Today we continue with the second half of our in-depth analysis of last weeks pre-season game against the Bengals. Here we go.

Saints Defense First Drive

• After Mehlhaff finally boots one into the endzone for a touchback the Bengals start from their own 20 yard line. Their first play is a run to the right side. Randall Gay makes a nice tackle coming in for support as the play only gains 3 yards.
• Another run up the right side and Chris Perry hits a big hole and gains 13 yards for the first.
• Ryan Fitzpatrick, now the quarterback, tries the left side but Harper and Porter are all over it. Nice coverage. Very un-Jason David like.
  
• The Bengals then try a run up the middle but Fujita does a great job stuffing it at the line.
  
• On third down Fitzpatrick completes one to Chatman who is in the gap between the line of scrimmage and the secondary. Vilma brings him down from behind just shy of the first down. Bengals punt.

Review: Glad to see the defense still looks good after the half. The run defense wasn't so hot but, and I can't believe I am going to say this, the pass defense came through for us. I think Vilma has been looking pretty good but he just does a lot of things that don't usually get noticed. I'm a fan. I think it would be safe to buy his jersey.

Saints Offense First Drive

• Saints take over at their own 28. Sit back and relax, because the Pierre Thomas extravaganza is about to begin. It starts with Thomas to the right side for 5 yards. The O-line (Nicks, Bushrod, Lehr, Strief) does an awesome job of making room and they actually force their will on the Bengals plowing them all to the right side. Had Reggie been out there, he might have actually cut it back to the left side and been gone, as there is no one there. I am starting to wonder if maybe the problem with the run game lies completely with the first team offensive line. 
• Brunell throws a quick one to the right to Meachem for 4 yards.
• Third down and two tight ends. Pierre tries the right side, gains the first down, sheds a tackle and spins away from a second before being taken down for a gain of 14.
• Play action. Brunell completes one over the middle to Terrance Copper. Pierre Thomas does a great job blocking in the backfield and keeping Keith Rivers away from Brunell. The kid does it all.
  
• They give it to Thomas again up the middle and he gains 9 yards after avoiding one tackle. To be fair, the tackling looks weak.
• Brunell is forced to roll left and overthrows Copper in the endzone on what seemed like an improvised play.
• Third and 1 as Pierre cuts it back to his right and up the middle for 4 yards and the first.
• Brunell hurrys a throw to Pierre Thomas who is covered. Pass incomplete.
• On second down Thomas takes it up the right side. He eludes one tackler, barely keeps his knee from hitting the ground, then fumbles the ball as he spins and falls down. Bengals recover.

Review: Ugh. Not that I think the fumble will really cause Payton any distrust, but everything was looking so good. Had that fumble not occurred, I think all Saints fans, myself included, would be up in arms about letting Pierre start and referencing this very drive to make our point. If Pierre is always going to fight to stay on his feet, then he needs to remember to hold on to the ball tight. Regardless, the drive looked good. Pierre looked better. By the way, I love it when Pierre uses his hand and puts it on top of a defenders head to push him out of the way as he passes him.

Saints Defense Second Drive

• Cincinnati gets the ball deep in their own zone. Perry tries the right side. Lance Schulters comes in and makes the nice stop for only 3 yards. Then proceeds to take a stupid 15 yards Uneccesary Roughness (classic movie) penalty.
• First and ten now from the Bengals 23 yard line. Chris Perry tries the left edge and guess who comes in with the nice tackle and the stop for no gain. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? It's Jason David!
• Fitzpatrick completes short over the middle for 4 yards. Troy Evans makes the quick tackle.
  
• Third down and Fitzpatrick throws a short  incompletion to Kenny Watson. Chris Reis was all over him with great coverage. Bengals...you know. Skyler Green gets nowhere on the return.

Review: This was actually a good showing for the defense, minus the penalty, particularly the secondary. They showed great run support on two plays and tight coverage on another. After going through this game in depth, I think this defense looked even better than everyone is giving them credit for. It was solid all around. Even Jason David. I am very impressed.

Saints Offense Second Drive

• Palko checks into the game now and starts from the Saints 33. The first play is a short dump off to Pierre Thomas over the middle for 5 yards. No hesitation going back to Thomas after the fumble.
  
• Palko checks down to Thomas on a flare to the left. With plenty of room to work with and nice blocks from Matt Lehr and Tim Duckworth, Pierre turns it into 25 yards up the sideline. He does that hand on helmet thing to another would be tackler. Watch for it, its funny! It's almost like he uses them for more speed as he pushes off of them.
  
