SB Nation - Antwan Lake

Saints Free Agent Review - Offensive and Defensive Line

Saintsational — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:00:09 -0000

Offensive Line

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Evaluation

Jon Stinchcomb

UFA

I like Stinch cause he's always good for some straight talk after the Saints take a beating. But if I'm being honest, he's replaceable. Zach Strief, the biggest dude I have ever seen in my life, is the likely heir to the throne. More importantly, Strief would probably be cheaper.

CSC says: See ya!

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Evaluation

Jahri Evans

RFA

Evans needs to stay and the Saints need to do everything within reason to make sure he does. He's been a cheap date so far so Evans looks to be poised to cash in this year. If the Saints don't, another team will.

CSC says: Keep him!

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Evaluation

Zach Strief

RFA

Strief saw a fair amount of playing time last season and proved to be competent. Zach could definitely be a cheaper alternative to Jon Stinchcomb on the right side. He can also play the left side. Seriously though, he is gigantic.

CSC says: Keep him!

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Evaluation

Matt Lehr

C, G

UFA

Remember that whole trial/murder/suicide/love triangle thing that went down last year? That was crazy. Geez. Anyway, Lehr did a pretty good job filling in under center, with a few exceptions. What really makes him valuable is his versatility and ability to play center or guard. He shouldn't cost too much so I say he's worth it.

CSC says: Keep him!

Defensive Line

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Evaluation

Antwan Lake

UFA

There is a lot of competition at the defensive tackle spot but Antwan Lake has been consistently good. Lake made $1 million last year and the Saints already have a lot of money tied up with Brian Young and Sedrick Ellis. Also, 2008 draft pick DeMario Pressley will be ready to compete next season. So ss much as I like Lake, he may not be here next season.

CSC says: Keep him!

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Evaluation

Montavious Stanley

RFA

The guy with the craziest name on the Saints is part of the same crowd at the defensive tackle spot. He would have to really impress during camp to earn a spot on the 53-man roster but if the Saints can get him cheap, it might be worth it.

CSC says: See ya!

Player

Position

Years Exp.

FA Status

Evaluation

James Reed

UFA

Who? Never heard of him. There are too many other talented defensive tackles in the Saints for this guy to have a chance. No way he's in black and gold next season.

CSC says: See ya!

Poll

Should the Saints cut ties with Jon Stinchcomb?

Yes. And that makes me sad.

16 votes

Yes. And that makes me happy.

8 votes

No. And that makes me sad.

6 votes

No. And that makes me happy.

12 votes

42 votes | Poll has closed

Raiders @ Saints: Friday Injury Report

Saintsational — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:12:59 -0000

New Orleans Saints Friday Injury Report

Out

DT Sedrick Ellis (knee)

CB Aaron Glenn (ankle)

DT Antwan Lake (groin)

Doubtful

S Kevin Kaesviharn (back)

WR David Patten (groin)

TE Jeremy Shockey (hernia)

Questionable

WR Marques Colston (thumb)

Probable

C Jonathan Goodwin (hamstring)

CB Mike McKenzie (knee)

S Chris Reis (hamstring)

T Jon Stinchcomb (back)

Saints @ Redskins: Preview

Saintsational — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:00:07 -0000

Hopefully, Drew won't have to do too much running(Getty Images)

Sunday's matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Washington Redskins should be an interesting one. The Redskins are coming off a frustrating loss to the Giants last week while the Saints will attempt to keep the ball rolling with another win. These two teams last met in 2006 and saw Washington defeat New Orleans who had just come off an incredible win over the Dallas Cowboys. Let's take a look at what we might expect when we settle in to watch this weekend.

Saints Offense vs. Redskins Defense We should see much more Reggie Bush. He looked pretty impressive last week and I think Payton will ride the wave of that momentum. After last weeks performance, I am hopeful that Payton has figured out the right way to use Reggie and we see a lot of screen passes, pitches, quick slants etc. Like last week, I expect more reception yards than rushing yards for Reggie. The Redskins know how explosive Reggie can be and they have gone on record as saying they will be looking to contain him. Deuce is also listed as Probably so there may be a chance that fans will get to see him for the first time in the regular season.

