SB Nation - Taylor Mehlhaff

Where Have all the Rookie Signings Gone?

Saintsational — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:00:20 -0000

Will Malcolm Jenkins be signed before the start of training camp? New Orleans Saints first round draft pick Malcolm Jenkins (27) of Ohio State, goes through stretching exercises during football minicamp at the team's training facility in Metairie, La., Friday, May 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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Last year, the Saints signed the first of their 2008 draft picks, DeMario Pressley, on July 12th; twelve days before the opening of training camp at Millsaps. Yet here we are now, only nine days removed from the start of this years camp, and not one word has been uttered about any of the Saints four 2009 draft picks being signed. If you're like me you've been wondering what gives and want to know when we can expect to start seeing them sign.

Any day now, my friend. Any day now.

Remember, it's not really up to the players themselves. I've been following two of the Saints rookies via Twitter - Malcolm Jenkins and Chip Vaughn to be precise - and it appears as though their time now is spent just working out, preparing for training camp...

Cardio! Let's Gooooooo!!!!!!!!

-Chip Vaughn

getting settled into their new homes here in the Big Easy...

Loving the NO already.... gotta get this apt right then chill out and relax

-Malcolm Jenkins

Getting my place set up now
-Chip Vaughn

more working out...

Got in a good workout wit brother Malcolm.

-Chip Vaughn

spending time with family...

Taking mom to Emeril's for dinner
-Chip Vaughn

and just relaxing...after working out.

just got done working out... im sittin in the house watching CSI
-Malcolm Jenkins

But while they're busy settling into their new lives and focusing on other things, their agents and lawyers - or attorney's as they like to call themselves - are the ones playing the waiting game, making sure their clients sign the largest contract possible. You know, the one that guarantees money to players for performances that are anything but guaranteed.

All we can really do is sneak a peek at last years signings and use them as a barometer. Take a look at how things went down last July.

Player	Date Signed	Terms
DeMario Pressley	July 12th	3 years
Adrian Arrington	July 18th	3 years
Taylor Mehlhaff	July 18th	3 years
Carl Nicks	July 23rd	3 years
Tracy Porter	July 25th (2 days into TC)	4 years
Sedrick Ellis	July 29th (6 days into TC)	5 years

*training camp started July 24th.

Pressley got the party started early, about two weeks before the open of training camp, but many of last years draft choices were not under contract until less than a week prior to the start of camp. Worse still, two players got late starts while waiting to finalize contract details. The ink on Tracy Porter's signature wasn't even dry when he signed his first deal before taking the field for the afternoon practice on the second day and Sedrick Ellis missed six days of Ed Orgeron screaming in his face while waitng to sign his contract.

So if the past can be used as any sort of indicator - and I think that it can - then what do we know? Not a damn thing, that's what. Saints fans should start reading about rookie signings very shortly. It might even be as early as today. But it also wouldn't be unusual if it takes another few days before we see any of them ink a deal, Malcolm Jenkins in particular. It may even be after training camp is already underway and could mean lost time.

And that, my friend, would be unfortunate.

Poll

Do you think the Saints will have any training camp holdouts?

No!

240 votes

Probably Malcolm Jenkins.

125 votes

None of them will sign by camp.

25 votes

Morstead will be the last to ink.

11 votes

A couple.

79 votes

480 votes | Poll has closed

Recent Draft History: New Orleans Saints

mgrex03 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:08:33 -0000

Over the past 3 seasons, only 4 teams have had fewer draft picks than the New Orleans Saints. This trend is going to continue, with only 4 picks in 2009, as they've decided to build their team more through trades and Free Agency. I'm not sure that's the best way to build a team, but they were in the NFC Title game just 3 years ago, so it can't be that bad.

I took a look at the last 3 drafts for the Saints, to try and see if they had any tendencies, which may help shape where they will go in 2009. Here's a list of their picks from the first 3 rounds, as well as the number of games played by those picks:

Year	Round	Player	Position	Games
2008	1	Sedrick Ellis	DT	13
2008	2	Tracy Porter	CB	5
2007	1	Robert Meachem	WR	14
2007	3	Usama Young	CB	29
2007	3	Andy Alleman	G	0
2006	1	Reggie Bush	RB	38
2006	2	Roman Harper	SS	36

Some notes:

Only 7 of their 21 picks over the past 3 seasons have been in the first 3 rounds. Reggie Bush is the best player of the bunch, although it's a little early on Sedrick Ellis. Bush's games would have been higher without injuries.
The Saints have drafted 3 players in the secondary early in the past 3 years, and 2 of them are pretty good players. Harper has only missed 1 start in 2 years, and Porter was the starting CB this season before being lost for the season due to injury.
Andy Alleman was pretty much a wasted pick. He was active for only 1 game his rookie season, and was waived just before the 2008 season. As it often happens in the NFL, Alleman caught on with the Dolphins, starting at G in 5 games, including the playoff game.
These 7 guys have played in 135 of a possible 224 games, which is 60.3%. This is lower than the Lions number, which I thought was already low. Alleman definitely plays a part in this, as do injuries. Teams must be successful with their high draft picks.
Of the 22 starters in Week 1, only 10 of them were drafted by the Saints. This is again lower than the Lions, which I can't say is a good sign. It also proves my point correct that they like building their team through free agency and trades.
The best player drafted by the Saints in these 3 years was taken at #252 overall, Marques Colston. Was this really good scouting, or just dumb luck? Either way, the Saints got a really good player only 3 players from "Mr. Irrelevant".