• Meachem shows off his running ability on a reverse. He gains a respectable 13 yards.
• Palko takes too much time in the pocket and is sacked by Keith Rivers.
• 2nd and 18 as Palko completes a short one over the middle to Thomas for 3 yards.
• Palko tries Thomas again on a short dump off. Not much doing.
• Mehlhaff nails a 45 yarder. He then kicks a blooper to only the Bengals 16 yard line. He is visibly upset as he walks off.

Review: More awesomeness from The Flying Frenchman. The drive just stalled at the end as Palko couldn't find anything downfield. This offensive line deserves some credit for working hard and looking pretty solid out there. None of Thomas' success would exist without some good play from those guys. Mehlhaff shows some inconsistency. I don't think it is looking as good for Mehlhaff as it once was.

Saints Defense Third Drive

• After a false start, the Bengals have 1st and 15 from own 30 yard line. Jeff Rowe now takes over for the Bengals and tosses one quickly to the right. Aaron Glenn, looking great in run support, wraps him up quickly for a gain of only two.
  
• The Saints line flush Rowe out of the pocket and forces him to scramble right and throw it away.
• Rowe tries over the middle on a crossing route but Glenn is on top of him and breaks it up which is good because the Saints sent eight guys in to rush and didn't have much help in the secondary. There had to be someone else open downfield that Rowe just didn't see. Bengals punt and Skyler Green lets it bounce before fielding it and losing 4 yards. Not pretty.

Review: Gotta love three and out. More straight up solid play from the defense. This drive was all Aaron Glenn. There isn't a doubt in my mind that Glenn makes this team. He looks better and better every week. I don't think he will start but its great to know he's there. Honestly, seems like you take away Jason David, and this secondary doesn't look half bad. We should probably give it a little more time and observation though.

Saints Offense Third Drive

• Saints start from their 12 yard line and Palko throws a quick pass to Meachem to the right. He gets six yards as the defender drags him down by his pants, ala the Coppertone girl, as Meachem refuses to go down.
  
• Next is a hard run up the left side by Lynell Hamilton for six yards.
• Palko completes a pass to Lance Moore for 14 yards.
• 1st and ten now, as Palko throws a bad pass nowhere near Terrance Copper that almost gets picked off.
• Lynell Hamilton takes it up the middle for 7 yards. He looks very powerful. End of third quarter.
• On third down with 3 to go Hamilton takes it again, this time to the left side for 4 yards, picking up the first.
• Palko throws an interception on a deep pass intended for Terrance Copper. The throw was into double coverage.

Review: It would have been nice to see this drive continue. Hamilton was looking pretty impressive. As bad as I feel for Pierre Thomas and Aaron Stecker, I will feel even worse for Lynell Hamilton who will most likely not see any playing time with this team though he looks pretty good. I can't find anything in Palko to get excited about.

Saints Defense Fourth Drive

• We have to pick up this drive from 3rd and 7 since the broadcast team favored doing some piece on how Fujita would make the best Olympian over showing us the first two plays of the drive. And what a wonderful place to pick up from, as we're just in time to see the dynamic duo of Jason David and Josh Bullocks get beat on a 9 yard pass that keeps the drive alive. They were both right there and still couldn't make a play! How much longer must we suffer? Even on a night when everyone else is looking great, these two manage to suck. Who are we going to make fun of after Payton hopefully cuts these two?
• First down now and a short completion to the right side for three yards.
• Another Rowe pass to the right for 10 yards as Craft is no where near his receiver.
  
• After a Kenny Watson run for only two yards, Rowe dumps it off over the middle for 9 yards and a first down.
• On first down now and Bobby McCray shoots through the gap and gets the sack for -8 yards. I can't say enough about how fast he is.
  
• Rowe completes a short dump off to Kenny Watson but the Saints react quickly and McCray and Harris stop it for -1 yards.
• More pressure from the line again as McCray, who is forced to take the long route behind the quarterback, doesn't give up and eventually beats his man deep in the backfield and gets to Rowe to disrupt the pass. Bengals punt.
  

Review: I think this drive is very telling. This was the Bengals longest drive of the night play-wise. Bullocks, Craft and David, who all saw a lot of time in the Saints secondary last year were all out there against the third team and still having trouble. What does that say? Bobby McCray saves their butt however as he was a monster on the last three plays. Can't wait to see what he brings this season.