The Redskins have a very talented secondary with players including Shawn Springs, Carlos Rogers, Fred Smoot and LaRon Landry. These guys can all make big game changing plays particularly interceptions, if they can hold on to the ball. Last week they dropped a couple of sure interceptions that may have changed the entire outcome of their game and have been focusing on that all week. Drew Brees will have a tough challenge tomorrow for sure. Both he and the receivers need to make sure they are on the same page and not give this secondary any opportunities. The turnover ratio will be key in this game. Of course with Colston gone the door is wide open for the other receivers, particularly Robert Meachem who will be making his regular season debut this weekend. David Patten might be interested in making a statement to his old team this Sunday as well.

Newcomer Jason Taylor anchors the Skins defensive line but he has lost a step or two over the years and is admittedly not 100%. Andre Carter lines up at the other end and both will be looking to get after Drew Brees big time in an attempt to rattle and contain him. This also means the Saints offensive line needs to show that great pass blocking we have come to know the last couple of years. If Drew has a 300+ yard day and the Saints don't win, something went terribly wrong.

Starting linebacker Marcus Washington is questionable for the game but the talented London Fletcher will still be out there making his presence known. This group will have the wonderful responsibility of keeping tabs on the fiery Jeremy Shockey. Shockey will now have more responsibility with the absence of Colston and will be the Saints best bet to fill in for those tough over the middle throws. Skins linebacker Rocky McIntosh will be a big part of containing Shockey come Sunday. Keep an eye on that matchup.

If the Saints can grab an early lead and make the Redskins play catch-up, they will be forced to throw the ball and rely more on Jason Campbell. Campbell's play has always been shaky despite showing a lot of talent. It is most likely the result of having so many different coaches in such a short period of time and having to learn a new playbook nearly every year.

Saints Defense vs. Redskins Offense Sad to say that its only week 2 and our roster is already starting to look beat up. Injuries abound at every area of this defense. At defensive tackle Hollis Thomas is out indefinitely and Antwan Lake will not play. The Saints looked pretty weak in run defense last week so the Redskins will look to exploit that with running backs Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts. Portis looked pretty solid last week against the Giants gaining 84 yards on 23 carries. Portis averages 101.5 yards in FedEx Field home openers with three touchdowns.Betts can do some damage in his own right.

Sedrick Ellis and Kendrick Clancy will be responsible for getting a push up the middle and stopping a formidable ground attack from Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts. Newly acquired DT Alvin McKinley may or may not see some time. (On a side note, he rounds out the Saints all black, all Irish tandem of Deuce McAllister, Mike McKenzie, Bobby McCray and now Alvin McKinley. Seriously has any team ever come close to this many "Mc's" at one time before?) If the Saints can get good pressure and a solid performance from its highly paid ends, Jason Campbell could be in for a long day. Getting a good rush to throw quarterback Jason Campbell off his game will be crucial to help our secondary.

In the linebacking corp the team will be without Scott Fujita while Mark Simoneau is done for the season. Man this is getting ridiculous. Troy Evans should get the start now. Look for Vilma to continue to increase his level of play and be all over the field.

Of course the Saints secondary is what everyone is still focusing on and, like the rest of the team, is battling the injury bug. Roman Harper and Randall Gay are both listed as Out for the game. The good news is Mike McKenzie has been listed as Probable and he should be a go. That leaves MM and Porter as your starters, the best combination so far in my mind. The Redskins have two talented receivers in Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El. This will be a huge challenge for our two cornerbacks

The Redskins offense has struggled a good bit on first downs so it will be crucial to close out the drives and come up big on third downs and allow themselves to get off the field quickly and stay fresh. Third down percentage is always an important stat and tomorrow it will be more important than ever.

Redskins Player to Watch: Cllinton Portis

Saints Player to Watch: Reggie Bush

Saintsational's Sleeper: Lance Moore

Score Prediction: Saints 24 - Redskins 17

Random Prediction: The Saints defense will have at least 3 sacks.

Bucs @ Saints: The View from Section 108

Saintsational — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:11:08 -0000

I have to admit, I wasn't completely excited about this afternoon's game last night. My store still didn't have power and I was uncertain whether I would even be able to open it on Monday. On top of that, Hurricane Ike had New Orleans right in the middle of its five day cone. Things were still looking somewhat grim, at least for me, and it was ruining was should have been a feel good time. Fortunately, when I woke up this morning and turned on the Weather Channel, Ike's projected path has shifted further westward. Around that time Erin called me and told me we now had power at the store. Things were starting to look a little better. With some weight lifted off my shoulders just in time for the season's kick off, I was again ready to get my head into football. Saints football.

This one was close. A little closer than I wanted it to be. Than it should have been. Fortunately, and I am so happy to say this, the defense stepped it up and won this game. They came through when we needed them. It was our offense that struggled most. If we can fix some of our mistakes and get both units working at the same time than this figures to be the season we are all expecting.

