Kamis, 18 Februari 2010
Saints Nation: Tracy Porter on ESPN Chat
Selasa, 16 Februari 2010
Saints Nation: Saints to Franchise Tag Darren Sharper?
Per rotoworld.com:
NFL Network’s Steve Wyche reports that the Saints are expected to place the franchise tag on impending free agent FS Darren Sharper.Sharper, the NFL’s active interceptions leader by a wide margin, is a logical candidate for the tag because he’s 34 and not worth investing in long term. Still, the Saints may approach Sharper about a two- or three-year deal before the July 15 deadline for franchise players to sign multi-year contracts. Ideally, they won’t have to pay him $6.5 million for just one season.
This is great news because the Saints really need to bring Darren Sharper back for 2010 at all cost.
Happy Mardi Gras from Saints Nation!
Minggu, 14 Februari 2010
Saints Nation: Darren Sharper's Tweet Is Reason For Optimism
Call me crazy, but Sharper can't think about a repeat unless he re-signs with the team first. Call it a hunch, but I think it's a pretty clear statement that he intends on sticking around in New Orleans. Sharper's contract is officially set to expire in a couple of weeks, and I wouldn't be surprised if a handshake agreement is already in place. My prediction is that Sharper will sign an extension with the Saints on the first day of free agency.
And in case you missed it, you can listen to my one on one phone interview with Saints' fullback Heath Evans by clicking HERE.
Kamis, 11 Februari 2010
Saints Nation: One on One Phone Interview with Saints' Fullback Heath Evans
Thanks again to Heath Evans for taking the time and please visit his website HERE for more information about the Heath Evans Foundation.
(on his injury):
Heath Evans: “The injury was miserable to say the least. Rehab is going well. It came at one of those times where I was really having the best year of my career and probably having more fun than ever with this particular team, and obviously we finished the way we wanted to finish and the way every team dreams to finish, but the whole year after my injury was kind of bittersweet. The competitor in you wants to be out there but I couldn’t be happier for our city, our fans, our team and our ownership. The rehab is going well, I’m on track and looking forward to getting back on the field next year.”
(on the timetable of his injury)
Mini camp will be the first time where we’re out there kind of full speed, working out the kinks, and after OTA’s and Mini Camps I’ll have a six to seven week period to work on all the issues I need to overcome.
(on replacing Mike Karney)
It’s funny, ignorance is bliss as they say. When I got there I knew Mike was a great fullback and I respected the way he played the game, he was a hard hitting guy that did a lot of things at a high level. So, honestly, when the Saints called in the offseason I was surprised to get the call. I knew what Mike had accomplished and fullbacks follow each other, so to speak, but when I had sat down with Mickey Loomis and Sean Payton to get a feel for what they were looking for and how they were looking to add a few different dimensions to their offense it kind of made sense, the move. Coming into training camp I still had no idea how much Mike was loved but I figured it out real quick. I kind of took my lumps from the fans during training camp, then when the lights came on week one my play and my effort and a lot of the intangibles that I bring to the table kind of spoke for themselves. You know it doesn’t hurt scoring three touchdowns in six weeks that I was healthy, so my thing is I want to be a huge part of the city. Beth Ann and I are working on our foundation as we speak and really just trying to become engrained with the New Orleans culture and the people, and really dive in. We’re selling our home in Florida, we really love (New Orleans), we don’t want to go anywhere, and we want to finish our career there. Hopefully it’s another five or six years.
(on the fullback position being overlooked)
Yeah, it’s kind of become one of those positions that a lot of teams try to do without. A lot of times teams are able to pull that off. At the same time, I think you always lose something. A lot of teams have gotten to the point where they don’t want to sacrifice a roster spot for a guy that can just run block. That was one of the things that they mentioned to me right in free agency, it’s a different dimension catching the ball out of the backfield, playing a one back set if need be – you know I didn’t get a chance to do that quite this year, I was still more or less kind of learning the whole offense even in the fullback role and some of the one back stuff that I was doing and even the special teams area of my game that I’ve played for the last nine years. Teams just want an athletic fullback and that’s why you only see maybe 10-12 teams that actually have a fullback on their roster. Believe me I’m not tooting my own horn, but you just don’t find a lot of guys that are willing and able to slam their head against linebackers every down that can catch balls in the flat and guys that are athletic enough to be a substantial help on special teams. It’s kind of one of those positions that teams do without, and almost in defense of those teams rightfully so, if you can get by without them you can carry another wide receiver or another offensive lineman or something.
