I gotta tell ya, guys, I'm psyched this year. Sometimes I'm
optimistic, sometimes not so optimistic when the season kicks off.
However, I'm always optimistic when camp is about to kick off.
Especially so this year. In fact, I can't remember when I have been
more excited about our new players.

Having been a Saints fan forever, I've been burned so many times that
I'm cautious. Last year, I was optimistic, but had a bad feeling about
the personnel. I felt we hadn't done enough to address weak areas on
the defense.

In 2006, we found a QB and a coach, and had a good season. In 2007, we
slipped a bit, but we retained the core of that good 2006 team. Well,
in 2008, we still have the core of the 2006 team, and those guys are
now well experienced, yet still young. I feel the FA's, trades, and
rookies have never been a better fit in our weak areas.

This year, when I think of the upcoming season, all I can think of is
"bring it on!"

Here are a handful of keys I will be watching. If most of them come
together as I am hopeful, there is no limit to how far this team can
go.

Meachem... will he be the player I think he can?

Ellis... can his extraordinary talent translate to the NFL?

Arrington... needed to replace a very reliable but not dangerous Lance
Moore.

Vilma... can his knee hold out?

McCray... a real sleeper. If he can get 6 sacks, our defensive line
goes from bad to dynamite in 1 season.

Nicks... can this road grading lineman be fast tracked and improve our
running game?

Porter... Will he be fast tracked and get some playing time? Is he the
answer to our ailing return game?

Will some of the sophomores step up and get some playing time? I would
like to see Mitchell, Young, Alleman, Bushrod be rotated in and get
playing experience.

This year's Pierre Thomas:

Todd Blythe. Huge target, fast for 6'5", great hands, and a great body
of work.
-

Bob

In article <64o784572f20ovpcfaaqbtvht1rt6i71s4@4ax.com>,
Bob Adkins <bob.adkins@gmail.com> wrote:

> I gotta tell ya, guys, I'm psyched this year. Sometimes I'm
> optimistic, sometimes not so optimistic when the season kicks off.
> However, I'm always optimistic when camp is about to kick off.
> Especially so this year. In fact, I can't remember when I have been
> more excited about our new players.
>
> Having been a Saints fan forever, I've been burned so many times that
> I'm cautious. Last year, I was optimistic, but had a bad feeling about
> the personnel. I felt we hadn't done enough to address weak areas on
> the defense.
>
> In 2006, we found a QB and a coach, and had a good season. In 2007, we
> slipped a bit, but we retained the core of that good 2006 team. Well,
> in 2008, we still have the core of the 2006 team, and those guys are
> now well experienced, yet still young. I feel the FA's, trades, and
> rookies have never been a better fit in our weak areas.
>
> This year, when I think of the upcoming season, all I can think of is
> "bring it on!"
>
> Here are a handful of keys I will be watching. If most of them come
> together as I am hopeful, there is no limit to how far this team can
> go.
>
> Meachem... will he be the player I think he can?
>
> Ellis... can his extraordinary talent translate to the NFL?
>
> Arrington... needed to replace a very reliable but not dangerous Lance
> Moore.
>
> Vilma... can his knee hold out?
>
> McCray... a real sleeper. If he can get 6 sacks, our defensive line
> goes from bad to dynamite in 1 season.
>
> Nicks... can this road grading lineman be fast tracked and improve our
> running game?
>
> Porter... Will he be fast tracked and get some playing time? Is he the
> answer to our ailing return game?
>
> Will some of the sophomores step up and get some playing time? I would
> like to see Mitchell, Young, Alleman, Bushrod be rotated in and get
> playing experience.
>
> This year's Pierre Thomas:
>
> Todd Blythe. Huge target, fast for 6'5", great hands, and a great body
> of work.
> -
>
> Bob

I hope Deuce stays healthy,i think we need another veteran running back

--
Next Year!?!?!