Below are my initial thoughts and observations from the game.

While walking to the stadium, we were behind a guy wearing a Vilma Jets jersey. He got heckled a group of drunk guys saying, "You're at the wrong game! I think you got off at the wrong exit!"
They announced the defense at the beginning of the game. I thought that was cool. Shows how proud we are of this defense. Randall Gay and Tracy Porter got the start. So did Kendrick Clancy.
The Imagination Movers sang the National Anthem. For those of you who might not know them, you can catch up here.
Saints receive the ball first. Deuce is out so Pierre gets the call for the start. I am very happy. The Saints put together a very good first drive, ending with a beautiful pass that is perfectly placed into David Patten's hands and just over the fingertips of a leaping defender. Sweetness. Unfortunately, that would be it for a while.
On the defense also looked great on their first drive. Charles Grant gets great pressure and in Garcia's face. He would later get a sack. Grant played a great game and its good to know all that money is not wasted. Will Smith still has a bit to prove. McCray also notched a sack for himself late in the game.
Drew throws an interception after releasing the ball as he's being hit. Buchanon picks it off and runs it back for six points. The pass blocking didn't look as sharp as it normally does. The run blocking, however, seemed quite improved.
The first quarter was marred with penalties by the Saints on the offensive side of the ball. They were just drive killers. The offense never got anything going the rest of the first half. The penalties definitely need to be cleaned up. It was a very sloppy day.
The offense on the whole looked a little rusty. I won't even go into that botched snap that went off before Brees was ready. There appeared to be some communication issues with everyone. That should fix itself over time. Hopefully.
We all got our first glimpse of Shockey and the news is good. It took a while for them to go to him, but when the time came, he delivered. The crowd cheered extra hard after a Shockey reception. On his long catch of the day, the crowd got incredibly loud and Shock-ey, Shock-ey, Shock-ey chants started.
Tracy Porter had a great game. I am really starting to like this kid. He made a big pass breakup in the end zone on third down (that probably should have been intercepted) and also had a nice pass breakup later in the game on a long pass attempt. He might be the answer we need.
Randall Gay looked pretty decent in the backfield also. He made a nice pass breakup on a deep try by the Bucs. He left the game early and was replaced by Aaron Glenn.
Holy crap Devery caught the ball!! And what a catch! The Saints caught the Bucs offsides and got a free play. No communication issues on this one as Devery BURNS his guy and Drew lobs it right into him. Oh man it was a thing of beauty.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I really think this is Reggie's year. He still doesn't look perfect and still did some dancing but he's getting there. He's just so dangerous in open space and the Saints put him in some great situations. Did you see the juke on the touchdown run. They replayed it a few times on the big screen and the crowd was ooh-ing and ahh-ing. The whole run after the catch was looked a lot like USC Reggie. I am excited!
Guess who else looked pretty good out there. PT Bruiser. With the absence of Deuce, Pierre got to see some time. He averaged a nice 5.2 yards per carry. Unfortunately, he left the game early due to injury. No word on that yet.
Another thing the team needs to clean up quickly is its weak tackling. They looked very sloppy out there as the Bucs were able to get a lot of extra yardage they shouldn't have. You have got to make tackles.
No Meachem today. Is he ever going to play in an actual game? Geez.
Colston was a non-factor today.
Jo-Lonn Dunbar had a perfectly timed hit on a Tampa punt returner.
Antwan Lake was down for a while with what looked like it might be a serious injury. We are getting really beat up at the DT position.
During a TV timeout they were showing people in the crowd dancing. The camera turned on two attractive young girls who then kissed eachother. This was NOT the kiss cam. The crowd loved it.
Bob Breck and the weather team did their usual weather update during the game. Upon mentioning of Hurrican Ike, boo's rained down.

That's it from me for now. Plenty more to get into this week. I am interested in hearing what you guys have to say about it. This is it guys. We are 1-0. How good does it feel? Also, the falcons got a big win today. Are we going to have another worst to first year in the division? Feel free to continue the discussion below. Sorry no pictures. I have some but have no way of getting them onto my computer. Hopefully soon.

Poll

Who was your player of the game?

Reggie Bush

55 votes

Pierre Thomas

9 votes

Charles Grant

13 votes

Scott Fujita

10 votes

Tracy Porter

41 votes

Devery Henderson

3 votes

131 votes | Poll has closed