Lastly, here's a chart of what positions the Saints have picked over the past 3 years. This should give us a glimpse into what the Saints could do in 2009:

Position	QB	RB	WR	TE	OT	OG/C	DE	DT	LB	CB	S	K
Drafted	0	2	4	0	3	2	1	2	1	4	1	1

Here's what I see:

The Saints have drafted at least 1 player at every position on defense over the past 3 years, and I'm going to guess they'll go with at least 1 LB, and 1 S this season.
They haven't taken a QB, but they don't need to. Same goes for TE, as they invested 2 draft picks already in Jeremy Shockey.
They drafted a Kicker last year, cut him before the season, signed him when Martin Gramatica got hurt, then cut him again when he missed an Extra Point. I'm guessing they won't do that again.

2008 Season Autopsy: Kickers

Saintsational — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:00:09 -0000

Wait...what? That's not Gramatica!? (Photo Source)

The Saints' search for a consistent kicker may be finally over after two long years. Though we all thought the same thing before last season, 2008 saw Payton carousel through not one, not two but three kicker/punter tandems. But it wasn't the punting game causing a stir so much as the failures of the Saints kickers. With out a reliable kicker for much of the season, field goals were never a sure thing. So did not having a dependable kicker really affect the Saints chances of making the playoffs in 2008? Did Payton finally find the right guy in time or was the damage already done? Let's take a look.

Despite drafting Taylor Mehlhaff in the sixth round of the 2007 draft, Martin Gramatica remained the Saints starting kicker as they headed into week one of the season. Gramatica was perfect in his time with the Saints last year but 2008 brought injury and inconsistency and he just wasn't dependable with games on the line and time running out. A quick glance at his stats reminds us all of the pain.

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
M.Gramatica	0/ 0	0/ 0	3/ 3	2/ 5	1/ 2

Gramatica was fine in the few short range situations he faced but anything over 40 yards was a crapshoot. His missed field goal in Denver had Saints fans cursing him. Martin followed up that performance with a blocked field goal (probably not really his fault) and a missed go-ahead shot on Monday night against the Vikings. Injury or nerves, Payton just couldn't trust him.

Instead of being cut, Gramatica was mercifully placed on IR ending his 2008 campaign. Yes...he's still on the team. His punting counterpart Steve Weatherford was also released. In an attempt to salvage a wasted draft pick, Taylor Mehlhaff was brought in as a replacement. His time was brief however, and he couldn't seem to control his nerves.

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
T.Mehlhaff	0/ 0	1/ 1	1/ 2	1/ 1	0/ 0

At first glance his stats don't appear too terrible but missing an extra point in London was the final straw for Payton. Mehlhaff packed his bags shortly thereafter. His buddy, punter Ben Graham, was also shown the door.

With two pairs of kicker/punter combo's already gone, Payton tried one more kicking duo: Garrett Hartley and Glenn Pakulak. There's no need to even discuss new kicker Garrett Hartley in this post I just feel obligated to mention him. Check out his numbers; the kid is perfect.

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
G.Hartley	0/ 0	5/ 5	4/ 4	4/ 4	0/ 0

Hartley has only been a positive factor for the Saints in his short time on the squad and hopefully he doesn't continue this vicious cycle of inconsistent kickers as we head into next season.

There's a light at the end of this tunnel. (Photo Source)

Dr. Michael Baden's Post Mortem Report: The new kid is great so we know he's got nothing to do with the Saints failures. Mehlhaff didn't last long enough to even do any damage. But Gramatica's missed field goals late in the games against Denver and Minnesota really screwed the Saints. Those kicks could have single-handedly turned those L's to W's. Martin definitely makes the short list of possible causes of death for the 2008 Saints.

Poll

Do you think the Saints would have made the playoffs without Gramatica?

Yes

54 votes

No

14 votes

68 votes | Poll has closed

Most Forgettable Moments of the 2008 Saints Season

Saintsational — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:00:09 -0000

We've already discussed the most memorable moments of the past year so you know it's gotta be time to talk about the seasons not so memorable moments. With so many poor plays, stupid penalties and dumb turnovers to choose from, I had a difficult time narrowing it down. Below is my list of the more forgettable moments from the 2008 Saints season that alcohol just won't seem to erase from my memory. I'm sure you've got your own to add.

Short Yardage Suckage

Perhaps the most frustrating moments of the season came when the Saints only needed to pick up a single yard. Two of the following short yardage situations below came late in the game and could have completely changed the outcome of the games had they been converted. Allow yourself to take a walk down memory lane with these three less than memorable plays.

Third and 1 in Washington - The Saints are up by two points against the Redskins and have the ball. They need only to run out four and half minutes of clock to leave with a victory. Pierre Thomas gains no yards on a run off right tackle and have to give the Skins the ball back. Jason Campbell throws the game-winning touchdown on the very next play.
Third and 1 in Denver - Down by two with just over two minutes remaining and no timeouts for the Broncos, the Saints need just one yard for a first down to kill more clock and give them a shorter field goal try at the least. Pierre Thomas attempts the right side but gets stuffed for a loss of 1. The Saints are forced to kick a field but miss. The game is lost.
4th and 1 against Tampa Bay - On their first possession of the game the Saints get cute and run Devery Henderson around the right side. He has nowhere to go and losses three yards.

