Depth Chart

The Saints keep losing games and as usual we are forced to wait until next year. Obviously, a whole lot needs to be done to make the Saints a contender. Although the roster requires a great deal of attention, changes must start in the front office, so that's where I'll start.

Owner:

We really could use a new owner. A lot of the Saints' problems over their history stems from the fact that they have had two of the least football savvy owners the game has ever seen . To say Tom Benson is not a football guy is an understatement. This would be OK if he were surrounded by by competent front office; this explains the team's success during Jim Finks' tenure as GM. Unfortunately, since Jim Finks, we haven't had close to a competent general manager. And Benson doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to find one. He's too loyal to incompetent people & relies to heavily on them. But he's stated he has no intention of selling the team, so it's probably a moot point anyway.

He would more likely try to move the team than sell it, but I don't think he can move them. LA has no stadium and the fans are pretty apathetic. As if they would care about the Saints. LA would want a new team, not someone else's. As for San Antonio, the Alamo Dome is much smaller than the Super Dome, not to mention the fact that the Spurs hated playing in the place. And I can't believe Jerry Jones and Bob McNair would allow any more competition in Texas. McNair just paid hundreds of millions of dollars fom the Houston franchise; he raise hell if a team tried to move to San Antonio. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it were part of the deal that another team would not be allowed to move to San Antonio. Basically, I can't think of a market that they would realistically move to.

Quarterback:

Billy Joe Hobert, Billy Joe Tolliver, Danny Wuerfel.

Quarterback is a key position for this team despite its committment to the run, and the position is also the hardest to predict. The passing game doesn't need to win games for the Saints, but it must function well enough to keep opposing defenses from keying on RB Ricky Williams too much. The passing game must keep the other team honest - if opponents are able to put 8 or 9 players on the line of scrimmage every play, Ricky will have little room to run.

The starter is Billy Joe Hobert. He was rusty in Game 1, but at least he made it all the way through the game. If he stays healthy & shakes off the rust, he can probably keep the passing game efficient enough to keep our opponents from stacking the line against the run. Hobert may not ever be the type of QB who will win games for his team by himself, but he can make an offense function well enough to let the other units win. He won't make mistakes and will get good performances out of his teammates. Don't expet Marino or Elway; expect Neil O'Donnell or Jim McMahon. Neither O'Donnell nor McMahon was a great passer, but both were effective QBs who, surrounded by good running games and awesome defenses, led their teams to Superbowls. They were just effective enough as passers to keep opposing defense from smothering their running games. They were good leaders who could get the most out of their teammates and not screw up. If the Saints are going to get into the playoffs, that's how it will be, and I think Hobert can do it. He looked that good in the preseason and in his limited time in Game 1 last year. He just needs to stay healthy.

Billy Joe Tolliver played well last year, considering his supporting cast, and will be a solid backup, but I don't see him as a starter. He's never been able to win as a starter; then again, who has he played for? But he has shown he can be reasonably effective leading the Saints offense, and should be one of the better backups in the league. But if he has to take over starter for a long period of time, we could be in some trouble. But if the WRs, OL, & running are all improved over last year, he could still be efficient enough for the Saints to win.

Danny Wuerffel looked good early in the preseason, but returned to normal (throwing ducks & getting sacked alot) in the later games. Still, in the Dolphins game he looked like he could be an NFL QB. He threw some deep balls well & with zip & showed good accuracy. No frozen ropes, but he wasn't lobbing the ball either. I still would have picked Delhomme, though.

Running Back:

HB: Ricky Williams, Wilmont Perry, Lamar Smith, Troy Davis, Dino Philyaw.

FB: Aaron Craver.

At halfback, Ricky Williams is the man. He won the Heisman in college last year and set NCAA records for rushing yards and touchdowns despite being the fullback at UT for his first two years. He wasn't the featured back until his junior season. He is great at everything except maybe protecting the football. If the line can open up a few holes for him, watch out. He has an ankle injury, which I have a bad feeling is going to nag him, unless he sits out a few weeks and lets it heal. With the SF game next week and an open week after, if he sits out those 2 weeks, he should be fine for the Bears the week after.

There is one reason I think Ditka may actually do this. Lamar Smith. He was very successful running the ball against the Panthers after Ricky left with the injury. Smith was suppposed to be the man last year, but didn't do a whole lot. He was perceived at not running hard at all times; he also has no blocking whatsoever. He was hit in the backfield on half of his carries. He finally looks like what we thought we were getting last year and is off the trading block while Ricky is hurt.

Wilmont Perry is short on experience but has a lot of potential. He's big strong & fast. He looked good in limited playing time last year. He also looked good this preseason.

Aaron Craver is probably going to be the starting fullback. He played fairly well last year. I don't think he's supposed to be returning kicks again this year.

Troy Davis looked good in the preseason and made the team. He ran well, returned kicks, and blocked a punt. Dino Philyaw also was very impressive. He'll be returning kicks also.