I think the Saints have made some interesting moves and probably good
ones. Well see. I think a lot depends on Duece returning from injury
again. Will he be able to rebound? It will be very tough in my
opinion. If not I hope P. Thomas can carry the load because I don't
think R. Bush will ever be the back we thought he would be when we first
drafted him. But I think P. Thomas will do just fine. First on your
list was R. Mecheam. That was first on my mind also as I was reading
your post. I think he is the biggest key on offense. If he can be the
talented reciever he was billed as on draft day then this offense is
wide open with M. Colsten J. Shockey and a satellite reciever in R.
Bush. Another major key is R. Gay in the secondary. We need help so
bad back there.
I haven't yet anaylized their schedule too much yet, but if i remember
correctly it looks kind of brutal.

If only we had a secondary and Morgan had fire in his belly!! Then I'd
be psyched. Shockey might bring our offense to number one, but we will
still bleed on D. DL is improved, DL coach is improved (bigger in my
mind) Vilma is a boost (I hope), but secondary might be worse than last
year and that was pitiful. MM may not make it back to form and after
him there is no one else.
Reminds me of when the Saint's had the best D in the NFL and could
only score in multiples of three. Exciting to watch but you knew they
were gonna watch the playoffs.
Kris

PS. This offense can get us in the playoffs, but not through them with
this D



Bob Adkins <bob.adkins@gmail.com> wrote in
news:64o784572f20ovpcfaaqbtvht1rt6i71s4@4ax.com:

>
> I gotta tell ya, guys, I'm psyched this year. Sometimes I'm
> optimistic, sometimes not so optimistic when the season kicks off.
> However, I'm always optimistic when camp is about to kick off.
> Especially so this year. In fact, I can't remember when I have been
> more excited about our new players.
>
> Having been a Saints fan forever, I've been burned so many times that
> I'm cautious. Last year, I was optimistic, but had a bad feeling about
> the personnel. I felt we hadn't done enough to address weak areas on
> the defense.
>
> In 2006, we found a QB and a coach, and had a good season. In 2007, we
> slipped a bit, but we retained the core of that good 2006 team. Well,
> in 2008, we still have the core of the 2006 team, and those guys are
> now well experienced, yet still young. I feel the FA's, trades, and
> rookies have never been a better fit in our weak areas.
>
> This year, when I think of the upcoming season, all I can think of is
> "bring it on!"
>
> Here are a handful of keys I will be watching. If most of them come
> together as I am hopeful, there is no limit to how far this team can
> go.
>
> Meachem... will he be the player I think he can?
>
> Ellis... can his extraordinary talent translate to the NFL?
>
> Arrington... needed to replace a very reliable but not dangerous Lance
> Moore.
>
> Vilma... can his knee hold out?
>
> McCray... a real sleeper. If he can get 6 sacks, our defensive line
> goes from bad to dynamite in 1 season.
>
> Nicks... can this road grading lineman be fast tracked and improve our
> running game?
>
> Porter... Will he be fast tracked and get some playing time? Is he the
> answer to our ailing return game?
>
> Will some of the sophomores step up and get some playing time? I would
> like to see Mitchell, Young, Alleman, Bushrod be rotated in and get
> playing experience.
>
> This year's Pierre Thomas:
>
> Todd Blythe. Huge target, fast for 6'5", great hands, and a great body
> of work.
> -
>
> Bob
>

I don't think any player could ever be the back we expected Bush to be.
I'd settle for a back that strikes some fear into opposing D's when he
rushes. They watch Bush because he is a big part of our offense, but they
don't fear him, especially out of the backfield.
Kris


atlantia7blackcastle@msn.com (White Knight) wrote in news:11065-488536BE-
5902@baytvnwsxa002.msntv.msn.com:

> I think the Saints have made some interesting moves and probably good
> ones. Well see. I think a lot depends on Duece returning from injury
> again. Will he be able to rebound? It will be very tough in my
> opinion. If not I hope P. Thomas can carry the load because I don't
> think R. Bush will ever be the back we thought he would be when we first
> drafted him. But I think P. Thomas will do just fine. First on your
> list was R. Mecheam. That was first on my mind also as I was reading
> your post. I think he is the biggest key on offense. If he can be the
> talented reciever he was billed as on draft day then this offense is
> wide open with M. Colsten J. Shockey and a satellite reciever in R.
> Bush. Another major key is R. Gay in the secondary. We need help so
> bad back there.
> I haven't yet anaylized their schedule too much yet, but if i remember
> correctly it looks kind of brutal.
>

On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:42:59 GMT, Kris <Nunya@nunya.net> wrote:

>They watch Bush because he is a big part of our offense, but they
>don't fear him, especially out of the backfield.