Another injury? Are you serious?

By the middle of the season it was becoming laughable the amount of injuies the Saints were dealing with. The IR list grew longer and longer as every day brought a new surprise and much roster shuffling was needed. In all honesty, the amount of injury the Saints were forced to endure this year might have destroyed other teams but the Saints finished 8-8; pretty respectable considering. Still, any team with a weak pass defense can't afford to lose it's two starting cornerbacks. The Saints had such a promising 2008 in front of them by the end of last summer. We should have known it would all fall to pieces.

Roman Harper's penalty against Chicago

It's week 15 and the Saints playoff hopes are still alive when they battle it out against their most recent rival - Chicago. With two seconds remaining in the game Sedrick Ellis stupidly sacked Kyle Orton, allowing the Bears to tie the game up with a field goal and force overtime. The Saints lost the coin toss but held the Bears to third and 7 on their 47-yard line. Devin Hester takes off and burns the Saints secondary on the play. Roman Harper makes contact and gets flagged for a 38-yard pass interference penalty and the Bears need nothing more than a quick field goal to win the game. The loss officially marked the end of the Saints 2008 playoff chances.

Kicking carousel

Martin Gramatica appeared to be the solution to the Saints kicking woes in 2007 after Olindo Mare turned out to be a bust but this season found Gramatica to be the problem - not the solution. He missed key field goals in Denver and against Minnesota that could very well have turned those Saints losses into wins. After putting Martin on IR (instead of cutting him) Payton went to Plan B: He brought back 2008 draft pick Taylor Mehlhaff. After a few games it was obvious Mehlhaff didn't have the nerves and was also sent packing, a valuable draft pick now wasted. But alas, there is a happy ending to this sad, sad story. The Saints finally hit the jackpot when they signed Garrett Hartley. He hasn't missed yet while wearing the black and gold. We can only hope Hartley doesn't start the cycle all over again in 2009.

Drew's pass falls short

While the Saints playoff hopes diminished earlier than we all would have liked, Drew Brees still gave Saints fans something to cheer for as he attempted to break Dan Marino's single-season passing record. So it especially sucked when fate stepped in to give Drew one more chance to break the record only to have the ball - and his attempt at the record - fall short. Following a game-winning field goal by the Panthers only one second remained in the Saints season and the clock would surely expire on the ensuing kickoff. But by some stroke of luck John Kasay's kick sailed out of bounds, giving Drew one last throw to win the game and/or gain the 15 yards he needed to break the record. The pass to the right - intended for Lance Moore - hit the turf on what seemed to be a miscommunication. Sadly, Marino's record still stands but watch out Dan...there's always next year.

Misery against Minnesota

This October 7th game had it all and though it was arguably the most exciting match-up of the season it was also the most heartbreaking and gutwrenching as well. A blocked Gramatica field goal that was returned for a touchdown started it all. Then Hochuli's officiating crew missed a Vikings pass interference call followed by a Viking facemask that led to a turnover. Even though Reggie did his best trying to keep the Saints in the game it just wasn't enough. With a little over two minutes left Gramatica missed a clutch go-ahead field goal. The Vikings finished it off by kicking the game winning field goal with 16 seconds left.

So what was your most forgettable moment of the 2008 season?

Poll

What was the most forgettable moment of the 2008 Saints season?

The short yardage situations

14 votes

The Minnesota game

20 votes

The injury bug

11 votes

Roman Harper's pass intergerence penalty

10 votes

Inconsistent kicking

11 votes

Drew missing the record

10 votes

76 votes | Poll has closed

Final Defensive and Special Team Stats for the 2008 Saints Season

Saintsational — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:00:07 -0000

As promised, here are the final defensive and special teams statistics for the 2008 season. As you would expect, these aren't as impressive as their offensive counterparts.

Rushing Defense

Left End

Left Tackle

Left Guard

Up the Middle

Right Guard

Right Tackle

Right End

Plays: 62

Plays: 58

Plays: 65

Plays: 87

Plays: 62

Plays: 51

Plays: 45

NFL Rank: 10

NFL Rank: 15

NFL Rank: 3

NFL Rank: 28

NFL Rank: 4

NFL Rank: 23

NFL Rank: 20

Avg Gain: 5.19

Avg Gain: 4.72

Avg Gain: 3.66

Avg Gain: 3.75

Avg Gain: 4.32

Avg Gain: 3.86

Avg Gain: 5.89

NFL Rank: 15

NFL Rank: 24

NFL Rank: 12

NFL Rank: 22

NFL Rank: 13

NFL Rank: 26

Passing Defense

Short Left	Short Middle	Short Right	Deep Left	Deep Middle	Deep Right


















Plays: 165	Plays: 82	Plays: 161	Plays: 55	Plays: 29	Plays: 35
NFL Rank: 7	NFL Rank: 27	NFL Rank: 23	NFL Rank: 1	NFL Rank: 9	NFL Rank: 20
Avg Gain: 5.80	Avg Gain: 7.09	Avg Gain: 5.87	Avg Gain: 8.00	Avg Gain: 18.10	Avg Gain: 8.03
NFL Rank: 13	NFL Rank: 24	NFL Rank: 25	NFL Rank: 7	NFL Rank: 31	NFL Rank: 2

