The Higher The Hope, The Harder It Falls (Thus Far)
Being a Saints fan has to be one of the most frustrating things in all of pro sports. You are from Louisiana; they are the Saints…you have no choice. Dammit, you have no choice. You watched them trade draft picks to Dallas for Steve Walsh, you watched them grow great defensive players and then promptly trade them once their salaries got too expensive, you watched them trade seeming nobodies who quickly became somebodies on other teams (Bobby Hebert, I’m looking mostly at you), and you’ve watched them somehow manage to beat some pretty good teams during the regular season only to turn around and get facialed by the 2-10 Browns the next week. The uncertainty killed you, but it’s also what made the Saints the Saints. I can’t think of another fan base in any pro sport that has gotten so much morose pleasure out of being shitty. Remember the paper bags over the heads with “Aint’s” written across? The fans were pleased with their own creativity, which at least tried to offset the INCREDIBLE lack of creativity in Jim Mora’s offense. But that was I different era. I’ll move on.
Sean Payton runs the show now, and I am a huge fan of his coaching style. I think he could make ANY college or pro offense better, and I really hope he sticks around NOLA for a while. I’m going to list some new Saints whom I think will prove Payton’s drafting genius (and rookie free agent signing genius) even more, and hopefully we’ll have a couple more Marques Colstons to prove it.
1) The first one isn’t a draft pick, but a possible gem Sean Payton plucked out of nowhere: WR Paris Warren, who was destined for a spot on Tampa’s roster in 2007 until he dislocated his left ankle making a game-winning touchdown catch in the last preseason game of that year. I have no idea where he’s been or what he’s been doing since then (he hasn’t been on any NFL rosters), but I trust Payton on this one. Like I’ve said before, I think he has an incredible eye for obscure receivers, and Warren could very well be the next Lance Moore for the Saints: a “who is that anonymous player and how did he just do that to us?” type of guy. But even if at best he’s a 3rd or 4th option receiver, I’m happy with this, once again mostly because of Sean Payton’s eye for offensive potential. If he fails, the Saints aren’t out much, and should be fine. If he succeeds? Wow. Who knows?
2) Okay, so this one also isn’t a draft pick, nor is he a Saint at the time of this writing, but there have been heavy rumors of the Saints trying to get Edgerrin James. I really hope this goes through. James could be had for a fair price and he’s only in his 10th year; he could give Reggie Bush invaluable advice and tips, and give the Saints a potent backfield duo (or trio or quatro; more on that later) where he wouldn’t have to carry the bulk of the rushing attempts. The Saints released Deuce McAlister, a running back of similar age, but Deuce had a bigger history of health problems. James could be just the Edge the Saints backfield needs (Horrible pun, sorry).
3) First round pick Malcolm Jenkins. Okay, let me go ahead and say that one of the things I love the most about him is that he’s from Ohio State, and will now have to play home games in the same Superdome where his team was humiliated 38-24 by LSU in the 2007 National Championship Game. Hee-hee. Anyway, he played CB in college but some think he may be better suited to FS at the pro level. At 6’0”, 204 he ran a 4.51 40 at the scouting combine, a bit slow for an NFL cornerback, but I like his intangibles and game IQ. I think he can give the Saints desperately needed help in the secondary. If he doesn’t produce immediately, there’s no worry. This kid may need 2-3 years to show folks how good he really is, but he’s one worth developing for the Saints.
4) Signing DE Anthony Hargrove DE 6-3 272 He’s only 25, and has already violated the league’s substance abuse policy three times (who amongst us hasn’t?), but is mostly needed as insurance against possible 4 game suspensions for Will Smith and Charles Grant. Anyway, all Hargrove has to do is stay off the junk for four games into the season, which shouldn’t be hard at all in that bastion of morality known as New Orleans. If he can resist temptations beyond that four game stretch, he could really contribute to this team, probably in more ways that we can see now.
5) This is a 3-for -1 special, just like on Bourbon Street. Two fourth round picks and a fifth round kicker. First is S Chip Vaughn (Chip? Really?), a Strong Safety out of Wake Forest. He could either be a journeyman or a breakout player, only time will tell, but he certainly won’t hurt the Saints secondary. He’s 6’1”, 221 and runs the 40 in 4.51 seconds, not bad at all for a Strong Safety. Second is ILB Stanley Arnoux, also out of Wake Forest. He was a four year starter there, and has 251 career tackles. He can fill a gap in the middle for short periods but probably won’t be that noteworthy, but once again, any increase in talent in the Saints defense is welcome (Arnoux ruptured his Achilles tendon in minicamp, so we may not see his brilliance til next season. Third is the Punter they drafted, Thomas Morstead out of Southern Meth. A good directional punter, he also has a lot of place-kicking experience and could be groomed in that direction as well.
6) A really nice looking rookie free agent class for the Saints. There is so much talent at the college level that some gems remain undrafted even though teams have an eye on them. It appears the Saints snatched some really nice ones up, the two standouts both being from Wisconsin (say cheese). The most obvious is Linebacker Jonathan Casillas, a three-year starter, captain his final two seasons with very respectable numbers. He has the potential at least to be a solid backup, possibly more. The second undrafted Wisconsian the Saints got really excites me. P.J. Hill, (5-11, 236) RB. He gained over a thousand yards each of his first three seasons, averaging 5.1 yds a carry with 42 TDs and also 39 receptions for another 358 yards and two TDs. He could provide an unexpected offensive boost, and also be a bargain considering the rich running back class this year. They also added another possible role playing receiver with Kenneth Harris out of Georgia. They added a layer to their offensive line with Cedrick Dockery (G, TX), Alex Fletcher (C, Stanford), and Sam McNaulty (T, Clark-Atlanta). It would be great if even one of these guys makes it, but two could come up given time to mature. They also added two more cornerbacks in Danny Gorrer out of TX A&M and Reggie Jones from Portland State, and it would be nice if at least one of them could show something. They also snatched UCLA QB Patrick Cowan, who could be nice to groom as a Brees protégé or as a trade chip.
So all in all, things look quite promising for the Saints, but they did last year as well. I really think they’ll get it together more on defense this year, and I think their potent offense will just get better, especially if they get Edgerrin James. We’ll see; there’s definitely no clear favorite in the NFL yet, and probably won’t be even through December and maybe January. But the Saints are licking their chops and hoping to crash the party this year, and people in Louisiana have reason to be optimistic.
Good luck!
Keith A. Trussell
Keywords: New Orleans Saints
