Okay, I know this is late today, but I wanted to leave up the introduction post all day so everyone would have a chance to read it. I want to give thanks to Stujo who used the fanshots to put up a picture. Excellent work. Those can be used for anything, videos, links etc. I know the other sites have been loving the fanshots to put up youtube clips of the new draftees. They are also good if you guys find an article about the team you want to share. I can't emphasize enough that I am only one man. A man with a full time job. So the more you guys help out and put up articles you find, the easier it is for me, and the more information everyone who visits the site gets. Also, go ahead and use the FanPosts as a message board. That's really all it is. It will work better once we get more than just our regular handful of guys.
I hope you are enjoying the new site. It's got pretty much everything you could possible need on the Saints. I noticed a couple of people voted that they would rather have the old site back. Unfortunately, thats not really possible, but I would like to know what they don't like about this one so that maybe we can address it. Also, please don't be afraid to report any bugs that you notice. This system isn't perfect yet, trust me, but with your help we can tweak it to make it awesome. And again, I am always accepting ideas, comments and questions, so let em fly!
That said, let's get down to business...
The Sun-Herald had two articles today. The first one was there review of the draft this weekend. They basically say that this years draft was very active and contained the most trades in any one draft in history. And we started and ended it all...
The first player to inspire a move up was defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, whom New Orleans moved up from No. 10 to take seventh overall. One day, almost 14 hours and 32 deals later, the Saints made the draft's last deal, too, moving up to take Michigan wide receiver Adrian Arrington with the 237th pick.
The other article from the Sun-Herald discusses how happy Payton and Loomis were following their picks in the draft. They were happy!
Current Saints coach Sean Payton said his gleaming grin following the 2008 Draft was legit.
I think they have reason to be happy. I think they did a good job.
A couple of players drafted in the late rounds don't fit the Saints' typical player mold as Nebraska tackle/guard Carl Nicks and Michigan wide receiver Adrian Arrington both come to New Orleans with questionable character issues.
Loomis said the team discussed those flaws with both players leading up to their selection and felt confident Nicks and Arrington put both of those things behind.
By now we have read up on what these two players were in trouble for, and I really don't think either of them are that big of a deal. Non of it is Pacman Jones stuff. I mean, Nicks was in trouble for staying at a party that got broken up. If that is a serious concern, I wouldn't be able to play Pop Warner football let alone NFL football!
An article from The Fanhouse discusses the whole Jammal Brown trade rumor. I think it was pretty obvious that at this point, that would probably have been a dumb trade, and Sean Payton says it was never true, and I believe him.
I read a little bit of that, but you'll go crazy trying to pay attention to all of it. There was no interest on our part in trading him."
We do know that Jammal Brown has got some bad knees and they are very uncertain. The article makes a good point about that...
But here's the truth -- Brown's knees have long-term uncertainty, he'll be looking for a big deal soon, and the team has stockpiled offensive tackles for what I believe are reasons that extend beyond the fact that it's good practice to build depth there. It might not be this year, but I don't think Brown is long for New Orleans.
Lets keep him while he's still got something left in the tank, then pawn him off on some desperate and unsuspecting team in a completely unequal and unfair trade!
The last two articles talk about a couple of our free agent pick-ups following the draft. The Times-Pic informs us about Jeremy Geathers, son of former Saint James "Jumpy" Geathers. Here is the article.
Jumpy Geathers was the Saints' first pick in the 1984 draft, in the second round, out of Wichita State. Jeremy Geathers, who was born in New Orleans, played defensive end at Nevada-Las Vegas... "(New Orleans) is where my dad made his name and had so many of his best years," Jeremy Geathers told The Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun News. "I was kind of praying for that (to be drafted by the Saints). I lost out at first, but I won ultimately. I feel like it is home. I would love to go play for the fans for New Orleans."
For LSU fans, The Advocate has a little blurb about LB Luke Sanders being picked up by the Saints as well.
The Saints will announce their free agent signings when all players are under contract. Here is the complete list of undrafted free agents we have picked up since the draft. You can check it out for yourself and keep tabs on it, as it gets updated regularly. The funniest thing...we got P Waylon Prather, the guy I joked about us getting via Kenny Chesney is my Mock Mock Draft. See people, you really should listen to me!
OG Nate McManus, Georgia Tech
C Kevin Tuminello, Georgia Tech
SS Rocky Schwartz, Houston
OT Akim Millington, Illinois
WR Todd Blythe, Iowa State
OLB Luke Sanders, LSU
LS Ryan Senser, Ohio
FB Olaniyi Sobomehin, Portland State
P Waylon Prather, San Jose State
QB T.C. Ostrander, Stanford
FS David Roach, TCU
DE Jeremy Geathers, UNLV
OT Jason Boone, Utah OT Gerald Davis, Valdosta State