Team Rankings

Team	Yds / Game	Yds / Play	Rush Yds / Game	Rush Yards / Play	Pass Yards / Game	Pass Yards / Play	Int. Rate	Sacks / Pass Att	First Downs / Game	Punt Return Avg	Kickoff Return Avg	3rd Down Pct	4th Down Pct	Red Zone Pct	Goal to Go%	Points / Game	Point Diff. / Game	Yard Diff. / Game
NO	339.5	5.44	117.8	4.24	221.7	6.74	2.85%	5.32%	18.7	10.7	24.0	39.81%	57.14%	48.33%	70.97%	24.6	4.4	71.2
Rank	23	22	17	19	23	21	14	22	18	25	23	19	19t	9	21	26	10	3

Individual Stats

Interceptions	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
J.David	5	83	16.6	42	0
S.Fujita	2	19	9.5	17	0
K.Kaesviharn	2	13	6.5	13	0
U.Young	2	3	1.5	3	0
T.Porter	1	25	25.0	25	0
J.Bullocks	1	23	23.0	23	0
M.McKenzie	1	14	14.0	14	0
J.Vilma	1	8	8.0	8	0
Team	15	188	12.5	42	0
Opponents	18	270	15.0	95t	2

Punting	No	Yds	Avg	Net	TB	In	Lg	B
S.Weatherford	26	1094	42.1	34.2	3	5	61	0
G.Pakulak	24	1144	47.7	37.8	2	3	70	0
B.Graham	3	126	42.0	35.3	0	1	44	0
Team	53	2364	44.6	35.9	5	9	70	0
Opponents	66	2711	41.1	35.2	4	23	65	0

Punt Returns	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
R.Bush	20	3	270	13.5	71t	3
L.Moore	6	13	40	6.7	11	0
S.Green	0	1	0	0	0	0
Team	26	17	310	11.9	71t	3
Opponents	34	7	363	10.7	42	0

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
G.Hartley	0/ 0	5/ 5	4/ 4	4/ 4	0/ 0
M.Gramatica	0/ 0	0/ 0	3/ 3	2/ 5	1/ 2
T.Mehlhaff	0/ 0	1/ 1	1/ 2	1/ 1	0/ 0
Team	0/ 0	6/ 6	8/ 9	7/ 10	1/ 2
Opponents	0/ 0	13/ 13	15/ 16	5/ 7	1/ 3

Kickoff Returns	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
P.Thomas	31	793	25.6	88	0
C.Roby	19	472	24.8	62	0
S.Green	4	133	33.3	60	0
T.Copper	2	35	17.5	18	0
A.Stecker	2	10	5.0	10	0
L.Moore	1	36	36.0	36	0
R.Meachem	1	9	9.0	9	0
B.Ortega	1	8	8.0	8	0
M.Campbell	1	0	0.0	0	0
M.Karney	0	0	0	0	0
Team	62	1496	24.1	88	0
Opponents	76	1827	24.0	83t	1

Defensive Player Statistics

Player	Tkl	Ast	Comb	Sack	Sk Yds	QH	Int	PD	FF	FR
J.Vilma	98	34	132	1	5	4	1	6	2	3
S.Shanle	60	27	87	2	12	3	0	5	1	0
R.Harper	73	7	80	0	0	1	0	9	1	0
S.Fujita	62	18	80	0	0	0	2	3	1	0
W.Smith	43	19	62	3	23	11	0	1	1	0
K.Kaesviharn	47	14	61	0	0	1	2	4	0	0
R.Gay	49	4	53	1	6	1	0	15	0	0
J.Bullocks	28	7	35	0	0	1	1	6	0	0
K.Clancy	26	8	34	2	8	4	0	3	0	1
C.Grant	27	6	33	3	20	9	0	2	0	0
U.Young	27	6	33	0	0	0	2	8	0	0
S.Ellis	20	10	30	4	16	8	0	4	0	0
B.McCray	25	4	29	6	35	13	0	0	1	0
T.Porter	23	2	25	1	8	1	1	5	0	0
J.David	21	2	23	0	0	0	5	10	0	1
M.McKenzie	21	1	22	0	0	0	1	3	0	0
B.Young	11	2	13	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
J.Charleston	9	1	10	3	25	3	0	0	0	0
A.Glenn	6	1	7	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
H.Thomas	6	1	7	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
J.Dunbar	4	3	7	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
J.Craft	2	4	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
L.Torrence	4	1	5	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
A.Lake	4	1	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
C.Reis	3	1	4	1	3	1	0	0	0	0
R.Ayodele	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J.Savage	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
T.Evans	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
M.Mitchell	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team Totals	703	188	891	28	161	62	15	90	8	5
Opponent Totals	724	172	896	13	92	55	18	107	10	7