Saints Offense Fourth Drive

• Saints start at their six. Hamilton runs for two yards.
• Palko looks good as he avoids a safety and shows some nifty moves eluding would be tacklers and running for 9 yards. A personal foul call takes the Saints to their 32 yard line.
• After a botched snap, Palko fires a bullet to the right side for Buck "Naked" Ortega for 17 yards.
• Hamilton then makes a short three yard catch on the left sideline.
• Palko goes to the left side again and finds Meachem for 7 yards and a first down.
• The Bengals' Angelo Craig notches a sack for -4 yards. Duckworth failed to pick up LB Corey Mayes who broke through the line, caused disruption and barely missed the sack himself.
  
• A draw to Hamilton up the middle for six yards.
• Palko, looking solid on this drive, fires another rocket, this time to Todd Blythe, over the middle for a gain of 15.
• After scrambling left Palko throws a short 6 yarder to Hamilton. Holding on Bushrod.
  
• 1st and 20 now as Palko throws another dump off to Hamilton who has room to turn it into 16 yards.
• Palko throws two straight into tight coverage. The first one should probably have been picked off.
• Saints go for it on fourth down but Palko is forced to scramble to the left and throw it away.

Review: After a nice start to this drive by Palko, the Bushrod penalty and some poor passing decisions kill it. Tyler is just too inconsistent for my taste. A couple of nice hard passes mixed in with poor decisions and botched snaps. That's just not gonna cut it. Bushrod has been the culprit on quite a few penalties this pre-season and really needs to fix that.

Saints Defense Fifth Drive

• Carson Palmer's younger brother Jordan comes in to lead the charge. First play is a run up the middle for a gain of two.
• Palmer completes a short one to the right but Chris Reis is right there to bring him down quickly.
  
• Scrambling left, Palmer gets the needed 2 yards for the first down.
  
• He follows that play up with an interception to Lance Schulters to end the Bengals night. Jason David, whose receiver it was, was behind the play, but Lance, probably figuring David wasn't going to do anything, decided to jump the route and pick it off.
  

Review: Good sign from Schulters. Maybe he is the help this team needs over the top. He was very aggressive on the interception as Jason David stood there and watched. Literally!

Saints Offense Sixth Drive

Nothing important to report about the final drive. Lynell Hamilton runs for 2, 3 and 3 yards to run out the clock.

That does it. I was very happy with the teams performance after watching the game the first time. Having taken a closer look I have to say I am ever happier. There were a lot of good signs and we can only hope that this is a better representation of what we can expect from the defense and the team in general this season.

It's time for the second half of our breakdown of the breakdown. I am glad you guys enjoyed this post yesterday and I will try to do it every week. That being said, let's put these guys under the microscope.

Saints Defense First Drive

• Texans start at their own 32. First play of the half is a quick pass to the right that Aaron Glenn jumps in front of and bats away. One of the best plays of the night for the secondary. Might have been able to pick it off.
  
• On the second play, Bobby McCray puts a move on his guy and blows past him into the backfield, so quickly that he overshoots the runner and misses the tackle. A little more control and that is probably a tackle for a loss. As it is Marvin Mitchell takes him down for a gain of a couple.
  
• 3rd and 8 after two nice defensive plays. Another decent display of pressure as Josh Savage gets to Rosenfels just a half second too late. The pass is over the middle completed for 13 yards. It's Tracy Porter's man. The drive stays alive as the second half continues in the same manner as the first.
  
• After a Slaton run for 12 yards in which huge holes were created by the Texans offensive line, it's a Rosenfels pass for 20 yards down the left sideline to Jacoby Jones. Tracy Porter is, oh, 5 yards behind him. I am praying hoping assuming that the defensive strategy here for Porter is too keep everything in front of him. More likely, Jones made a nice play by immediately button hooking, leaving Porter still streaking down the sideline.
  
• Chris Reis makes an awesomely hard hit to stop a run.
  
• In the redzone now and the Texans run a couple of times for medium yardage. The defensive line is getting pushed around a bit.
  
• Jo-Lonn Dunbar makes a quick stop for two yards on a shirt pass to the right sideline.
  
• Two more nice runs from Taylor puts the Texans in the lead.

