Saints Nation: FB Lawrence Vickers to Saints?

Thanks to Larry Holder for this: It sounds like Cleveland Browns’ fullback Lawrence Vickers wants to come to the Saints.

How much stock do we put into this?

NONE. Vickers is younger and healthier than incumbent start Heath Evans, but he’s not as good as Heath Evans and he’s definitely not as athletic. My take is: thanks but no thanks. I know what Evans brings to the locker room and I know what he brings to the field, and those two things combined are far more valuable than what Vickers can offer.

Here’s some PFF numbers for you too:

Vickers was rated as the second worst fullback in the NFL with a -11.4 rating last year. Heath Evans wasn’t much better, only three spots ahead with a -9.3 rating. Keep in mind, though, Evans was recovering from a massive knee injury. In 2009 Evans had a +1.8 rating according to PFF, and Vickers was at -5.6. Vickers had worst run blocking ratings in 2010 than Evans, and he was the worst rated pass blocking fullback in 2010. Not good.

Point being, there is no way you’re ever going to beat the value that Heath Evans has off the field. If you can’t even beat what he does on the field, forget it. It’s going to take someone really special to replace Heath Evans and Lawrence Vickers is not that person.