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Saints Pulse
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Saints Draft and Moves Recap |
Saints Draft and Moves Recap
Draft Recap
The 2006 SFL Draft was a unique draft for us. We have never had a pick as high as 1.02, and we were kind of excited from the value that would bring. Unfortunately the draft class did not provide enough prospects that were worth trading up for, and we received absolutely Zero offers from other GMs looking to trade up, save it be from Commissioner William Cook, who tried to woo the pick away from us with promises of sexual favors. Needless to say, he came up short, in obtaining the second overall pick from us.
Despite not being to unload 1.02 for some extra picks in the draft, we were not upset about it. D'Brickshaw Ferguson was a worthy pick, and our Offensive Line needed the boost anyways. Our biggest concern though was that we had another position of need, and we had our sights set on a specific player, and were concerned we might not get him. After working out some details, we were able to strike a deal with Eagle?s GM Breck for pick 1.21, and not a moment too soon.
1.01 ? OT D?Brickshaw Ferguson, Virginia
Scouted ? 60 SPD, 93 STR, 68 AWR, 73 AGI, 74 ACC, 87 PBK, 88 RBK, 71 STA, 90 INJ
Private ? 60 SPD, 93 STR, 70 AWR, 73 AGI, 77 ACC, 87 PBK, 88 RBK
Actual ? 60 SPD, 93 STR, 70 AWR, 73 AGI, 77 ACC, 88 PBK, 87 RBK, 75 STA, 90 INJ
As we said before, our Offensive Line has needed some additional help, and we?ve been working on it for a couple seasons now. Kyle Turley has been the backbone of our lineman corps for many seasons now, but lately he hasn?t been able to carry the weight all by himself.
LeCharles Bentley has been super sold holding down the Center position for us, but finally last year we drafted OT Marcus Johnson and OG Dan Buenning in the first 2 rounds. Both have added much needed help in rounding out the O-Line, but now we are about to finalize our O-Line for the foreseeable future. D?Brickshaw Ferguson was drafted to move over to Right Tackle, and allow Kyle Turley to take a break at Right Guard. Ferguson is an athletic freak, and should be able to better handle the increasing talent in the SFL at Left Defensive End. Ferguson also comes game-ready, as a top-5 pick should, and is expected to start from day 1.
His scouting line already looked good, but when we saw his private workout, we knew he was a solid pick. He really didn?t need a good skew to still be considered a good choice, but to see that none of his stats skewed downward, including his 60 SPD, we were excited to bring him in.
Furthermore, he must have been having an off day during the combine, because what we saw in the private workout in regards to his acceleration, we saw him go-go-go, and nothing stopped him. He will most definitely be a long-time Saint.
1.02 ? MLB Stephen Tulloch, N.C. State
Scouted ? 85 SPD, 80 STR, 69 AWR, 78 AGI, 85 ACC, 57 CTH, 84 TAK, 85 STA, 89 INJ
Private ? 85 SPD, 82 STR, 67 AWR, 81 AGI, 86 ACC, 58 CTH, 84 TAK, 89 STA, 89 INJ
Actual ? 85 SPD, 82 STR, 67 AWR, 82 AGI, 86 ACC, 57 CTH, 84 TAK, 87 STA, 89 INJ
Again with the working on team-needs, we toyed with the idea of going 3-4 on our defense to help us stop the run. For this, we needed a solid pair of Middle Linebackers, and we had none. We were able to trade for Dan Morgan from the Green Bay Packers, he fit what we were looking for very well, but definitely came at a cost. After getting injured long term last season, Jake Delhomme was questioning his tenure in New Orleans, and while we were sad to see him go, it was hard to hold him back if he wanted a change of scenery. After acquiring Morgan, we needed a second to pair along side him. We contemplated striking a deal with Minnesota for E.J. Henderson, but we decided to look at the draft instead, and we?re glad we did.