Review: This drive started off promising for the Saints defense then quickly turned sour after giving up yet another 3rd and 8. Knowing Jason David isn't out there anymore and assuming they might meet a little more resistance in the secondary, the Texans decide to keep it on the ground, and instead, make a mockery of the Saints run defense. Taylor had his choice of holes to run through for the last half of the drive. Add that to the poor cornerback play toward the beginning of the drive and you've got the makings of an awful defensive showing.

I'm starting to like this guy. (Getty Images)

Saints Offense First Drive

• Stecker has two decent runs for 5 and 8 yards. He's actually got some decent sized holes to run through as the offensive line gets some good pushes.
  
• Brunell throws to the right side and finds Billy Miller wide open. Miller, sadly, drops a pass that any of us could have caught. I say that with a decent amount of confidence.
  

Review: This drive is only three plays but still revealing. I feel about Stecker the way I feel about Pierre. The guy has done nothing but prove himself worthy yet he stays under utilized. The only other explanation would be that our second team offensive line is more dominant then Houston's second team defensive line which would be pretty good news itself. All of that happiness is quickly lost when Billy Miller blows a sure thing and the thought of the Saints leading the league in dropped passes again causes me to throw up a bit in my mouth. Watching the game the first time, I didn't notice the myriad of dropped passes.

Saints Defense Second Drive

• Texans start on their 39 with a run up the middle but Kendrick Clancy is having none of that. He gets a great jump off the line and manhandles his lineman, getting into the backfield and making the tackle for a loss of 1. Very nice play by Clancy.
  
• Second play and McCray blows by his man on the outside. Dude has got a motor. So fast in fact, he yet again overshoots and tries to catch Rosenfels from behind. Rosenfels does his best Favre impression and overhand shovel  passes it to Slaton for a couple of yards. Jo-Lonn Dunbar is all over it and stop him immediately.
• Rosenfels drops back to pass and its more great pressure from McCray and Josh Savage. Both overshoot (McCray overshoots, Savage might have been blocked away). McCray almost gets his hand on the ball as the pass is released. The pass is into almost triple coverage by the Saints and Craft leaps in front of it as the interception goes off his hands and eludes him. He probably should have actually come up with it. Texans punt.
  

Review: Best defensive series of the night. In fact, this was the first time the Texans punted. McCray and Savage look pretty good. McCray needs to control himself a little more. Hope is out there.

Moore is like a vacuum. (Getty Images)

Saints Offense Second Drive

• Saints start from their 18. The first play is a Brunell pass for 13 yards to Lance Moore. The announcer says the same thing I always do, "...Lance Moore who simply catches everything thrown his way..."
• On the next play, Lance Moore doesn't make the catch. However, its thrown behind him and a defender is all over him and gets a hand on the ball. Brunell mouths, "My bad Lance" and taps himself on the chest.
• Stecker gains 5 yards through some decent holes. This is so backwards. The first team should be opening holes like this.
  
• Andy Alleman: false start.
• Brunell throws a nice pass to the right for Terrance Copper and a gain of 17. I remember this pass during the game. Brunell put some mustard on this one and I remember thinking the old guy still has some left in the tank.
  
• More Stecker. This time 7 yards after cutting back to the right and finding a hole. That is followed by a 2 yard run up the middle.
• Alleman: false start.
• Brunell and Moore connect for 42 yards on what seems to be the same play Brees and Patten connected on earlier. The results are identical. Moore streaks down the left side line, totally beating his man, getting separation and makes an over the shoulder grab that is perfectly placed by Brunell. Is this guy our backup? Saints on the 6.
  
• Two plays later (one a defensive penalty) and Brunell connects on a bootleg left with FB Kevin Dudley.

Review: Lance Moore might make a good replacement for Devery Henderson. Pretty darn good drive for the second team offense. Alleman surely got a mouthful from Payton on the sideline.

Don't know how they got this picture. He didn't have too much to celebrate. (Getty Images)

Saints Defense Third Drive

• Texans immediately get to work carving up our secondary some more as Rosenfels hits David Anderson for 43 yards to the Saints 34 yard line. It was Tracy Porter's man but Porter slips and allows the receiver to get 5 yards of separation. David Roach comes in to help but does an very poor job of tackling and its Porter who has to hustle to catch Anderson and take him down.
• Slaton between the tackles. Orien Harris with the tackle
• Aaron Glenn gets beat when Rosenfels rolls out and completes an out route just before the sideline. This play killed us all night. I hope they work on it this week.
• After a nice run stop, the Saints defensive line gets pushed around and Slaton makes it look easy up the right side through a huge hole. 