(on how David Thomas fared replacing him as the Saints’ lead blocker)
I was a guy that kind of stood on the table for David Thomas. Obviously I played with him in New England, and when we had our tight end injury issues early and throughout training camp we really weren’t able to get guys healthy. Then, losing Billy Miller in the last preseason game… (the Saints) came to me and said “hey how about these guys in New England, they seem to have a plethora of tight ends up there” and David was a guy I kind of stood up on the table for. He’s really just one of those good football players. He can do anything you ask him to do: he’ll play special teams, he’ll catch, he’ll run, he’ll block, and he’s smart as anything so I knew he could pick up the offense in a week where he’d be ready to go week 1 versus the Lions. Obviously he’s not a fullback, but I think he did a great job managing all year everything he had to manage and I think our team wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good and we would have been in big trouble without him.
(on the SuperBowl win)
You know the funny thing is everyone knows I spent four years in New England, so they always assume that I’ve got multiple trophies. Well, I got to New England in ’05, so the only thing I’ve got on my SuperBowl record before last Sunday was the 18-1 debacle that we had versus the Giants back in ’07. So, this win on Sunday was sweet. The only way it would have been sweeter was if I was playing in it. To kind of help get that bitter taste out of your mouth from that 18-1 loss was huge. I’m looking to come back next year stronger than ever and put towards being part of a SuperBowl run for the whole year, not just seven weeks.
(on if losing out on 16-0 this year was worth sacrificing for a SuperBowl)
Yeah, for sure. And I’m not a believer in losing games on purpose. If we would’ve been healthy, if Tracy Porter and Jabari Greer would have been able to play the whole season I think we would have finished undefeated. We had an injury bug kind of come up and bite us late in the year and we hit a lull, but we got everyone back at the right time and we were able to re-peak. We hit our peak that Patriots week about week ten and were really able to soar there and then we kind of went into a lull there where we had to find our edge again and find our niche of offense, defense and special teams that we were going to roll with for the playoffs, it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
(on if the team felt like they were in a position late in the season where they coasted)
I think that last week for sure, week 17. But before that we just got beat a couple of times. No one wanted to lose to Tampa Bay, no one wanted to lose to a team that had struggled like they had struggled this past season. We just got beat. One of my, call it “coaching points”, that I kind of stood up for late in the year was “guys, we kind of lost our edge. We started the year trying to prove we belonged, trying to prove to the world that we were one of the best teams in this league and that we weren’t just a bunch of front runners and we weren’t just a high scoring offense. That we had a good defense, that we had good special teams, that we had the key ingredients to make a SuperBowl champion. And after we smoke the Patriots the way we did in front of the world on a Monday Night Football stage, we kind of lost that ‘let’s prove the world wrong’ edge that we kind of carried with us, that chip on our shoulder that made us a nasty, mean and aggressive football team. We lost it.” And I don’t think the coaches lost it, I think the players lost it. The gameplans were there to beat Tampa Bay and to beat Dallas and we just didn’t have that nastiness that we carried with us into the playoffs.
(on the SuperBowl New Orleans Parade)
The parade was like nothing I have ever seen before, you talk about craziness. It was six hours straight of pure yelling and screaming. We got there about 3:30 and the parade started at 5 but we had people hovering around the floats an hour and a half before the thing even started. And once we got moving it was just sheer madness. And you really see the love that the people of Louisiana and the Saints fans have for their football team.