When we ran a private workout for the top prospects at Middle Linebacker, Stephen Tulloch outperformed the rest of the class, and even some of the potential trade targets we scouted. We knew other names were being dropped by other teams, and thought that because of his height that Tulloch might drop in the draft, and we were right. We thought we might be able to grab him in the 12-15th pick range, but couldn?t find a way to get into that range. When he continued to drop even further, we went after him, trading away our future first rounder to get him. Some others expressed some concern over this, but no one seemed to understand what we understood about Tulloch, he was a far better talent then what his draft stock showed. Tulloch and Morgan should make quite a problem for other hoping to continue the run against us.
1.03 ? HB DeAngelo Williams, Memphis
Scouted ? 91 SPD, 65 STR, 58 AWR, 93 AGI, 93 ACC, 66 CTH, 76 CAR, 83 BTK, 90 STA, 79 INJ
Private ? 89 SPD, 68 STR, 57 AWR, 93 AGI, 91 ACC, 69 CTH, 74 CAR, 79 BTK, 91 STA, 76 INJ
Actual ? 89 SPD, 69 STR, 57 AWR, 93 AGI, 91 ACC, 70 CTH, 74 CAR, 80 BTK, 93 STA, 76 INJ
After landing our top 2 prospects in the first round, we managed to save our second rounder with the intention of taking the best player left on our board. We had already addressed our needs, this was just for added depth and playability. Come to find out, by the time 2.18 came around, we were pleasantly surprised to find that our top halfback was still on the board! This was a very weak class in regards to the backfield. Fullback Vickers ended up off the board before any halfback was drafted, but to find that not a single halfback had been drafted yet, we were astounded. DeAngelo Williams isn?t necessarily a game changer, but he possesses all the skills necessary to make an argument for a starting position SOMEWHERE. For us, he?ll be a great change of pace back for Deuce. After we scouted him, it looks like he addressed one of our main concerns, his low STR. He has packed on a little more muscle to help boost it up a little, but at the cost of losing a little quickness. Luckily, after some rookie and maybe sophomore progression, he?ll be a solid back all around.
Trades Recap
After all the dust has settled, I?d like to weigh our roster from before and after the draft. We have seen other GMs get really in-depth in regards to their trades or signings, but I will try to keep it light while analyzing each move. What ultimately matters to me is ?was it worth it??
Trade ? Miami Dolphins
2.02 & 4.02 for CB DeAngelo Hall
This trade was definitely worth it for us. DeAngelo is a bit on the short side by most GM?s calculations, but I feel that I can work with it in this case. His elite levels of athleticism combined with his high AWR and CTH, means he will likely be starting opposite CB Brian Kelly. He?s young and still has 2 years on his rookie contract. Anytime you can land former first round talent without having to give up a first round pick, it was worth it.
Trade ? Green Bay Packers
QB Jake Delhomme for MLB Dan Morgan & 2.18 (HB DeAngelo Williams)
Another trade that I would say was worth it. We needed to finally solidify the middle of our defensive backfield, and Dan Morgan looks to be a veteran presence worthy of a first round pick. He is at the end of his contract, but we will have the leniency to restructure him and lock him in long-term. Delhomme definitely was a steep price to pay, but getting a pick in addition to Morgan that eventually ended up in HB DeAngelo Williams, I would say the margin is a little closer, but still worth it.
Trade ? St. Louis Rams
CB Reynaldo Hill for 3.19
Well worth it. CB Reynaldo Hill was a solid talent, and added good depth. His intelligence level as a rookie was off the charts, but his athleticism wasn?t enough to land him a starting job in a secondary littered with mediocre talent. Trading him out for a third round pick that would eventually be used to leverage a second first round pick this year.
Trade ? Philadelphia Eagles
Future First, 3.02, & 3.19 (CB Reynaldo Hill) for 1.21 (MLB Stephen Tulloch)
Worth it! This one might be more controversial for other GMs, but it was well worth it for me. Tulloch will end up being one of the most gifted Middle Linebackers in the league. Hopefully that lends itself to meaning high levels of production for us.
