NFC South
An Early Look: New Orleans Saints
By Vincent Thomas
Apr 14, 2008, 23:01

What happened to the surprise club of ’06, that went to the Conference championship game and was one game from the “big dance”. Sean Payton and Drew Brees tried their best to return to the season that was, but several things kept the Cinderella team from returning to “the ball”. There were several areas of weakness that caused the Saints to fall from grace. We’ll take a look at some of the areas that the team has, and may address leading up to the NFL draft in their attempt to recapture glory.

Let’s take a look at the offense first. The lost of RB Deuce McAllister destroyed the Saints’ running game. Reggie Bush found it difficult to find room in between the tackles, and many teams spied him all game long. Then he eventually had an injury of his own. The team then had to turn to veteran Aaron Stecker. He was decent at times, but not the electricity that New Orleans needed. The team decided to see what un-drafted rookie RB Pierre Thomas (that beat out 4th rd RB Antonio Pittman), could do during the last game. Thomas showed real ability in the backfield, and flashed some Bush qualities. Thomas could find himself a role in ’08 backing up Deuce or starting for him at season’s start, if Deuce is not fully healed from his injuries. Thomas was more efficient at running in between the tackles than Bush, and could allow Bush to be left in a more utility type role where he had most of his success as a rookie. I see no need to address this area in the draft unless best player available was a running back in the late rounds.

Another area that lacked the ’06 explosion was the WR core. Horn was released, Colston started off slowly, Henderson/Copper never developed into the wr that they needed, and 1st round rookie Meachem could never make it onto the field. The Saints were scrambling to find a compliment to Colston, as the running game was suffering; they needed to shore up a porous passing game. At times, with Lance Moore, Devery Henderson, and David Patten stepping up to the plate late, the passing game began to take shape. Colston proved last season to be the real deal. The team has re-signed Patten, and he is penciled in as the 2nd receiver. The release of Copper has re-signed Henderson and Meachem battling for the 3rd slot, and hopes of Meachem slowly being groomed for the 2nd position. If the injury bug doesn’t strike, and they get off to a good start, this squad could be what the team envisioned it could be in ’07. No need to address the position in the draft, but a deep pool may have them take a look late.

The team lost Jeff Faine this off-season and that hurt. OG/C Matt Lehr bought in to back up two positions was suspended last season four games for illegal substance abuse. His name was recently mentioned in another investigation, so things aren’t looking too bright in that area.

On to the defensive side of the ball, where the Saints changed things up a bit. In the line backing core, veterans Jonathan Vilma and Dan Morgan were added to the core. If Vilma and Morgan can return to form from injuries, the team will have a definite improvement in that area, and shore up a mediocre run stop attack. The team also retained the services of Mark Simoneau, and released unproductive Brian Simmons. The team may look to get younger in that area late 1st day or early 2nd day of the draft.

One more area of concern would be in the secondary. The team was getting beat consistently down field, so Randall Gay and Aaron Glenn were brought in to improve this area. Hopefully first day pick Usama Young can improve on his play from last year. The team could easily go high in this years draft in hopes of finding another player for competition for the starting positions.

I will be back after the draft to analyze the Saints movements and picks.

EFSports Fantasy Football