**Tkl=Tackle Ast=Assist FF =Forced Fumble FR=Fumble Recovery BL=Blocked Kick**

Special Teams Defensive Stats

Player	Tkl	Ast	FF	FR	BL
U.Young	15	2	0	1	0
J.Dunbar	13	0	0	0	0
T.Evans	12	1	0	1	0
C.Reis	9	1	1	0	0
R.Harper	9	0	0	0	0
M.Mitchell	8	1	0	1	0
J.Charleston	6	2	0	0	0
B.Ortega	5	1	0	0	0
J.Bullocks	5	0	1	0	0
P.Thomas	4	1	0	0	0
L.Torrence	3	1	0	0	0
A.Stecker	3	0	0	0	0
K.Kaesviharn	2	1	0	0	0
J.Craft	2	1	0	0	0
C.Roby	2	0	0	0	0
S.Weatherford	2	0	0	0	0
S.Fujita	1	0	0	0	0
A.Glenn	1	0	0	0	0
J.Savage	1	0	0	0	0
D.Barnes	1	0	0	0	0
G.Hartley	1	0	0	0	0
G.Pakulak	1	0	0	0	0
T.Holt	0	1	0	0	0
Team Totals	106	13	2	3	0
Opponent Totals	85	12	1	2	1

**Tkl=Tackle Ast=Assist FF =Forced Fumble FR=Fumble Recovery BL=Blocked Kick**

Turnovers

Fumbles Lost: J.Shockey 2, R.Bush 2, S.Green 1, P.Thomas 1, O.Sobomehin 1, D.Brees 1 Total: 8

Opponent Fumble Recoveries: J.Vilma 3, J.David 1, U.Young 1, K.Clancy 1, T.Evans 1 Total: 7

2008 Midseason: Making the Grade

Saintsational — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:00:07 -0000

Quarterback A+

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Rating	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
2008 - Drew Brees	8	101.6	210	304	69.1	2563	320.4	8.4	15	7	11	-7	-0.9	-0.6	0	7	48

I would have given Drew an A+++++ but that would have been plain ridiculous. Best quarterback in the league and quite possibly the MVP for the first half of the season. Praising Drew comes so easy and is becoming quite redundant so consider this matter closed.

Running Back D

		Rushing						Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD
2008 - Reggie Bush	7	87	294	42.0	3.4	29	2	42	366	52.3	8.7	42	3

		Rushing						Receiving
	G	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD
2008 - Deuce McAllister	6	68	263	43.8	3.9	12	2	8	53	8.8	6.6	11	0

The running game is just plain pathetic. Check out those rushing numbers. We all have our own thoughts and opinions on this matter and frankly they are all a little accurate. Whatever the reasons for a failed ground attack it all needs to change. Hopefully we will see more of a commitment to the running game and a more balanced offense from Payton.

Receiving B

Devery Henderson	Receiving						Kickoff Returns					Punt Returns
G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	Lng	TD	KR	YDS	AVG	Lng	TD	PR	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
8	18	499	62.4	27.7	84	3	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Lance Moore	Receiving						Kickoff Returns					Punt Returns
G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	Lng	TD	KR	YDS	AVG	Lng	TD	PR	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
8	38	431	53.9	11.3	33	3	1	36	36.0	36	0	0	21	10.5	11	0

Billy Miller	Receiving						Kickoff Returns					Punt Returns
G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	AVG	Lng	TD	KR	YDS	AVG	Lng	TD	PR	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
6	23	323	53.8	14.0	41	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The receiving corp has looked pretty solid so far this season but the production has not come from who we might have expected. Devery Henderson and Lance Moore have stepped it up in the absence of Marques Colston and David Patten. Billy Miller is quietly putting together a solid season while Shockey heals. With Drew Brees spreading the ball around to everyone and their mother this is more of a team effort with everyone doing a great job.

Offensive Line C

They've been doing a good job keeping Drew safe but a pretty horrible job making some room for Deuce and Reggie. Matt Lehr has filled in pretty seamlessly under center so thats a plus. Carl Nicks is also a bright spot in this unit.

Defensive Line C

		Sacks		Interceptions			Tackles
	G	Sacks	YdsL	Int	Yds	IntTD	Solo	Ast	Total
2008 - Charles Grant	8	3.0	20	0	0	0	26	7	33

		Sacks		Interceptions			Tackles
	G	Sacks	YdsL	Int	Yds	IntTD	Solo	Ast	Total
2008 - Sedrick Ellis	5	1.0	5	0	0	0	7	3	10

The big guys on the line have turned in pretty spotty performances. We have seen some good games from them but also watched them disappear for 60 minutes. The blueprint for this unit was the New York Giants Superbowl winning pass rush and it is safe to say the Saints are nowhere close to that point. Charles Grant is now lost for the season but his play up to this point was certainly not indicative of his fat contract. Worse could be said about Will Smith so far this season. Are we surprised? The upside is Sedrick Ellis, who was a good choice and a nice addition but I think we have yet to see his full brilliance.

Linebacker C

		Sacks		Interceptions			Tackles
	G	Sacks	YdsL	Int	Yds	IntTD	Solo	Ast	Total
2008 - Jonathan Vilma	8	0	0	1	8	0	53	19	72

Vilma is another one of the bright spots of this team this season. The guy is all over the field sniffing out tackles. Unfortunately one linebacker a defense does not make. Losing Simoneau for the season was a big blow to this unit and Fujita and Shanle have simply played mediocre. I would love to see more from these guys in the second half of 2008.

