This thread specifically devoted to the injuries suffered in Week 3. To wit:
- Deuce McAllister's torn ACL: How will this affect the offense? Reggie Bush and Aaron Stecker become the primary ballcarriers. What are your thoughts? See below for mine.
- Jason David's broken forearm: Usama Young or Fred Thomas? Remember that through 8 games in 2006, Fred Thomas was a pretty good player. Do you go with the rookie or the seasoned veteran?
- Jammal Brown's dislocated finger: He wasn't playing at a great level anyways; how do you believe this will affect him down the stretch?
Be sure to check out Michael David Smith's treatment of the Saints' offensive line at the Football Outsiders.
The pith:
The biggest problem facing the Saints is the offensive line, and until that problem gets straightened out, the best story of the last NFL season is going to continue to be the biggest disappointment of this NFL season.
I generally dislike the mentality of treating an offensive line as one unit, rather than treating each of the five players on the line as individuals. But the fact is, left tackle Jammal Brown, left guard Jamar Nesbit, center Jeff Faine, right guard Jahri Evans and right tackle Jon Stinchcomb all had bad games Monday night.
Plays on which none of the five offensive linemen looked like competent professional football players were common.
The sad thing is, he's right on just about all accounts. The Saints' offensive line has been the root of all their struggles.
Since we are in Week 4 of the NFL season, the quarter-pole, I thought it might be a good idea to assign some community grades.
Each day over the next several, I will put out a poll that will allow you to assign a letter grade to a specific unit. As always, your comments are appreciated.
Today, in light of MDS's article, the offensive line.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm giving the unit a D.