As for the value we gave up, to keep it simple, drafting Tulloch anywhere in the first round next year would have been great. We viewed him as top-10 talent, so giving up the first was easy. Adding in 3.02, there really wasn?t much left on the board that we valued by that point, and didn?t need any more positions filled. And 3.19, the same goes for it in draft value, and Reynaldo hill was also inconsequential to us. So it really was well freaking worth it. |
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Forum Discussion
(by N_Jones on 09/17/2020)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 18 |
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The Time Has Come |
The time has come for the Saints to finally live up to their potential. In the inaugural season of the Smashmouth Football League, the Saints rolled their way to a 10-6 season and a division title with a playoff berth. Ever since then, it has been a downward spiral.
I want to take an in-depth look at the numbers to see if we can identify anything that might have been the cause, or give some insight into how we can right the ship.
In 2002 as said before, we had an impressive 10-6 season. The numbers looked really good, but we?ll dive into them in a second. We had a lot of young rough players, but there was obvious talent lurking within our depth chart, and many of those players are still on our roster and have developed into bonafide studs.
Now for the numbers:
I don?t have a lot of experience to really say whether the numbers show a good season or not, but the 2002 numbers look good to me. With a young Jake Delhomme leading the team, we managed to average 345 yards a game in total offense, but leaned heavily on our run game and pulled off nearly 140 yards a game. This also showed in out 3 down back Deuce McAllister, who hit 1592 yards that season. Teams didn?t seem to have an answer for his run game.
Another high point of the season was our time of possession. We managed to average over 24 minutes while holding our opponents to under 21 minutes. It?s a small thing, but given our good record was split by such a small margin of points, keeping our opponents off the field those few minutes might have been the deciding factor.
2003, our second season, might be the most disappointing, only reaching a dismal 6-10 record. Expectations were high, as we were able to keep the same main core of players, but they just did not live up to the hype or their potential. We saw a significant drop in our points for, and the exact opposite in points against. But why?
Our time of possession dropped several minutes, and our sacks went from 38 down to 23. Our defense did not have the effectiveness of the previous season, and it showed in our opponents? running games. We actually cut down the average passing yardage from 253 ypg to 237 ypg, but the rushing jumped from 86 ypg to 102 ypg. The total yards per game stayed relatively the same, but the added ground yardage would account for more control of the clock. Our defense also only had 16 interceptions, down from 28, and 9 fumble recoveries down from 11, from the previous season, despite spending more time on the field. I don?t have a definitely answer for this, but it could be due to the banning of the Rams play book, which was regarded as the top passing play book. If that is the case, then total offense staying the same, probably actually would have been an increase, which is not good.
Summation: Our run defense needed some improvement, and our offensive line needed to be bolstered to help our run game and inexperienced quarterback.
2004 did see some improvement for us, despite another dismal record. Our offense pushed our total offense per game back up 333 yards a game, and averaged 22.8 ppg. Our defense however, allowed a huge increase to our opponents? running game, and essentially stood around and watched our opponents running game jump from 102 ypg to 135 ypg. At the same time we increased our total sacks from 23 back up to 34, so I?m not sure how that figures.
One more significant point from looking at the numbers, we have had roughly the same amount of penalties, but the penalties we committed this season racked up an additional 93 yards and broke the 500 mark.
Summation: Clearly any improvements we made from the previous season were not to our run defense, so we still need to address that. We also need to increase the quality of our front line, and bring in higher awareness players to help avoid taking too many penalties.
Now we hit the most intriguing year, 2005, and I?m dumbfounded at how much we dropped off. We were touted to have a better year, even fight for our division, and then tragedy struck, and we ended up with the lowest total offense. Delhomme went down in game 1 and was out for the majority of the season. We ended up having to start rookie David Greene. Because of this, we tried other players out at different positions in our offense, and really pushed a lot of them to show just exactly what we had. I didn?t expect great things at that point, but we worked our way to an 0-11 record, and I?m not entirely sure how we didn?t manage to squeak out a single win. There were a lot of close games, and we even scored our highest season total to date, and averaged 24.2 points per game. Now this wasn?t due to the offense?s hard work, as we only averaged 180 passing and new low of 82 yards a game rushing. Our total offense had plummeted to a depressing 262 yards a game, 70 yards less than our previous season. Our high point total was likely due to seeing a huge uptick in turnovers from the past 2 seasons, which included at least six pick-6s between our top 2 corners, and who knows how many other touch downs from our defense.