Secondary C

		Sacks		Interceptions			Tackles
	G	Sacks	YdsL	Int	Yds	IntTD	Solo	Ast	Total
2008 - Mike McKenzie	6	0	0	1	14	0	19	1	20

		Sacks		Interceptions			Tackles
	G	Sacks	YdsL	Int	Yds	IntTD	Solo	Ast	Total
2008 - Tracy Porter	5	1.0	8	1	25	0	23	2	25

		Sacks		Interceptions			Tackles
	G	Sacks	YdsL	Int	Yds	IntTD	Solo	Ast	Total
2008 - Randall Gay	5	0	0	0	0	0	19	1	20

Last year these guys would probably be getting an F so a C really isn't so bad. To be fair, this unit has definitely improved. It's also amazingly sad to say that the absence of Tracy Porter seems to have caused a drop in performance. There is still a lot of room for improvement as we saw last week against San Diego. Preventing big plays is one thing but completely shutting down a teams passing offense and creating game changing plays and turnovers is another.

Special Teams C-

		Field Goals								PAT
	G	0-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	FGM	FGA	PCT	XPM	XPA	PCT	pts
2008 - Taylor Mehlhaff	3	0 - 0	1 - 1	1 - 2	1 - 1	0 - 0	3	4	75.0%	9	10	90.0%	1

I know you're probably thinking these guys deserve an F. The post-Carney kicking experiment is failing miserably but Reggie Bush and the return game is also part of special teams so that keeps this unit from getting a flat out F-.. Still, the inconsistency in the kicking game is most frustrating and I struggled even giving it the current grade.

Poll

What grade do you give the Saints for the first half of the season?

A

2 votes

B

7 votes

C

56 votes

D

10 votes

F

2 votes

77 votes | Poll has closed

Chargers @ Saints: Breaking It Down - Third Quarter

Saintsational — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:00:06 -0000

Saints Defense First Drive (3 plays, 0 yards, 0:10, Punt)

This drive looks great on paper but it could have been much worse. Vincent Jackson completely burns Aaron Glenn but drops the ball just off his fingertips for what probably would have been a score.
Charles Grant drops back and makes a nice diving play on the ball in the backfield and almost makes the pick. Pretty impressive for Charles. Not something we usually see from him.

Saints Offense First Drive (8 plays, 72 yards, 3:43, Touchdown)

After a Deuce run for only a yard we finally see Marques Colston look like his old self. He scoops up a nice catch and runs a bit more for 49 yards.
First down and Deuce runs for a loss of 1 yard.
Drew throws to Billy Miller incomplete. Then goes right back to Miller over the middle for a gain of 10 yards.
Rather then kick the field goal with an unsure Mehlhaff, Payton decides to go for it. After a fake pitch to Stecker Brees throws a short jump, dump off to - who else - Billy Miller for the first down. Nice call.
The drive ends with a play action touchdown pass over the middle of the end zone to Mark Campbell.

Saints Defense Second Drive (12 plays, 64 yards, 6:50, Field Goal)

LT runs and catches for 20 yards on the first few plays of this drive.
On third down Aaron Glenn gets called for pass interference and this keeps the drive alive. Not cool.
Rivers makes a few short passes over the middle and continues to take advantage of a weak Saints secondary.
Back to back false start and offside penalties cancel each other out. It appears it really should have been two false start penalties.
The Chargers score a touchdown on third down but they get called for holding and get pushed back 10 yards. San Diego can't convert and kick the field goal.

Saints Offense Second Drive (7 plays, 77 yards, 3:36, Touchdown)

Brees starts off going right back to his favorite target of the night, Billy Miller, for 20 yards.
Then Deuce gets involved with a 4 yard run and a 3 yard catch off a play action to him. Glad to see Payton continue to stick with McAllister.
After a 10 yard pass interference penalty on Quentin Jammer, Pierre Thomas makes a nice run off the left side for 15 yards.
Drew tries for Meachem in the endzone but Cletis Gordon makes a nice breakup. Fortunately, he gets called for interference though the call is incredibly questionable. Nice to get some calls go our way though. Ball spotted at the 1 yard line.
Mike Karney punches it in for the score while San Diego may have had 12 men on the field. No call.

The Saints appear to be well in control of this game as they head into the fourth and final quarter.

Chargers @ Saints: Breaking It Down - Second Quarter

Saintsational — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:00:07 -0000

Saints Offense First Drive (10 plays, 89 yards, 4:06, Touchdown

Saints put together another long, well executed drive.
Lance Moore makes a nice 31 yard reception as he came across the field and into wide open space.
Pierre Thomas looks like his usual self, barreling and bouncing off defenders for 8 yards and a first down.
Brees is flushed left out of the pocket and looks like he has some room to scramble but pulls up instead and finds a wide open and nonchalant Devery Henderson in the back corner of the end zone for the touchdown. It's nice to have confidence in Devery's hands back.
Mehlhaff misses the extra point.