Review: Just more crap from the defense. Not much to say about this drive. I think Porter's injury is definitely hampering his play. I am trying to be optimistic here guys! By the way, because of his performance in this game Slaton earned the right to start Houston's next game against the Cowboys.

Saints Offense Third Drive

• Meachem makes his first catch of the night for 11 yards.
• Jermon Bushrod: false start.
• Pierre Thomas gets a nice chunk of 9 yards.
• After a bad, uncatchable throw that was over Robert Meachem's head on the previous play, Brunell gets tripped up and taken down from behind. It was Zach Strief who slips in the backfield and allows his man to get past him and make the sack. Saints must punt and its a nice one from Waylon Prather for 60 yards. It's downed on the 3.
  

Review: Nothing special on this drive, but they've been doing a pretty good job so I'll cut them some slack.

Saints Defense Fourth Drive

• From deep in their own zone the Texans start. Alex Brink comes in to quarterback. Completes a 4 yarder after scrambling. Orien Harris with the tackle.
  
• Brink continues to throw all over us like his two predecessors this evening by completing a 8 yard pass on 3rd and 6 and converting yet another third down. Craft was on the coverage.
  
• Slaton runs up the right side and the Saints look weak in trying to take him down.
  
• Slaton right side for only 1 yard. Orien Harris with the tackle.
• Brink sneaks it for the first. Then, on first down, Slaton left side for 1 yard. Orien Harris with the tackle. You getting the point?
• Brink botches the hand off and the Texans lose 11 yards.
• 3rd and 20 as Slaton gets another 11 yards through a giant hole. Texans must punt.

Review: Orien Harris shows up on the stat sheet with six tackles for the night and the team leader for the second time in a row. Some of those tackles were nothing special and just being at the right place at the right time, though that does take some skill. Not sure what kind of chance this kid has of making the team but he sure does take his shots in the limited amount of time he's gotten in these first two games. The defensive line continues to get pushed around. Please tell me that Houston's O-line is just that good.

Saints Offense Fourth Drive

• Saints start off from their own 16 yard line. Palko now in for the black and gold. He starts of with a pass to Moore for 10 yards.
• Palko does a nice Michael Vick impression and dances along the sideline but a Bushrod holding penalty brings it back.
• Six yards for Pierre Thomas on a catch and run.
• Zach Strief: false start.
• Tyler throws wide out of bounds intended for Copper. After the play he points to his head and mimes to the sideline that he didn't hear the play call. I'll give him that one.
• Meachem is open over the middle and jumps as high as he can. Unfortunately, its not high enough as Palko's throw sails way high.
  
• Saints decide to go for it on fourth down. After the announcers remark how Payton probably wants something positive for Palko to end the game on, he throws a short dump pass off his back foot to a wide open Billy Miller. It hits the ground in front of Millers outstretched hands. Poor throw.
  

Review: Well this wasn't a good drive at all. Penalties killed this drive as they did earlier in the game. Stupid penalties are commonplace during pre-season football but that doesn't make them alright. Strief, Bushrod and Alleman all had two each. That's a quick way to piss off a coach and make him think long and hard about cutting you. Palko looked like crap but I am willing to chalk it up to the fact that he just came off the bench and had no time to get into a rhythm. His mechanics looked bad and to be honest, I'm not really sure where this Payton pet project is going. The scramble and the run down the sideline looks good, though didn't count, and he didn't bobble any snaps, so good news there.

The Texans ran three run plays just to run out the clock so we don't need to discuss that. Of course your thoughts and opinions are welcomed and encouraged.

Those of you who know me (in the internet sense of the word) know that I talk "business" sometimes. I wanted to give you guys all a shout out because participation has definitely been on the rise. Glad to see a lot of lurkers or shy people out there getting involved in the conversation. That's what this thing is all about. For those of you out there who are still "just browsing" you don't have to worry. We won't bite. Hard. (sorry, had to) In all seriousness, if you think you don't know what you're talking about or you're scared someone might make fun of you, you should be. And then you should remember that it's the internet and nobody has any idea who you are. This whole thing is about the sharing of information and the uniting of people with a common interest love obsession. Make your contribution and put your stamp on this website. The more the merrier. As I said earlier, things are coming along great and the community is ever growing, but it can always be better. If you've read CSC/The Chronic for a while, you may get the impression that I am pretty much never satisfied, and you'd be right, so get off your butt and say something. I promise you will be welcomed warmly. The season is almost here and it's going to be a good one with lots to talk about. The only thing missing is you!

