My New Orleans Saints "End of Preseason" Rant
I have been paying very close attention to the Saints websites, blogs, forums and discussion groups in the last few weeks. I've been stuck at home during the Labor Day Weekend. And after looking at them, and after evaluating the Saints' roster decisions, I had some takes of my own. Since I have this forum, I will take some time to bring them up. The first two are addressed to my fellow Saints fans, and the other two are addressed to the front office.
1. PLEASE STOP TELLING THE SAINTS THAT THEY NEED TO SIGN (INSERT LSU/TULANE PLAYER HERE). I appreciate that you are loyal to the home team, but that's not the way the NFL works. We don't need to sign Rohan Davey, Matt Mauck or Shaun King as our third string quarterback. The Saints are not idiots because they did not sign Chad Lavalais the day after the Falcons released him. Reports I've seen say that he's fat and out of shape. Sounds like Jonathan Sullivan to me. Would the Saints be better if they had Travis Daniels, Michael Clayton and Marcus Spears? Of course. But you shouldn't just draft one for the sake of drafting one. The Colts didn't become dominant because they drafted players from Indiana schools. The Patriots didn't pick everyone they could get from Boston College. Actually, they became good by drafting a bunch of New Orleanians and LSU players. But that doesn't mean that I'm wrong. We were all pissed off because we drafted Jahri Evans and Marques Colston--two non Division I players we never heard of. But I don't think we could have done as well if we would have drafted Nate Livings and Bennie Brazell instead.
And for every Dalton Hilliard, Eric Martin and Michael Lewis you can throw out, I can throw out a Michael Haynes, Michael Mayes and Devery Henderson.
2. MIKE HASS PROBABLY WON'T BECOME ANOTHER JAKE DELHOMME. I don't understand why so many people are angry about his release. These people are angrier about losing him than they are about losing Darren Howard, LeCharles Bentley or anyone else. I have my theories about why people are mad, but I'll stick to the safest one. I appreciate that he has heart and character. I appreciate that he catches everything that is thrown to him. I appreciate that he was one of college football's most productive WRs. I also appreciate that America is caught up in Cinderella stories because Disney just made a movie about an underdog wide receiver. But he's probably too small and too slow. And you can't say that Jamal Jones, Marques Colston and Lance Moore didn't earn their spots on the team. We've had college superstars before. Remember when Danny Wuerffel and Troy Davis were the future of the Saints? How did that one work out for you?
3. THE SAINTS ARE GOING TO PICK UP SOME LINEBACKERS...RIGHT? I don't want to be a hypocrite. I don't want to say that fans can't complain and then complain. But it is common knowledge that a team needs more than 5 linebackers. Especially one that may want to switch to the 3-4 in the future. What happens when one of the guys gets hurt? Who is going to contribute on special teams? I trust that something is coming, even if it isn't Donnie Edwards.
4. DON'T TURN THIS TEAM INTO THE NEW ORLEANS COWBOYS. I appreciate that the coaching staff was in Dallas last year. These guys might be more familiar with the Saints' new system than the holdovers were. But don't just make the Saints a team full of Cowboys' rejects. Like this Terrence Copper thing. If you wanted a so-called offensive player who can't play a lick of offense but is a monster on special teams, we already had one of those on the team. His name was Fred McAfee. And don't get Ashley Morris started on this topic either. Bum Phillips already did this to us once. He dumped all of our talent in favor of washed-up ex-Oilers like Ken Stabler, Earl Campbell and Leon Gray. I hope this isn't repeating itself.
But enough about the talk. It's finally time for some football on the field! Six days and counting...
TAGS: Katrina, New Orleans, NOLA, New Orleans Saints, Saints, NFL, Preseason
posted by Commish @ 2:09 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Good point with the painful Bum references and the Parcells nightmare.
I'm not worried about Hass becoming another Delhomme. And he isn't that fast. But who would you rather have, Keyshawn, or Wayne Chrebet? He's just a little too much like Biletnikoff.
And the only thing about having someone like Shaun King as a QB is that he's proven he can handle living in New Orleans. He won't be another Chuck Muncie or Kerry Collins.
The O. A. Phillips references scare me.
The Copper signing makes me think that he's a piner.
I appreciate your comments, Ashley.
Your column was a partial inspiration for #4. The first 2 weren't really reactions to you.
I think Hass could have made the team too. I had him projected to make the team. But these guys who truly believe that he was the second-best receiver on the team aren't grounded in reality. He would have been a nice third-down option, but I didn't see him doing much else.
And I just can't read the forums or listen to WWL anymore. I can't stand seeing and hearing comments from some of these people. They call in and make comments like "I don't see why we don't trade for Peyton Manning." Yeah, like it's that easy. Aaron Brooks and a first round draft pick should do the trick...
These people make me want to drive off the road.
I actually called in WWL one day, and spoke to Hebert. When we signed Fife, I mentioned that he had no intercepts his entire senior year. I called him the "Anti-Brooks".
Hokie and Bobby seemed to think that it was some kind of Superman reference, which was also cool.
I still think that guys like Kerry Collins should have to pay the Saints back part of their salary, post-Saints. You could have rehabbed when you were here, guys.
The WWW folks aren't always grounded in reality. Trading for Peyton, yeah, right. Maybe for Deuce, Reggie, and Drew. But then, why would he come?
My guess is that, after the first game, "coach" will get the pernt and sign Freddie Mac. I think that McPherson will file some kind of grievance and be back in the league by week 8, and that the Colts will resign Shaun King (due to the veterans clause) after the first game.
So, I've been out of the loop a few days here but it seems like we only have 2 quarterbacks and one of them could pop an arm out any second. Does this seem a little crazy to anyone besides me?
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