(On if the bond with the Saints and their fans really is different that anywhere else)
No question about it. Anyone that has known me long enough whether in the media or a friend knows that I’m not going to lip serve anybody, I’m going to tell it like it is. This bond between these people and their dome and their football team is really better than college football. Playing in the SEC, when I came to the NFL I never thought I would see this kind of love and passion for a football team. It is special, I’m telling you, the people love their football team in New England, but nothing like this. You don’t have the Red Sox and the Celtics and everyone else kind of distracting from one cause. Here that one cause is the New Orleans Saints, period, the end.
(on the Heath Evans Foundation)
It’s real simple: we’re a one stop shop for children who have been sexually abused. People always tell me, what do you mean you’re a one stop shop for children who have been sexually abused? Well, my wife was abused as a little girl and marrying her and coming into a relationship with her you see first hand really the pain and the consequences and the agony that followed her into adulthood. Knowing that she’s not the only one that’s been affected by this tragic style of abuse, once we got her the healing she so needed and deserved, we took off and said “man, we’ve got to use this NFL platform and this badge I get to wear on my jersey every week to really raise awareness about this and do something about it.” Obviously, we’re very financially blessed and we have an opportunity to bless others with those finances. So we started the Heath Evans Foundation and really the main goal is to help children and kids get into counseling after they’ve been abused so they can start to heal the emotional wounds that come with. The physical wounds will heal in time but the emotional wounds have to be dealt with otherwise they just fester and create huge issues later on in life.
(on the softball game he’s planning to benefit his foundation)
Yeah there sure is! Down in South Florida, down in my hometown of Palm Beach County. We kind of do unique things to bring awareness to the issue like you said. There’s a lot of other great cause and foundations to support. I think about breast cancer that affects so many great women across our great nation, but it’s nowhere near the effects of sexual abuse. We do softball events and football tournaments and all these different things. All of my NFL buddies come into town to draw the crowds so we can basically fill people in on the fact that one out of four girls in our country before the age of eighteen will be sexually abused and one out of six young boys before the age of eighteen. The softball tournament: We’ll pack out the Marlins spring training home down there in Jupiter, Florida. About 8,000 people standing room only with Pierre Thomas, Randy Moss, Reggie Bush, Adalius Thomas, Rodney Harrison, oh gosh the list goes on and on, I’m trying to remember, I know I’m leaving people out. Will Smith, a bunch of my Saints buddies, a few Pats players and a bunch of guys from all around the league will be there. We’ll play a charity game of softball versus our Palm Beach County SWAT Police Unit so it’s a great time. This is the second year we’ve done it and it’s a cool deal. There’s a link at heathevans.org or you can go to ticketmaster.com. Just search Roger Dean stadium. There’s lower seats left for $20, and upper level for $10.
(on offseason plans and Saints chances next year)
Saints Nation: The New Orleans Saints Offseason Looms
Lots to think about as we prepare for another long and sometimes boring offseason.
1. Unrestricted Free Agents in order of importance: Darren Sharper, Scott Fujita, Kendrick Clancy, Mark Brunell, Billy Miller, Pierson Prioleau, Darnell Dinkins, Dan Campbell, and Nick Leckey. These guys are all free agents and free to test the market and sign with any team they want.
2. Restricted Free Agents in order of importance: Jahri Evans, Pierre Thomas, Jammal Brown, Roman Harper, Lance Moore, Anthony Hargrove, Mike Bell, Jermon Bushrod, David Thomas, Remi Ayodele, Courtney Roby, Zach Strief, Usama Young, Jeff Charleston, Chris Reis, Marvin Mitchell, Leigh Torrence, Kyle Eckel, Anthony Waters, Rodney Leisle and Tory Humphrey. If the Saints want any of these players back, they can have them, so this list is of less concern. I'd expect (hopefully) Evans and Thomas at the very least to both get long term deals. Keep in mind the Saints will have first rights to any of their restricted free agents, and should another team sign them away they'd have to give the Saints a draft pick as compensation.
3. The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 22nd through April 24th. For the first time this year the draft will start on Thursday at 7:30pm Eastern. The first round will be completed then, followed by the second and third rounds being done on Friday at 6:30pm. The rest of the draft will be completed Saturday. More info on the schedule can be found here. The Saints will pick 32nd in the 1st round.
