I’ll never forget the first regular season game that Jason David played as a member of the New Orleans Saints. David poked out a ball from the hands of Colts’ receiver Reggie Wayne, scooped up the loose ball and ran 55 yards to paydirt. I received a text within about 10 seconds of the play from my cousin and it said “Jason David = pimp”. Fast forward to today, and it’s almost a shock he’s still on the roster, and those sentiments of praise changed all too quickly. David finished that first game yielding 3 long touchdown passes to Peyton Manning in a 41-10 Colts rout. 2 years later, the same issues still plague David. There’s no question he has ball skills, as he’s made plays and even led the Saints in interceptions last year. But along with big plays comes mistakes, and they come all to often. Evident from the Saints’s first half of their first 2009 preseason game was that while David is still capable of making things happen, he’s just too much of a liability.
Jason David had the unfair stress of expectations from minute one as he left the Colts a starter for a SuperBowl champion and received a hefty contract to come play for the Saints. To his credit, he has ALWAYS said the right things and has always conducted himself as a professional. Anytime the finger was pointed at him he accepted blame and refused to give up. The attitude alone probably bought him more time than the average player would get, because he picked up believers on the Saints’ coaching staff. But fair or not, David has gotten plenty of rope and plenty of chances – and it just has not worked out.
If the Saints want to win the SuperBowl this year, or even make a run in the playoffs – having Jason David on the squad will not help. As much as I love him when he steps in front of an errant pass, the Saints cannot afford the three blown coverages that come along with it. As the Saints play more meaningful games deep in the season against better teams, the opposing quarterbacks will make less mistakes and will magnify any shortcomings on the Saints’ defense. Jason David’s play has and will continue to be their undoing. If J.T. O’Sullivan can victimize him so badly, I just don’t want to imagine what Matt Ryan, Eli Manning or Donovan McNabb would do to him in the playoffs should the Saints make it that far. I want to be clear that it’s not personal and Jason David the person should only be commended for the way he’s acted. Jason David the player has been outperformed by others on the team, and couple that with the fact that he’s overpaid on a team right up against the salary cap – the writing is on the wall. I still think David is capable of having a good NFL career, but a change of scenery would need to occur. It’s pretty clear things just weren’t meant to happen with him in New Orleans, and it’s time to move on.
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