The Saints roster isn’t the ‘night and day’ level of difference that some media members have implied with all of the ‘fire sale’ talk, but there has been some fairly significant change this year. Hopefully all of that is for the better and the Saints have been able to cover many of their weaknesses from last year, only time will tell. What we can look at it how the positions have changed since the draft, and on today’s menu we have: Corner, Defensive line (end/tackle), and Running Back.
CORNER:
Losses: Corey White, Patrick Robinson
Gains: Kyle Wilson, Damian Swann, P.J. Williams, Brandon Browner, Delvin Breaux
Corey White: HE’S GONE!!!! The one man third down conversion is finally gone! I would like to give the entire article an A simply for the fact that we don’t have Corey White anymore. I’m not going to sit here and denigrate him as a human being or anything like that because I simply know nothing about the guy, but on the field White was just about never anything other than a disaster. One of the themes for the off-season has been focusing on character and intelligence. Corey was a player who was almost always in the wrong place and never seemed to consistently know where he needed to be, I also remember the first thing out of his mouth being how much he couldn’t wait to pick off Drew in practice when he was drafted. God knows I’m cocky enough that i can’t get on anyone else for it…but c’mon kid. The dude was a fifth round pick running his mouth about a HOF QB, slow your roll. I wish him luck in Dallas, but he will not be missed by me or any other fan.
Patrick Robinson: P-Rob actually belongs in both categories. As an outside ‘number 2’ corner he is in the same boat as Corey, and in some ways is worse because of the high round draft pick that the Saints invested in him. On the other hand Robinson was actually a loss for the Saints in the slot. I thought he was very good, and at times excellent, in the slot last year and his combination of speed and agility is ideal for the position. It is entirely possible that he simply needed a change of scenery. The Saints currently have a LOT of depth at the corner position, but not a lot of it is capable of playing in the slot/nickel role. I wish Robinson the best, but it was probably time for him to go.
Kyle Wilson: Wilson is basically Robinson (high round bust), except he did not have a very good year last year. I have no idea what to expect from him and can only assume Rob has intel on him from Rex that makes him possible corner depth. The Saints certainly need players at the position, but Wilson is a player who has kind of shown what he is…and it’s not great.
P.J. Williams: Williams is the Saints Wild Card this year. There are times on film where he looks like he good be a legit star in the secondary. However, there are also times where he gets flat out abused by double moves and looks like the second coming of Corey White (rarely if ever that bad to be fair). Williams is good solid value as a depth/developmental player in the third round because his a player who had first round talent in many analysts minds. He is the one player who I have absolutely no idea what to expect going in to OTA’s, but I will say that his upside really intrigues me. Williams is both physical and instinctual and it’s entirely possible that he becomes a steal for the Saints. I would say I am cautiously optimistic on him.
Damian Swann: in my mind he is depth. either he or P.J. Williams (perhaps SJB) is going to get cut before the end of the pre-season. The Saints did move up to get him though so obviously they saw something.
Brandon Browner: His team played in both of the last two Super Bowls and he was a major part of that. If the Saints are trying to build a physical secondary that plays a ton of press-man coverage, then the combination of Lewis and Browner is an excellent start. tremendously physical with a limitless well of self-confidence and swagger, Browner is a beast. More than just the unquestionable and extreme upgrade over anything the Saints fielded last year, what Browner brings most to this team is his leadership. He has a reputation for being one of the highest character guys in the league and a tremendous leader. He should bring both an attitude and an identity to the team next year and they are in desperate need of both (not to mention a CB who can…you know..cover).
D-LINE:
Losses: Tyrunn Walker, Brandon Deaderick
Gain: Tyeler Davison
Tyrunn Walker: Walker was never going to be a starter or a star in this league, but he has consistently been able to make plays for the Saints when given reps. The greatest value he brings is the fact that he is consistent which isn’t something we can say about the rest of the Saints defensive line. Walker isn’t a huge loss in the sense that we lost a difference maker, however if the Saints can’t replace him then they will be staggeringly short on depth along the defensive line…an area of weakness last year. Not good.
Brandon Deaderick: I think I can summarize both Andrew and my sentiments on him being gone. Meh.
Tyeler Davison: The young rookie out of Fresno State comes in bearing the nickname ‘Rhino’, and for the most part he lives up to it. Davison isn’t the largest guy in the world (that’s Jenkins gig), but he is tremendously strong through the arms and torso and he uses his long arms to dominate his opponents. Davison should bring the Saints a guy who can spell the teams other interior linemen at first, but he has the potential to be a quality starter in this league. It will be entirely up to the Saints coaching staff and Davison’s own work ethic to determine if he is ever able to become a quality starter in the NFL, but from what I have seen from him he should at minimum help shore up the Saints depth issues along the line with Walker’s departure.