Rabu, 10 Februari 2010
Saints Nation: Defensive and Special Teams Player Grades vs. Colts
Saints vs Colts coverage
Saints vs Colts recap
Saints vs Colts boxscore
Will Smith: C (2.75) Very quiet day for Smith. As always, the effort was very evidently there. It's no secret he's by far the Saints' biggest pass rushing threat, especially when they only send four. Everyone knows by now: you neutralize Smith and you have time to throw the ball. That's exactly what happened, which is why Gregg Williams dialed up the blitz incessantly. Will Smith ended with 1 tackle, and his best pressure was on the very last Colts offensive play of the game where he hurried Peyton Manning into throwing the ball incomplete on 4th and goal. The Saints are going to have to get Smith some kind of help in the offseason because the Saints can't just count on one player on their front four to consistently get to the quarterback. Sidenote, on Tracy Porter's interception runback for a touchdown, the Saints were very fortunate that Smith didn't get flagged for a block in the back on Manning. Peyton's back was turned to the play as Porter cut inside of him, and Smith felt free to give him a shove and knock him to the ground. The referee missed that call.
Bobby McCray: B- (2.07) Maybe the answer to Smith getting help is a healthy Bobby McCray? He's still a far cry from the performances he had a year ago, but the two weeks off seemed to help his aching back. McCray finished with 2 tackles and was able to get to Manning and force hurries a few times. He also put a nice hit on the Colts' QB at one point. For what it's worth, I do feel like McCray has made some strides against the run because in the pass he's been a bit of a one trick pony. The less of a liability he is against the run, the more the Saints will trust him on running downs. Give McCray credit for also causing the Colts' right tackle to jump early.
Anthony Hargrove: B (2.43) Hargrove was actually very solid against the run, and put good pressure up the middle. He finished with 3 tackles. I was surprised to see the Saints even use random blitz packages where they'd drop Hargrove into zone coverage over the middle, and he handled himself well in that capacity as well. I think the Saints adopted that option because Manning was dumping the ball off over the middle to Joe Addai so much. I don't remember having seen that defensive wrinkle this season, so I think it's fair to say Gregg Williams gave Manning looks he wasn't expecting. The only reason Hargrove's grade isn't higher is the completely idiotic personal foul penalty he got near the end of the game for spearing Addai. Totally unecessary.
Sedrick Ellis: B- (2.72) The Saints are completely and utterly reliant on Ellis to stop the run. If he didn't get push inside and pressure at the point of attack, Addai usually ripped significant runs. If he did, Addai was usually stopped dead in his tracks. He finished with 3 tackles, including one for a loss. While Addai did hurt the Saints for a massive 5.9 yards per carry average, give Ellis credit for his good play in short yardage situations. I will say, though, that I've seen Ellis tackle much better than he did in this game.
Scott Fujita: B- (2.74) Fujita was sent blitzing a lot, and the Colts were ready for it. As much as we praise
Drew Brees for how quickly he gets the ball out of there, Peyton Manning was getting the ball out of his hands quicker. Fujita was able to get to Manning and hit him just once. He finished with 4 tackles, but allowed a few to slip past him. He was decent in this game, but nothing special.
Scott Shanle: B (2.69) Shanle was the player most responsible for covering Dallas Clark, and he was victimized often. More often than not, his coverage was actually exceptionally good. Clark would often have Shanle draped all over him, only for Manning to fit his passes into the tightest of windows and Clark to make very sure catches in traffic. Very tough assignment for Shanle, who wasn't able to help as much in run support because of his duty in coverage. I can't really blame Shanle for getting beat as often as he did, because I'm not sure Ray Lewis would've fared much better. When a quarterback is that accurate and a tight end is that good, there only so much you can do. Shanle did have 6 tackles and made a lot of beautiful open field stops. He was sure in his tackles and coverage, so I thought he was pretty solid overall. I can't give him too good of a grade because of the amount of times he was beat, but let's not forget he also had two defended passes with textbook coverage and a big hit on Manning on a blitz.