Wide Receivers:

Eddie Kennison, Keith Poole, Andre Hastings, Brett Bech, & Lawrence Dawsey.

Kennison will be a starter & hopefully will return the consistency he showed in his rookie season. He should also see some time at punt returner. He has been having a very good camp so far.

Poole will probably beat out Hastings for other starting spot, but he hasn't really shown the necessary consistency yet. Still, he's the guy who turns short catches into TDs. Hastings has shown no consistency & has been rather undependable in two years.

Bech is a very good special teams player & has good hands, but doesn't scare anybody. I don't know why Lawrence Dawsey made the team over Ryan Yarborough, LC Stevens, or Danan Hughes.

Tight Ends:

Cameron Cleeland, Scott Slutzker, Kendall Gammon, & Josh Wilcox.

Cleeland was great last year & should get better this year. He's improved his blocking this offseason, so should see even more playing time. Now he just has to get onto the field. He's been missing time with bone spurs in his ankle. As I understand it, it's a very painful injury, but slow to heal and there isn't much of a risk of further injury. So his choice to sit out has thus far been controversial, but he'll be reevaluated this week and may possible play in the SF game.

John Farquhar wasa solid receiver & blocker, but is still battling injury -- he ended up on the injured reserve. Gammon will make the team as deep snapper, but will likely never actually see time at TE. Slutzker and Wilcox both block well, but are no contribution to the passing game. Slutzker reminded us of this by dropping a pass last week.

Offensive Line:

Willy Roaf, Wally Williams, Jerry Fontenot, Chris Naeole, Kyle Turley, Tom Ackerman, Keno Hills, Mike Halapin, & Darryl Terrell.

The starting five should be, from left to right, Roaf, Williams, Fontenot, Naeole & Turley. As a unit, they run block well, but the pass blocking has been pretty bad. The backups are Halapin, Ackerman, Terrell & Hills.

Defensive Line:

Wayne Martin, LaRoi Glover, Jared Tomich, Bady Smith, Troy Wilson, William Whitehead, Uhuru Hamiter, Austin Robbins.

Joe Johnson had a season-ending injury in preseason, which devastated the defense. The team is much weaker without him. The line should still be good, but alot depends on the health of Wayne Martin. If Martin stays healthy & starts sacking again, the line could still kinda dominant. LaRoi Glover had a great year last year. Tomich was pretty good & figures to get better, but if hurt right now as well. Smith, Wilson & Robbins were good backups & will get a good amount of playing time. Smith becomes a starter with the injury to Johnson, and looked very good in the 1st game, getting 2.5 sacks. I like what I've seen of Whitehead so far. He's very quick & could cause problems for blockers, but I don't know how much help he'll be against the run, which is what worries me. The line needs to be strong against the run because the linebackers are so ineffective.

Linebackers:

Fields.

Mark Fields, Keith Mitchell, Kevin Mitchell, Chris Bordano, Vinson Smith, Ink Aleaga.

Fields is the star of this unit. He has yet to fulfill his potential; if the coaches use him more in pass rush this year as they say they will, he could put up ridiculous sack numbers. He had 7 last year & didn't really blitz that much. He does, however, have to improve on pass coverage.

The problems are with the other positions. At the othet OLB spot, Keith Mitchell is good, but not great & hasn't really put it all together yet. Vinson Smith has a shot to win his job, but he's never been all that great.

At MLB, Kevin Mitchell did a fairly good job last year when he was healthy, but even when healthy he's no Winfred Tubbs. And he's not healthy right now. So that puts the spotlight on Chris Bordano, who impressed me last year in his rookie season. He is very good at finding the ball, but needs to make his tackles closer to the line of scrimmage & improve his pass defense. He could be good.

Defensive Backs:

Another enigmatic unit. Almost too inconsistent to figure out.

Let's start with Alex Molden. 2 years ago, he seemed to be quickly developing into the type of corner who could just shut down the opponent's best receiver. Then last year, he showed signs of that, but also had a few downright awful games. This preseason, he's been even worse, always a step behind his man. Ashley Ambrose beat him out and looks pretty good. The other starter Tyrone Drakefore had his good moments last year, but for the most part got beat & run over by everyone. It sounds like that's still the case. He's best suited for nickel back. He just doesn't have the size or cover skills you need from a starter in this league.

Rookie Fred Weary had a lot of playing time & at time showed much pro ise, yet also looked much like a rookie most of the time. He'll beat out Drakeford before long.

JeRod Cherry never seems to be able to get much better, though a good special teams player. Earl Little is also a good special teams player, but needs a lot of improvement to be a quality corner.

At safety, I'm pretty much lost. Sammy Knight has a way of being in the right place at the right time, but isn't very fast and he doesn't provide much help on deep balls. And he has some tackling problems. Rob Kelly is hard to gauge because he has had little playing time in two years. He has had some good plays, but also some bad ones. He's looking better. Chris Hewitt is a good special teams player & decent backup.

page last updated 9.13.99

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