SB Nation - D'Juan Woods

New Orleans Saints Cut Rod Coleman, Greg Fassitt and D'Juan Woods

Saintsational — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:25:36 -0000

Well it's about time. I have been waiting all day to see whether my predictions this morning would be accurate. The results are in: I went one for three.

The Saints have released defensive tackle Rod Coleman, cornerback Greg Fassitt and wide receiver D'Juan Woods. This information comes from Fletcher Mackel's tweet...

FletcherMackel saints cut DT rod coleman, CB greg fassitt & WR d'juan woods

Coleman is no doubt the biggest surprise, though I guess we shouldn't have expected much from a guy the Saints brought out of retirement. I was correct about Woods and Fassitt would have defintely made my list had I chosen a cornerback. My thinking was that the team would use the final pre-season game as a chance for Fassitt to get some quality reps and prove he's good enough.

Are you surprised or shocked by any of these cuts? Talk about it.

Poll

Does the release of Rod Coleman surprise you?

Yes

185 votes

No

225 votes

410 votes | Poll has closed

Predicting Today's Roster Cuts

Saintsational — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:00:25 -0000

According to the list of key off-season dates on the left sidebar of CSC, the NFL mandates that all team rosters be cut down to 75 players by tomorrow. Payton mentioned during yesterday's press conference that those cuts would actually come this morning. By my calculations the Saints roster currently sits at 79 players, meaning four players would need to be accounted for in some way, whether released or placed on IR.

Here is a quick look at a few players I thought might have a bad day today and who we may not be seeing around anymore this season. Feel free to discuss my choices and add your own players to the list.

Matt Simon and D'Juan Woods

Even if Payton decides to carry six receivers on the roster there is simply too much talent at the position this season for either of these guys to make the team. Releasing one or both of these players still leaves Harper, Arrington, Roby and Green to battle it out in the last pre-season game of the year this Thursday. My guess would be Woods before Simon.

Martrez Milner and Jermey Parnell

The depth chart at tight end is pretty much set with Shockey, Miller and Dinkins. Buck Ortega is probably the favorite for the fourth spot, leaving Milner and Parnell on the outside looking in. Dinkins and Ortega should get a bulk of the reps during the game against Miami with maybe enough to go around for one other player. That means at least one of these guys is probably expendable now rather than later. For Parnell, formerly a defensive end, it was a fun experiment.

Chip Vaughn

Payton said yesterday that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of placing Vaughn on injured reserve. The rookie has sat out almost all of training camp and missed valuable reps. Rather than have to release someone it may just be easier to call it a year with Vaughn and free up the valuable roster spot.

Earl Heyman

I haven't heard much about Heyman during training camp and he is probably the odd man out at the defensive tackle position. Depending on how much depth Payton wants at tackle this Thursday, Heyman could be a goner.

And with the #8 Pick in the Arrowhead Pride Mock Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars Select...

Chris Thorman — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:30:14 -0000

Florida WR Percy Harvin

DThomasReigns with the pick...

It is obvious that unless you traded into the top 10 of the draft, you have many holes to fill. The Jaguars are no different.

Holes:
OL - Check. An injury riddled OL last year severely impacted their running and passing games. They lost Khalif Barnes to the Raiders, but signed 34 year old Tra Thomas from the Eagles as a stopgap at LT.
RB - Check. I love Pocket Hercules, but he is not an every down back.
DL - Ch......

Wait. I really don't need to go any further. I had every intention of throwing in a few paragraphs of stats from their hugely disappointing 2008 season, observations on the general state of the team's direction, and a recounting of their offseason moves thus far. However, given who is already off the board, I only ask you one thing: Pretend the Jags are our team. Now, look at this:

Current Jacksonville Jaguars roster - Position, WR

Hughes, Nate
Walker, Mike
Williamson, Troy
Woods, D'Juan

This needs an immediate infusion of not only talent, but impact, fear-inducing, talent at the position. It isn't going to come from what is available on the free agent market, and it isn't going to come from the later rounds of the draft. To this point, Crabtree and Maclin are gone. Heyward-Bey is a height-weight-speed guy who really never performed up to his athletic ability at Maryland. Yes, this is a reach, but the run on WR's in this mock is on, and the Jags are desperate.