You are sadly mistaken there, my friend.
They do fear him! I garunteeeeee it....
____________________________________________________
Peace,
Franke Carlino
LETS GO METS!!!
GEAUX SAINTS

Franke Carlino <Belladiva@sw.rr.com> wrote in
news:1sna84hvrbje1ealppgg39eg9m6jgpg9q9@4ax.com:

> On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:42:59 GMT, Kris <Nunya@nunya.net> wrote:
>
>>They watch Bush because he is a big part of our offense, but they
>>don't fear him, especially out of the backfield.
>
>
> You are sadly mistaken there, my friend.
> They do fear him! I garunteeeeee it....
> ____________________________________________________
> Peace,
> Franke Carlino
> LETS GO METS!!!
> GEAUX SAINTS
>

WHY???? Is it his 3.7 yards per carry? Is it his 25 yard long carry in
two years? I don't see a reason to fear. Don't get me wrong, I see
reality. Reggie Bush is an average nfl ability rusher out of the
backfield who has above average pass catching ability. Together that
makes him a fine and important addition to the Saint's Roster.
This thread is not about Reggie sucking, it's about him not living
up to his hype. He was gonna be the leading rusher who couldn't be shut
down if he got to daylight. Well, he gets shut down short on yards
cause he can't find the daylight and when he is pass catching he found
out that NFL defenses don't take bad angles often and they are fast.
This has resulted in his yards per catch not being that hot either. His
fumbles outnumber his touchdowns. Again, he is good, but not great and
he requires other teams to key on him because he is involved in too high
a percentage of the Saint's plays, but they do not fear him, they
respect him. Teams fear the bears returner, teams fear adrian peterson,
teams fear the loudmouth punk receiver in New England. Teams respect
and laugh at the loudmouth punk receiver in Cincinatti, but they don't
fear him.
Teams respect Reggie Bush's ability, but they are not afraid of
the big play from him because he has had so few. When he came into the
league (we thought) he was gonna have two or three big plays a game, not
a season.
Kris

On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:12:06 GMT, Kris <Nunya@nunya.net> wrote:


>WHY???? Is it his 3.7 yards per carry? Is it his 25 yard long carry in
>two years? I don't see a reason to fear.

The opposition does scheme heavily for Bush. They know that if he
jukes a couple of defenders he's gone. So they always have a couple of
hats on him. That's precisely why they stop him. However, stopping
Reggie leaves something open. Last year it was Deuce. In 07, it was
Reggie alone, not very good odds. This year, I hope they run Deuce and
Pierre in the same backfield with Reggie.
-

Bob

Bob Adkins <bob.adkins@gmail.com> wrote in
news:l3sb84lcs9okjf95jvqq35hf7era74c4ae@4ax.com:

> On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:12:06 GMT, Kris <Nunya@nunya.net> wrote:
>
>
>>WHY???? Is it his 3.7 yards per carry? Is it his 25 yard long carry in
>>two years? I don't see a reason to fear.
>
> The opposition does scheme heavily for Bush. They know that if he
> jukes a couple of defenders he's gone. So they always have a couple of
> hats on him. That's precisely why they stop him. However, stopping
> Reggie leaves something open. Last year it was Deuce. In 07, it was
> Reggie alone, not very good odds. This year, I hope they run Deuce and
> Pierre in the same backfield with Reggie.
> -
>
> Bob
>

It is a great triple threat isn't it!!!
Kris