RUNNING BACK:
Losses: Pierre Thomas, Travaris Cadet
Gains: C.J. Spiller, Marcus Murphy, Tim Hightower
Pierre Thomas: I think to properly understand the impact of Thomas’s loss you have to look at it from three different perspectives; on the field, in the locker room, and in our (the fans) hearts. The impact of losing PT on us as fans is a simple one to understand, frankly it sucks. Thomas was (is) one of the hardest workers we had ever seen and a guy who never once did anything less than the absolute most he could to help the team. I will never forget the image of him taking Drew’s screen pass into the end zone in the SB and I am far from alone in that regard. Thomas has left as indelible of an impression upon us as Saints fans as probably any player in the team’s history.
Thomas will also be missed in the locker room. He was not only a major team leader from a work ethic point of view, but also a bastion of maturity and professionalism. We now have to hope that Ingram can take over as the leader of the running back’s room, but I don’t think you can just ‘replace’ the steady leadership that Thomas brought with his mere presence.
Finally the Saints will miss Thomas on the field. His vision, toughness, tenacity, and uncanny ability to ‘play for keeps’ when it counted would bring value to any team at any time. However, if i am being honest the loss of Thomas on the field is by far the least of the three. He is an older player with an established injury history who has slowly but surely declined. Thomas is no longer able to bring the one thing that made him truly special…consistency. I support the team’s decision to not bring him back this year, but I imagine that it was the most somber and gut wrenching meeting that Sean Payton has had as a head coach.
Travaris Cadet: how do you follow that? You don’t. I did PT first because that is where he resides in our hearts and he will always remain a Saints Icon. Cadet was a replacement player, a stop gap at best. He was another check mark in the Saints legacy of bringing in UDFA’s and giving them an honest chance to see the field, but as far as the quality of play he brought…the Saints can do much better and already have acquired a VASTLY superior replacement.
C.J. Spiller: Spiller is an honest to god DYNAMO with the ball in his hands. I was literally salivating when I first found out we had signed him (a possibility first proposed by Saints Nation’s own Andrew Juge!). The idea of a player with Spiller’s dynamic talents playing in the Saints offense is enough to make a guy smile. Spiller brings many of the qualities that made Bush great in NO, but lacks many of those that made him so aggravating (far less stutter steps). Spiller should fill the role of ‘dash’ in a ‘smash and dash’ combo with Mark Ingram, but unlike previous speedster Darren Sproles (a truly dynamic player in his own right) Spiller is a legitimate threat to simply run the ball. While he is a capable receiver, Spiller is a true RB who can make huge gamebreaking plays from anywhere on the field. If the thought of him signing made you think of Payton dressed up as a mad scientist and laughing maniacally…then we can be friends.
Marcus Murphy: The only true value the team was supposed to gain from having Cadet on the team was as a punt/kick-off returner. They let him walk so what did they do? They drafted a player in the 7th round who has a truly breathtaking ability to ‘flip the field’ at any given moment. Murphy is a diminutive back to say the least, but he has that special combination of speed, quickness, and a fearless approach to the game that makes him a potentially special return ace for the Saints. It will be fun to watch him and Sanders go head to head in pre-season to see who nabs the return duties for the team.
Potential team impact:
The Saints upgraded all three positions during the off-season (defensive line might be a wash) while also managing to rid themselves of players who were truly a waste of a roster spot in Deaderick and White. If they only cut those two players it is still addition through subtraction, but they went far beyond that. They added key veterans with a long track record of success (Browner) and the potential to be a total game changer (Spiller). Payton’s offense is always at its best when he has a player who allows him to dictate to the opponent how they are going to play him, but while Jimmy brought some of that element the last couple of years the two players who most exemplified that quality were Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles. Spiller can/should bring a little bit of the elements from both. I like the draft picks the team added in Williams and Davison as they should at least bring in some much needed quality depth, but both also bring the potential to be starters for the team. All in all I really like the way that the Saints have approached these position groups. Even when they had to make a tough decision like cutting a treasured veteran in PT, they were able to replace him with someone who has a tremendous upside for the team. I don’t know if all of these moves will pan out (who does?) but I can say with some pretty solid conviction that if they keep going this way the team’s future should be pretty bright.
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