Curry, Raji, Jason Smith, Andre Smith, Monroe, Crabtree, and Maclin are gone. Stafford isn't an option this year, coaching jobs are on the line.

Harvin is a game breaker. He can take it all the way as a RB, WR, and kick returner. He has question marks concerning his strength and transition to the NFL game. Regardless of any of the legitimate concerns about him, he is versatile, dangerous, and the Jags best option to instantly provide a real threat at the WR position left at the #8 pick. He doesn't have to be the #1 guy immediately, he can line up in the slot or any other position designed to get him the ball quickly, allowing him to use his instincts and proven athleticism to change the game.

In the first seven picks of this mock, three LT's have been chosen. The only other real LT option at #8 is Michael Oher. It is too early for him to go at #8, and he would sit behind newly acquired LT Tra Thomas. HC Jack Del Rio has lost control over personnel and is on the hot seat. He has to spark the offense. The offensive line is stable enough to be serviceable, but QB David Garrard has absolutely no one to pass the ball. The Jags have to take their shot at an offensive game changer now...and so does Del Rio.

Jacksonville can get solid OL players in later rounds, they can get a solid compliment to Maurice Jones-Drew in later rounds, the can bolster the LB, DL, and secondary in later rounds.

Aside from 2007, the Jaguars offense hasn't been relevant since they had Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell at WR; they must fix it. They take the offensive threat they desperately need, and maybe Del Rio is still HC in 2010.

Previous pick: WR Jeremy Maclin

Read more: Scouting Report (Mocking the Draft), 2008 Review (Alligator Army)

Click over for the full schedule and current draft results.

***

No more Matt Jones means the Jags are desperate for a receiving threat. I like the pick.

Pick	Round 1	Selection	Date
1	Detroit Lions - UCrawford	LB Aaron Curry	Weds. March 10th
2	St. Louis Rams - Lanier63	OT Jason Smith	Monday, March 16th
3	Kansas City Chiefs - TonyG88	OT Eugene Monroe	Monday, March 16th
4	Seattle Seahawks - mikvogel	DT B.J. Raji	Tuesday, March 17th
5	Cleveland Browns - HIV2Elway	WR Michael Crabtree	Tuesday, March 17th
6	Cincinnati Bengals - mistamic	OT Andre Smith	Weds., March 18th
7	Oakland Raiders - mushin	WR Jeremy Maclin	Weds., March 18th
8	Jacksonville Jaguars - DThomasReigns	WR Percy Harvin	Thursday, March 19th
9	Green Bay Packers - JasonM		Thursday, March 19th
10	San Francisco 49ers - Harry Feltersnatch		Friday, March 20th
11	Buffalo Bills - ArrowDread		Friday, March 20th
12	Denver Broncos - Keyser Sose		Monday, March 23rd
13	Washington Redskins - Official Arrowhead Pride Parade		Monday, March 23rd
14	New Orleans Saints - cmpotter		Tuesday, March 24th
15	Houston Texans - ChiefsDude		Tuesday, March 24th
16	San Diego Chargers - Helmets		Weds., March 25th
17	New York Jets - NJChief		Weds., March 25th
18	Chicago Bears - Holmeslice		Thursday, March 26th
19	Tampa Bay Buccaneers - madtheory		Thursday, March 26th
20	Detroit Lions (from Dallas) - UCrawford		Friday, March 27th
21	Philadelphia Eagles - Chiefsfan717		Friday, March 27th
22	Minnesota Vikings - kcsno56		Monday, March 30th
23	New England Patriots - connerman		Monday, March 30th
24	Atlanta Falcons - RedNose		Tuesday, March 31st
25	Miami Dolphins - shraggyj		Tuesday, March 31st
26	Baltimore Ravens - Ben S		Weds., April 1st
27	Indianapolis Colts - craig in calgary		Weds., April 1st
28	Philadelphia Eagles (from Carolina) - Chiefsfan717		Thursday, April 2nd
29	New York Giants - ChiefsFan90s		Thursday, April 2nd
30	Tennessee Titans - Lvl.99		Friday, April 3rd
31	Arizona Cardinals - THE_TRUTH		Friday, April 3rd
32	Pittsburgh Steelers - McWhirt33		Monday, April 6th

Poll

Do you agree with the pick?

Yes

62 votes

No

137 votes

Indifferent

24 votes

223 votes | Poll has closed