The team has off today as they make their way back to Metry. Having gotten a clearer picture of just what this team looks like, I thought what better time to throw out another attempt at predicting just who will make this team of 53 and who wont. This, of course, is meant to spark conversation and your input is welcomed and awaited. Where did I go wrong and where did I go oh...so...right? Let us all know what you think about who makes what will inevitably be the greatest Saints team of all-time.

Offense

Defense

Special Teams

Here is my thinking on some of this:

• Brian Young's health concerns me. If it continues to be spotty, the staff may say to hell with it and go with one of the other talented options in Antwan Lake and Orien Harris.
• I went with Reis over Roach at safety.
• Yeah, I went with six receivers. Copper and Moore both contribute on special teams. Skyler Green was so close I practically flipped a coin for this one.
• I only went with one fullback. We should expect better blocking from our tight ends. Maybe keep another fullback on the practice squad in case Karney is injured.
• Jason David is still around. I just don't think the coaches are going to give up on him. I don't really feel we have seen enough from Tracy Porter, but I gave him a shot anyway.

For a good laugh, compare it to my roster prediction back in May. Also check out  how much nicer looking my tables have become. We've come so far.

The floor is now open. Take it away.

I found this article on MyCentralJersey.com about new Director of Football Administration, Khai Harley. This guys got a long, impressive track record and its all covered in this article. It also tells us exactly what his responsibilities will be with the New Orleans Saints.

With the Saints, Harley will research contracts and cap statistics from not only the club but from around the league. It is similar to the daily and yearly reconciliation he did for all 32 clubs, where he calculated cap figures for each team, made adjustments for the following year and analyzed statistical trends related to player signings.

In New Orleans, Harley's duties will also include coordinating different areas of the football operations, contract negotiations, and being involved in the administrative functions of running the club.

Time for yet another Live Chat from the Times-Pic.

On Skyler Green.

The speculation on Green has risen a great deal over the past several weeks.   I can't tell if that's more because the fans are so curious about him and won't let the topic go, or if it is because Green is impressing in camp.

Maybe a little of both?   Seriously, if Green can make an impact on special teams (which Henderson doesn't appear capable of doing, and Lance Moore is only so-so at), he has a shot, and a good one at that.

We won't really be able to judge his return skills until he gets into a live game situation though, so Green fans wil have to wait until the preseason gets here to get a better idea.

On who will have the biggest impact this year on defense.

Well, with Will Smith back in the fold (hooray!), I'm tempted to say him.   No other player on that defense (with the possible exception of a healthy Mike McKenzie) is as important to the Saints' success, and I'm hoping for big things from him this year.

As far as newcomers, OTA attendees are raving about Bobby McCray, and obviously Sedrick Ellis is going to be an important cog as well, but if Jon Vilma can come in healthy, he's a 200-tackle kind of player ... meaning he could have a major impact right away.

On Colston's contract.

Nothing new to report, though I think it's important to note that the Saints ARE negotiating with him.   It's not like there's some line in the sand that neither party is willing to cross, or that either side is feeling bitter or angry.   I think a deal will get done on that basis alone.   It's just a question of when.

On the Saints possibly acquiring Matt Jones.

There are rumors that Jones is falling out of favor in Jacksonville and could be cut soon -- so I give you props for staying on top of things.

I'll ask you this, though.   If Jones can't beat out the likes of Troy Williamson, does he even have any chance at making this Saints roster?   I'm not so sure he does.   Is he worth  a look?   Maybe.   Is he going to be a major contributor for someone?   Probably not.

I can just agree to disagree I suppose -- He had a Pro-Bowl level QB last year in David Garrard, and yet he didn't produce.   Okay, give him a pass for the frustration thing ... you'd think he'd be onboard now.   But he isn't.   Maybe he's being scapegoated by the coaches, but he's just not doing well in OTAs -- running third-team at best.   I just don't see how a guy like that is liable to help you.   Sure he can turn it around, but will he?   It's looking rather doubtful.

Here's a heart warmer from CommunityPress.com. Zach Strief is having his annual benefit dinner.

"I hope to continue to help out locally in my hometown of Milford this year and also to start working even more to help out in the New Orleans area I have grown to love by way of recreational and mentoring programs," Strief said in a press release.

Sadly, the New Orleans Voodoo lost another close one last night that would have locked up a playoff spot. This one is going south real quick. It's an awfully familiar feeling.