Summation: We still need to improve our front line, as we are being sacked far too often. We also need to finally address our run defense, as we are being run over by most opponents. And finally, we need to figure out a game plan that works better with our roster. Game planning has always been a weak point for us.
Looking Towards 2006
So far this offseason we have tried to make moves to address the glaring holes in our game. For our defense, we brought in a new middle linebacker, and paired him with a high prospect rookie, and we may go with a 3-4 defense to allow both of them to hit the field at the same time. We believe this will help our run defense, and cut down on our opponents red zone efficiency. We also brought in another athletic corner to play opposite of Brian Kelly, to help bolster our secondary. Lastly, we reworked some contracts to help put a few of our all-star players at ease, and allow them to play to their fullest potential.
As for the offense, we did decide to go with former rookie David Greene. Last season was a little rough for him, but he flashed a few moments of greatness. He has been mentored by Jake Delhomme while being sidelined from his injury, and we feel Greene will make a big jump this season. We also used our second overall pick to bring in what we deemed the best offensive lineman in the draft to help give him the time he needs in the pocket to make the pass. Greene knows he may still see some struggles, but we are behind him 100%. We also snagged a talented new running back in the second round of the draft, and felt lucky to get him there. Surely a team in need of a running back would have drafted him earlier, but somehow he dropped to the middle of the second round.
This season we are going to study some game plans from other teams, and watch more film to figure out the best route for our team, and to help develop as an organization, not just the individuals. In order to remain off the hot seat, we only need to reach 6 wins, but why stop there? With the right help and drive, we believe the playoffs are completely obtainable this season. |
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Forum Discussion
(by N_Jones on 09/13/2020)
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Replies - 0 :: Views - 22 |
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At A Glance
| INJURY REPORT |
| PLAYER |
POS |
OVR |
LENGTH |
 Ronald Darby |
CB |
96 |
Out for season |
| NFC South |
| RNK |
TEAM |
W-L-T |
PCT |
DIV |
| #4 |
 y-Buccaneers |
12-4-0 |
0.750 |
6-0 |
| #10 |
Saints |
9-7-0 |
0.563 |
2-4 |
| #17 |
 Falcons |
8-8-0 |
0.500 |
2-4 |
| #26 |
 Panthers |
5-11-0 |
0.313 |
2-4 |
| SAINTS SCHEDULE |
| Preseason |
| WK |
DATE |
OPPONENT |
SCOUT/RESULT |
| P1 |
Sat |
at  Jaguars #23 |
|
| P2 |
Thu |
vs  Rams #16 |
|
| P3 |
Sat |
at  Eagles #24 |
|
| P4 |
Fri |
vs  Chargers #3 |
|
| Regular Season |
| 1 |
Sun |
at  Seahawks #29 |
|
| 2 |
Sun |
vs  Texans #31 |
|
| 3 |
Sun |
at  Titans #1 |
|
| 4 |
Sun |
vs  Colts #27 |
|
| 5 |
Sun |
at Panthers #26 |
|
| 6 |
Sun |
vs  Bears #6 |
|
| 7 |
Sun |
at Falcons #17 |
|
| 8 |
Sun |
vs Panthers #26 |
|
| 9 |
Sun |
at Buccaneers #4 |
|
| 11 |
Sun |
vs Falcons #17 |
|
| 12 |
Sun |
at Eagles #24 |
|
| 13 |
Sun |
at  Redskins #8 |
|
| 14 |
Sun |
vs Buccaneers #4 |
|
| 15 |
Sun |
vs  Giants #18 |
|
| 16 |
Sun |
at Jaguars #23 |
|
| 17 |
Sun |
vs  Cowboys #7 |
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