on May 26, 2010 12:23 PM CDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
