Jimmy Smith answered live questions today on NOLA.com's live blog. I was gonna copy it here but it was so long, i just said forget it. I will post some excerpts of some of the better questions though and give my thoughts on them. For the entire chat, just click the link. All spelling and grammatical errors are theirs, not mine.
[Comment From Guest]
what do you expect Duece's impact to be this year? He's older, recovering from inury, etc. Can he still be a part of a threatening 1-2 punch with Reggie?timespicayune -
JIMMY SMITH: No one will work harder on his rehabilitation than Deuce McAllister. But it’s going to be difficult to come back from two surgeries, one on each knee. The microfracture procedure, just recently revealed, is the more troubling of the two. Ordinarily, those could take up to a year from which to fully recover. He’ll be OK from the ACL because he’s had so long to recover. The next few weeks, perhaps six or so, will be crucial to see just how far he has come back from the injuries.
I'm not a doctor, so I couldn't tell you if he's going to be fine. What I can tell you is that the person's question SHOULD have been phrased, "Can REGGIE be a part of the 1-2 punch with DEUCE?" I believe Jimmy Smith is refering to this article in this answer about the microfracture procedure.
[Comment From Noel Anderson]
Do you think that since our def. secondary has added depth between this off season season and last, there is a chance we will trade up to get either Ellis or Dorsey or maybe even Mcfadden?timespicayune -
JIMMY SMITH: Well, Noel, you have to ask yourself about that depth first, and Jason David’s future. Speaking with Sean Payton last week at the owner’s meeting, I get the feeling he’s still committed to Jason David as a cornerback, despite his troubles last season. That being said, it’s awfully hard to see David as a starter again in 2008. Can he be a quality backup as a nickel back? Based on last year, it’s tough to say. Aaron Glenn is up in age and Mike McKenzie is coming off late-season ACL surgery. That leaves Jason Craft as a backup as well. So even though there’s some depth there, the quality of that depth is still unknown until it hits the field. If the Saints stay where they are, they should still get a good defensive lineman if that’s where they choose to spend the pick.
UGH!!! If I have to sit through another 16 games watching Jason David get lit up, I'm giving up my season tickets. (I would never do that)
I hope I eat my words, but give it up Payton!
[Comment From Jeff]
The Saints made some moves on defense again this year. Did they improve themselves? What positions are they likely looking for a starter in the draft?timespicayune -
JIMMY SMITH: Look back to last year, Jeff, and ask yourself if you thought the Saints improved themselves with their 2007 free-agent signings. You’ll probably say they did. Sean Payton admitted last week that Brian Simmons was a mistake. He still defends the signing of Jason David, though David’s performance was certainly sub-par. Kevin Kaesviharn began to get on the field more as the season went along. Of those major defensive additions, Kaesviharn was the most positive. All that’s a roundabout way of saying we just won’t know if the Saints have improved themselves defensively until games are played. Certainly on paper, you’ve got to like what they’ve done, even though getting Jonathan Vilma is recovering from knee surgery. The Saints aren’t giving up much for him, though, so it’s a low-risk deal. When healthy, Dan Morgan is a solid player. Bobby McCray should be a positive depth addition the way the Saints like to rotate defensive linemen. We’ll know more in December.
Wait! What!? What did he just say? Improved their defense with their 2007 free-agent signings? Is that a typo? What!? I am having that same reaction as Jim Mora on those cleverly edited press conference Coors Light Commercials. "PLAYOFFS!?"
Seriously though, we got worse. Check Football Outsiders. Our defense went from 19th in the league in 2006 to 27th in 2007. The only improvement Smith even mentions while answering that question is Kaesviharn, so I have NO idea why he said we improved ourselves.
"PLAYOFFS!?"
[Comment From shank]
Do you think the saints should trade for Lito Shepperd?timespicayune - JIMMY SMITH: A player such as Lito Shepperd is certainly attractive if the price is right. He's a solid player and defender. I'm of the opinion that you can never have enough good cornerbacks, and after seeing the cornerback play Saints fans saw last season, adding a player with Shepperd's ability would be a plus. If, of course, the price is right.
This is an idea that I wouldn't mind see happening. Allow myself to cite...myself. I wrote this on my old blog. Toward the bottom.
[Comment From Dexter]
How much of an impact do you think Bush working out with the team and doing our workouts vs his own free flo doe plan?timespicayune - JIMMY SMITH: Well, Dexter, with Bush hanging around in the offseason it will certainly win him some points with his teammates, some of whom were somewhat put off by his decision last year to train in Southern California in the offseason, I don't think players will be as upset with Will Smith, say, who's sitting out the offseason conditioning program in a contract dispute. Smith's absence will be accepted because of his good soldier stance last year, and the fact that he's played at a Pro Bowl level. Bush hadn't done that yet, so he was really in no position to make such a decision last year. Being around in the offseason this year will go a long way to proving he's committed to winning, and being a good teammate.
Will the Saints trade for Shockey ?
timespicayune - JIMMY SMITH: Thomas, the Saints have quite a few tight ends on the roster right now. But there seems to be some unhappiness on Shockey’s part in New York, perhaps to the point that he won’t play there again. If the price is right, and the deal can be negotiated, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Shockey’s name on the back of a black-and-gold jersey this season.
I put these two questions together because I found this article today at The Fanhouse which talks about both. Sorta.
Apparantly, Reggie is a friend of Snoop Dogg and was hanging around his trailer. Seems like Reggie REALLY has his head in the game this offseason.(Insert pot-related joke here). There were too many different directions I could have gone with that one, so I will let you make your own. Feel free to post them in the comments section.
As for Shockey, I really thought these rumors were a load of BS when I first got wind of them, but they don't die, they multiply. (Gremlins?) And actually, the idea of it is starting to grow on me. At first I didn't want a loud mouth cry baby on the team and I didn't think Coach Payton would go for that either. But the more I think about it, it would be awesome if Bree's had a go-to tight end like Shockey. That would be a great addition to our receiving weapons. Say what you will, but Shockey leaves it all out there. And, if you compare him to say...anyone on the Bengals, he's a nun.
Jimmy Smith covered a lot more. He said McKenzie could possibly be ready to go by July. Matt Forte is a possible draft pick, Colston should get paid after the team gets jiggy with Will Smith and says he doesn't think the team will go with a CB in the first round and that he would choose Keith Rivers.
Anyway, thats all from me for now. Hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment. And by the way, I hope you are starting to get a feel for my style and whatnot. If you would like to give me any feedback, that would be great also. Once participation gets up a bit, I can take questions from you guys, and get them answered by some NFL expert. Anyway, I am gonna spend more time messing around with the layout and html stuff tonight so I can start putting up pictures and such to spice this bad boy up. If the entire SB Nation site goes down, it was probably because of me. Sorry.