Saints Offense Second Drive (6 plays, 25 yards, 2:00, Touchdown)

Saints get the ball back immediately after Chris Reis makes a nice play on Darren Sproles, the returner, and pops the ball loose. Usama Young is in the right place at the right time, comes up with it, and runs it back to the Charger 25.
After hitting Mark Campbell for a 13 yard first down, the Saints go to the air three straight times but can't punch it in the endzone.
Payton decides to go for it on fourth and one. He wisely gives it to Deuce, who scores the 51st touchdown of his career and moves him second on the Saints all-time list. I am pretty satisfied with Payton's decision making and his play calling mixture.

Saints Defense First Drive (7 plays, 66 yards, 3:17, Touchdown)

Rivers throws complete to Vincent Jackson on the sideline. Harper and Gay are no where near him to make a play on the ball, more worried about a big play apparently. Will Smith almost gets to Rivers in time.
LT breaks loose for another huge run of 40 yards. Harper makes a weak attempt at a tackle at the line that Tomlinson spins away from and then finds plenty of daylight.
Harper makes up for it by making a great tackle on LT behind the line for a loss of three.
On third down, Rivers finds a wide open Tomlinson underneath who then makes a move as Vilma goes sliding past him. This grass is certainly affecting this game. There is no doubt.

Saints Offense Third Drive (4 plays, 76 yards, 2:06, Touchdown)

After just one give to Deuce the Saints take to the air a bit more. First Billy Miller then Devery Henderson.
Another late hit penalty on San Diego after Henderson's 20 yard catch gives the Saints great field position.
Brees throws a great spiral and somehow Lance Moore comes up with the ball in between two defenders. He was looking over his right shoulder but made the nice adjustment to the outside after Brees threw it where he knew only Moore could get it.
The Saints have just been scoring at will this second quarter.

Saints Defense Second Drive (5 plays, 64 yards, 2:21, Touchdown)

The Saints hold San Diego to third down but Rivers completes a pass over the middle to Vincent Jakson for 16 yards. Jackson carries Gay, who looks like a rag doll, with him to the sideline. Jackson dwarfs gay so much so that I literally couldn't see Gay behind him until Jackson turned upfield. Frustrating none the less. Gay is lying on his back in pain after the play.
Then its a pass to Gates who just runs right past Usama Young straight up. 30 yards.
In case the secondary didn't look bad enough Rivers goes to Gates one more time for 12 yards and the score. Usama Young is the culprit again. He just gets outrun plain and simple. This drive was just bad. We made the Chargers offense look like...ours.

Saints Offense Fourth Drive (6 plays, 31 yards, 1:03, Punt)

Deuce has pretty much disappeared since the opening drive.
On second down Billy Miller bobbles a catch that is ruled an interception but the call is reversed and ruled incomplete.
Devery Henderson gets some separation and is open deep down field. Brees throws but the ball may have slipped a bit. The pass is underthrown and Devery's attempt to come back to it is failed.
Antoine Cason breaks up a pass to Billy Miller and the Saints punt.

Saints 7 @ Panthers 30 : Immediate Reaction

Saintsational — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:53:52 -0000

This game was awful and miserable I am completely uninspired so this will be pretty short.

This was definitely the worst loss of the season. Unlile the Saints other losses, this game was a blowout.
The Saints just came out flat. Not sure whether its being on the road or what but they definitely don't seem to have the same intensity they do at home.
Bobby McCray finally came out of his shell today and notched 6 tackles after only 3 for the entire season.
Mehlhaff was perfect on the day.
Turnovers were the key in this game. The turning point of this game was Shockey's fumble. It was all downhill from there. The Saints have started a new turnover streak.
Drew Brees did not look like this normal self today. Dropped balls and missed routes by his receivers didn't help either.
The offensive line was sub-par in their pass blocking today. Drew was forced to scramble and make quite a few throws under duress. This was also a large factor in the below average passing game. Julius Peppers had a very good all around game.
On the other side of the ball the defense didn't do a great job getting pressure on Delhomme.
Colston was obviously not really ready to go. I believe he had two drops, at least one of which would normally have been a catch.
Both Shockey and Colston may have affected the rhythm of the offense. Normally Drew indifferently spreads the ball around to whoever is open but it seemed like he was forcing some passes to a not 100% tandem of Shockey and Colston.
Maybe it was better run blocking but Reggie was actually getting nice chunks of yards on the ground. It's only fitting that during the same game Reggie seems to finally be getting it in the running game he injures his knee.
Everyone will be talking about the 3rd and one play that went to Reggie Bush on the pitch. Perhaps Payton was going with Bush because he was in a good rhythm at the time but really that is a Deuce situation.
I will spare you the "football is a game of inches" diatribe in regards to the two 4th down conversions.
The running game in general was actually very efficient. Bush, McAllister and Stecker had rush averages of 6.1, 5.2 and 5.0 ypc respectively. Unfortunately, they only ran the ball a total of 20 times. Stewart and Williams of the Panthers carried it a total of 35 times.
Tight ends Shockey and Billy Miller got some significant yardage but Devery Henderson was the only receiver to gain more than 10 yards.
Jonathan Vilma yet again finds himself at the top of the list for tackles. He also had a nice pass deflection at the line.
Unlike weeks past the Saints had trouble stopping the run and allowed 143 yards of rushing offense.
Probably the most frustrating thing about being a Saints fan year is the incredible inconsistency. Day in and day out. Week in and week out. Year in and year out.

I will leave the rest of the complaining up to you guys. There was a lot of bad out there out on the field today so I expect a lot of yelling and screaming. Don't bottle it up. Let it out.