Jonathan Vilma: B (2.93) I think that perhaps Vilma would've handled the Dallas Clark assignment slightly better than Shanle did, but it's clear Gregg Williams trusted that task to Shanle because he wanted Vilma free to roam the middle of the field to make open field plays with Darren Sharper playing so deep. Vilma finished with 7 tackles, 2 of them for a loss, and a defended pass. When he shot upfield and into the backfield he was able to make a couple of sick plays. He did a nice job, especially late, in pass coverage as well. My only complaint is that he whiffed badly on a few running plays, especially early. Addai made him look pretty silly on a few running plays where Vilma assumed a play action and was late to respond once he realized the play was actually a run. Part of the Colts' success running the ball was Vilma's bad angles and poor tackling at times. Still, the good outweighed the bad.
Jabari Greer: B- (3.28) Greer was covering Pierre Garcon for a large majority of the evening, and he did fine. Greer finished with 4 tackles and no defended passes. He got banged up at one point, came out, and Garcon immediately caught a 19 yard touchdown pass, if that gives you any idea how valuable Greer's coverage is to the Saints. Give him credit for a couple of terrific open field tackles, too. That said, Greer's coverage wasn't the usual blanket shut down style we've all grown accustomed to. Many times his coverage on Garcon was entirely too soft, though he never allowed the speedster behind him. On the big third down drop by Pierre Garcon, Greer was beaten badly. Not only would that catch have been a big conversion to keep an important drive alive for the Colts, but Garcon could have gained significant yardage after that catch. That drop was a huge play in the game. I'm not saying the Saints lose if Garcon makes that catch, but it wasn't good coverage at all by Greer and the complexion of the game would have changed.
Tracy Porter: A (3.15) I just can't say enough about the game Tracy Porter played. Forget the game winning 74 yard interception return for a touchdown that might just be the biggest play in Saints' history, the guy was on his game all night. Is it possible Porter ended this season as the Saints' best cover corner over Greer? It's possible. Either way, the Saints have a dynamite tandem and if these two stay healthy then our pass defense will be very good for a long time. Porter ended the game with 4 tackles, and the only minus was I saw him miss a couple of tackles that he's capable of making. I know Reggie Wayne was battling a sore knee, but to hold him to 5 catches for 46 yards in the biggest game of the season is a monster performance. Tracy Porter might get my award for the Saints' player of the playoffs ahead of Drew Brees and Pierre Thomas. Can you guys remember the last time we had a young cornerback that was this good? I can't.
Randall Gay: B- (2.64) Like Shanle, Gay was victimized a couple of times despite textbook coverage. That's what happens when you play Peyton Manning, I suppose. Any other quarterback for any other team and those passes probably fell incomplete or got intercepted. The Saints missed him when he left the game with an injury, because Usama Young struggled in the slot before giving way to Malcolm Jenkins. Gay finished with 2 tackles.
Malcolm Jenkins: A- (2.46) What a game by the rookie cornerback. Wow! I was so pumped to see Jenkins come up and finally put together a very composed and legitimate performance. If not for Tracy Porter, Jenkins would have a case for the defensive player of the game. Maybe he's turning a corner, no pun intended, but I felt pretty reassured that Jenkins is very capable in the slot. He finished with 5 tackles, including one for a loss. Keep in mind these tackles came mostly in the second half once Randall Gay left with an injury which increased Jenkins' workload. He was all over the field. He made big hits, sure tackles in the open field, and was mostly great in coverage. Jenkins did get beat deep once by Austin Collie for a 40 yard pass on the Colts' final drive. That's been a bad habit of his to allow receivers behind him, and his biggest liability continues to be his speed. He just doesn't have the catch up speed to make up for his mistakes, so they are magnified when he makes them. The thing about Porter and Greer is that they make less mistakes, but they're also so fast that they can get away with more than Jenkins. Anyway, Jenkins played a whale of a game, and he almost got himself a pick by masterfully jumping an out route but Manning's pass was just outside of his reach. He also put a monstrous hit on Dallas Clark late that let the tight end know "if you keep hurting us, I'm going to start hurting you". Love it.
