No Debate: Which Saint Performed 'Against All Odds' in 2012?

The folks running Gillette's No Debate Facebook Page have come up with a doozy for this week's um, debate. (But Hans, can it really be a debate if they're calling the series "No Debate"? Sounds like they don't want a debate at all. Yeah, I guess we can just debate that, too.)

Which player has performed against all the odds this season?

As I did with my last No Debate post, I'm pulling it in to focus just on the Saints. During a 2012 season in which the Ginger Hammer stacked the odds against THE ENTIRE SAINTS FRANCHISE, you could make the case that the entire team deserves this honor, but let's take a look at some individual player candidates.

Jonathan Vilma - He was assailed as a ringleader and evil purveyor of the Bountyfarce by Goodell starting way back in March, won his appeal of a season-long suspension this Fall, and continues his defamation of character legal battle with the Commish to this day. In January, he underwent an experimental procedure on his knee in Germany to clear up an injury he sustained in September of 2011, and through all this, he still managed to play during the season, albeit a limited role, but even contributing a "fool's gold" Pick-6 that gave me hope the Saints might actually win the final game of the season.

Drew Brees - Hans, don't even start with this crap. That pretty boy overprotected and overpaid quarterback is a rich fat cat who gets treated like the King of Carnival in New Orleans six days a week and twice on Sundays. No way did he perform 'against all the odds' this season. Hans, you ignorant slut. Brees faced some serious odds: his wife had their third baby this year and "B" names are really hard to find and then choose between. All those commercials he filmed for the NFL, Nyquill, Pepsi (imagine all those SINGING LESSONS he took), and the D-Day museum didn't film themselves. His head coach got taken from him in April and EVERYONE counted on him to make up the coaching void all by himself both on the field, in the locker room, and on the sidelines, and don't even get me started on the long Jimmy Johns franchise odds he hurdled.

The Right Tackle Position - Holy Crap was this position jinxed this year, or what? It's almost as if someone put a bounty on it or something!! It didn't matter who they lined up at the right tackle spot in 2012, but it was never long before the guy would get injured. Zach Strief - groin issues starting in November - BAM! Next up was Charles Brown (still recovering from his 2011 hip flexor injury in mini-camp this year), who came in for Strief against the Eagles, and started against the Falcons and Raiders before hurting his knee in Oakland and eventually ending up on the injured reserve list in December. That led to undrafted rookie Bryce Harris getting the call, and he lasted for just part of two games at RT before breaking his leg against the 49ers. This paved the way for the Lost in Space jokes to roll out with the installment of rookie Will Robinson into the lineup for the second Falcons game, and although healthy, he stepped aside for Strief's return against the Giants.

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So there are my semi-serious candidates for this No Debate honor. Let's go ahead and (no) debate them and more in the comment section...bring your best game, people!!