Poll

What do you blame this loss on?

Turnovers

11 votes

Play calling/coaching

16 votes

Bad defense

0 votes

Lack of effort/focus/concentration

8 votes

Poor offensive line play

4 votes

All of the above

35 votes

74 votes | Poll has closed

Raiders @ Saints: Breaking It Down - The First Half

Saintsational — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:00:05 -0000

Back by popular demand, its "Breaking It Down." To be honest, the last few games never got recorded by my TiVo or got deleted from my TiVo before I ever did anything about it. So without further ado here is what I saw after re-watching the game on television.

First Quarter

Raiders First Drive - (9 plays, 33 yards, 3:28, Field Goal)

On the second play of Oaklands drive, Russell throws short right to Ronald Curry on a corner route. Bullocks is man to man and when Curry makes his right turn toward the sideline. Bullocks turns clockwise, his back to the receiver and turns all the way around (much like making a left turn in New Orleans) before taking the longest route possible toward the sideline. It would have been much more efficient to keep his body facing the receiver and to simply pivot to change direction. It's the little things.
On the next play Russell overthrows a wide open Zach Miller. Bullocks and Gay are on the goal line. Miller is on the five. Perfect example of how another team with another quarterback would have done more damage.
Roman Harper drops a sure and easy interception in the end zone.

Saints Second Drive - (8 plays, 67 yards, 5:33, Missed FG)

The first play is a nice completion to Reggie Bush on the right side. Shockey is right there on the sideline clapping and enouraging.
This drive was the Billy Miller show. He caught 3 passes for 25 yards.
Unfortunately, this was also the Jammal Brown show. Brown got called for two holding penalties for a total of 20 yards and single handedly killed this drive.
Mehlhaff pulls the kick and it looks like it misses by just a foot. \
After two penalties and a missed field goal, this drive and this game look like they are heading down the same old path the team followed on Monday night. Someone must have said something on the sideline because that was the last we would see of the "old" Saints.

Raiders Second Drive - (9 plays, 24 yards, 4:27, Punt)

Saints have great coverage downfield on the first play and force Russell to throw it away. Yeah that's right...I said great coverage. Get used to it.
Randall Gay makes a nice pass breakup that could have been an interception. I'll take it.
On third down Russell again goes deep to a receiver and agian overthrows. David appears to have good coverage. Looks like he might have actually made a play on the ball if the throw was accurate.

Second Quarter

Saints Third Drive - (18 plays, 86 yards, 10:59, Touchdown)

Okay, this is where I get confused and frustrated. First play of the drive and Deuce gets a nice run up the middle for 9 yards. He then checks out and the next play is a pitch to Reggie who winds up gaining nothing. Why not leave Deuce in and let him finish off his work in progress? 2nd and 1 is the perfect time for a guy like Deuce! Why not keep pounding up the middle? That is not a Reggie situation! Am I wrong?
To be fair, on that 2nd down run by Reggie Mike Karney is out as the lead blocker and releases his man way too early. That Raider winds up forcing Reggie to cut up the middle instead of continuing outside as designed.
Lance Moore starts getting in on the action with this drive. On his first catch he actually makes a little run after the catch, not something he is known for. On his second catch it looks like a possible horse collar that goes uncalled.
Great job by the offensive line giving Drew forever to make his passes.
Much to my delight they stick with Deuce and he puts together a couple of good runs. Then McAllister checks out and Reggie runs one. That's followed by a play action pass to Moore for 19 yards and is capped off by a Reggie run up the left side for the score. Karney makes the deciding block on the TD run. Good play calling and nice balance on this drive. This drive was pretty close to ideal with the exception of maybe just a bit more Deuce. We know what this offense is capable of and we can all point to this drive as our model.

Raiders Third Drive - (6 plays, 21 yards, 1:57, Missed FG)

The Raiders take over from the 40 after a Mehlhaff kick out of bounds.
Russell overthrows again to Javon Walker. Jason David is tight on him though. I'll give this battle to JD because I'm not sure what would have happened had the pass been better.
The defense looked good on this drive. Great job stopping McFadden on the run and good coverage.

Saints Fourth Drive - (6 plays, 28 yards, 0:58, Field Goal)

Drew Brees continues to slice and dice the Oakland secondary. First a 17 yarder to Lance Moore then to Devery for 18 yards on the very next play.
After going 16/16, Drew's next two passes, one to Reggie and one a throw away, go incomplete.
Mehlhaff kicks his first NFL field goal. His confidence meter starts to rise.

Raiders Fourth Drive - (5 plays, 34 yards, 0:44, Missed FG)

The Saints only have 6 guys in the box so Russell exploits it by throwing underneath to a wide open Higgins.
Roman Harper takes a JaMarcus Russell pass in the nuts that he should have intercepted.
Vilma makes an awesome read on a pass and nails Fargas as he gets the pass on a screen.

We all know that the half ends on a sour note. It appears like Drew Brees probably signaled for time out before the clock ran out but in the end it winds up being negligible. The other thing I noticed both at the game and watching the game on television is the relationship between Payton and Shockey. J. Shock is always hovering around Payton on the sideline like a lonely puppy including the conversation with the referees at the end of the half. Just something I noticed.