Roman Harper: B+ (2.74) Harper was the secondary cover guy on Dallas Clark, when Shanle was sent blitzing or left to help in run support. Like Shanle, he had a couple of times where terrific coverage led to nice breakups and a couple of times where nice coverage could do nothing to stop a completion. Harper was around the box and making tackles all day. His coverage was overall much better than usual. He finished with a team high 8 tackles, and minus a few slipped tackles I thought he had a very solid performance. I will say that his help over the top on the touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon, though, was terrible.
Darren Sharper: C+ (2.86) Did any of you see how far back Sharper was playing all game? It was like Gregg Williams was saying: "you can do your underneath stuff all you want all game long, I'm not going to let you beat us deep over the top". That strategy worked for the most part, because besides the 40 yard Collie reception late (where Sharper provided poor help over the top to Jenkins) the Colts didn't have any success throwing deep. In fact, they hardly ever tried to. Overall Sharper did a good job of taking that option away from Manning, but he finished with just 3 tackles and didn't do a great job in run support when he'd come up to back a play. It was a quiet day for Sharper overall, but the gameplan was partly to blame for that.
Pierson Prioleau: B- (2.50) Prioleau was solid in coverage the few times he was asked to come in and play defense. He was also solid on special teams. Small sample size, but I thought I'd recognize that I liked what I saw. He finished with 1 tackle.
Usama Young: C- (2.80) Young was good on special teams, too, but when he came in to replace Jabari Greer on defense, Peyton Manning immediately went after him. His coverage on the 19 yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon was not good and he was burned badly. He finished with 1 tackle and wasn't really allowed to see the field again on defense after that play.
Jeff Charleston: C+ (2.33) Like Smith I saw a lot of effort and he put decent pressure on Manning, finishing with 1 tackle. Too many times, though, it just seemed like anytime Charleston was on the field I saw him running after the play as oppose to making it.
Thomas Morstead: A- (3.12) I was surprised to see that his kickoffs were a lot shorter than usual, as he never got one to go for a touchback. That's the only negative, because the kickoff coverage units were on it. Chad Simpson averaged just 22.2 yards per kick return and was tackled at least behind the 30 on almost every return but one that I could remember. He also averaged a healthy 44 yards per punt, again getting one inside the 20, and the other punt was returned for no gain. So that means his net average was also 44 yards. What else can you say about the guy? Hands down the Saints' rookie of the year. Give him credit, too, for hitting that onside kick to start the second half perfectly.
Courtney Roby: A (2.91) Roby is clearly the Saints' best gunner, and he's turning himself into arguably one of the best gunner's in the league. That no gain punt return I spoke of was T.J. Rushing getting obliterated by Roby right after he caught the punt. Hey T.J., you should've fair caught that one buddy. Roby was also the man that downed the punt inside the 20. His 4 kickoff returns also went for a solid 25.5 average, including one for 34 yards. Give Roby props for coming back from an apparent leg injury just two weeks prior in the Vikings game. The guy is a stud.
Garrett Hartley: A+ (3.17) Hartley was perfect on 3 field goals and 2 extra points. Every kick he hit went right down the middle. He was the first kicker in SuperBowl history to connect on three kicks from 40+ yards. None of those kicks were easy chip shots, and there was absolutely no doubt when they left his foot that they would be good. He's got a case for SuperBowl MVP, in my opinion, just like Brees and Porter. In summary, he carried out his job to perfection. He deserves an A+, because literally, he couldn't physically have performed his duty any better than he did. It's funny because I heard an ESPN analyst say in the pregame that the kicking game was a major advantage to the Colts because of Matt Stover's experience, but look who missed the big time kick and look who was solid all game long.
Chris Reis: B+ (2.50) He didn't do much in this game, but he recovered the onside kick and his GPA was hurting prior to this game, so I decided to give him a little boost. Upon review, the ball was trapped between his hamstring and his hand. I'm not sure how he came out of the pile with the football. Give him credit for great strength. That recovery was one of the biggest plays of the game.
My Saints' Defensive Player of the Game: Tracy Porter
My Saints' Special Teams Player of the Game: Garrett Hartley
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)