Saints' 2013 Draft Class

The 2013 NFL Draft is now in the books, and there was not shortage of storylines. From quarterbacks dropping to Manti Tao going later than expected to the Jets adding their sixth QB to their roster, the Draft is always an exciting time.

On the Saints front, fans can follow the mantra, In Loomis We Trust. Loomis has hit on many late picks over the years and fans know Saints scouts will search far and wide for talent (Hofstra, Bloomberg, Regina) and now they can add Tarleton State to the list.

There was excitement in the first round when many highly ranked prospects dropped, but the Saints went with a guy that had been tied to them in safety Kenny Vaccaro. Some Saints fans wanted Jarvis Jones from Georgia, but Vaccaro helps the backend of the defense, in an area that was certainly needed. The best thing about the pick is it could mean less playing time for Roman Harper, which is a good thing for improving the defense.

Perhaps more exciting than the first round for Saints fans was Round 3, when after sitting idle for all of Round 2, the Saints' turn finally came around and they selected OT Terron Armstead of Arkan sas Pine Bluff.  Then moments later, the Saints were back on the clock, having traded up, to select DT John Jenkins of Georgia. They traded two 4th round picks to move up, but where'd the extra 4th come from? The rumored Chris Ivory trade to the Jets finally happened, so essentially, the Saints turned a luxury running back into an anchor for the new look 3-4 defense.

Here's a look at the Saints 2013 Draft Class:

Round 1, pick 15: Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas

 Round 3, pick 75: Terron Armstead, OT, Arkansas Pine Bluff

Round 3, pick 82: John Jenkins, DT, Georgia

Round 5, pick 144: Kenny Stills, WR, Oklahoma

Round 6, pick 183: Rufus Johnson, DE/LB, Tarleton State

Looking over the list, the Saints had a solid draft and certainly improved their team. Here's a look at some of the grades the team's five-member draft class has received:

• Mel Kiper Jr: B
• Walter Football: A
• SI.com: C
• USA Today: B+
• Sporting News: B
• CBS Sports Pete Prisco: B+
• CBS Sports Rob Rang: B-
• Yahoo: B+
• Fox Sports: B-, B+ and B

If I had to assign a letter grade on this draft, I think B+ is a fair one, but you don't really know the value of a draft class for 2-3 years.

Who will the Saints draft?

It's the day of the 2013 NFL Draft, basically Christmas morning for NFL fans as their teams are picking out a new set of toys. The Saints are picking basically in the middle of the 1st round at 15, and it's still anyone's guess where they'll go with the pick. Heck, it still anyone's guess who the top pick is going to be, let alone who will be available at #15.

I can't recall a draft with this much uncertainty before. Its the day of the draft, and there's still talk of guys leaping up into the top 10 (Tavon Austin, D.J. Hayden, Ryan Nassib) or players slipping out of the first round (Geno Smith, Corderelle Patterson, Bjoern Werner). They always say the draft is a crapshoot and that's never been more true than this year.

The Times-Picayune took a sample of 50 mock drafts to see what the Saints were projected to do, and the majority show that LB Jarvis Jones would be the selection. The next highest player was Barkevious Mingo, who is getting a lot of buzz as a top 10 pick. If he slides, I'm sure the Saints would be happy to turn in their card with his name on it.

In the same vein as the Times-Picayune, here's a look at a few mocks and who they have the Saints selecting:

• Mike Mayock: Barkevious Mingo, OLB/DE, LSU
• Sports Illustrated's Don Banks: Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia
• Sports Illustrated's Peter King: Sylvester Williams, DT, UNC
• SI.com's Twitter Fan Vote: Jarvis Jones, OLB, Goergia
• NFL Draft Countdown: Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas
• Walter Football: Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas
• NFL.com Gil Brandt: Sylvester Williams, DT, UNC
• NFL.com Daniel Jeremiah: D.J. Flucker, OT, Alabama
• Mike Detillier: Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia
• Larry Holder, Times-Picayune: Barkevious Mingo, OLB/DE, LSU
• Nakia Hogan, Times-Picayune: Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia

With all that uncertainty, this much is clear, most "experts" have the Saints taking defense in Round 1. BUT ... the Saints have been known to throw out some curveballs in the draft, so I wouldn't be surprised if they went with someone that was unexpected, and that's what makes the draft so much fun. 

If I had to narrow down the pick based on who will likely be available, I think the choice will come down to Jarvis Jones or Kenny Vaccaro, with the team choosing Jones since pass rushers are a more sought after position and safeties can be found later in the draft. If one of the top defensive linemen like Sheldon Richardson or Star Lotulelei is there, they may have to pull the trigger and take them. 

Select Crawfish for the Commish

Now Goodell says the Saints won't get their 2nd round pick back. Well, welcome to New Orleans Roger, we saved some crawfish for ya:

Record Setting: Brees Breaks Unitas' Record

Congratulations Drew!

Saints need their mojo back

What is going on around here? The Saints were finally looking like the team we thought they'd be. They were ahead 24-6 over the lowly Chiefs and had the game at hand, then the next thing you know, Saints fans are watching Ryan Succop's field goal sail through the uprights and 0-3 is exactly who the Saints are today.

There's no sugar-coating this, the Saints are a bad team right now. They have no direction and are like a rudderless ship. Of course, that's exactly what they are without head coach Sean Payton.

What was crazy about the Chiefs lost was how bad both the offense and defense looked in the second half. Saints coaches placed mirrors in each player's locker after the Carolina loss last week so there would be no finger pointing and everyone would look at themselves first. Well, I guess the offense wanted a reason to have to look at themselves in the mirror because they joined their atrocious defensive counterparts this week and stunk up the Superdome in the second half.

What happened to this team? The offensive line couldn't block anyone and the receivers have a bad case of the droppsies. Runningbacks can't get more than a few yards and Drew Brees is forcing way too many passes into coverage and suffering interceptions as a result.

That's not even to mention the defense, which is playing some of the worse football Saints fans have seen in the Sean Payton/Drew Brees era. Running backs are all looking like hall of famers and receivers are catching first down after first down with nary a defender in site. Little to no pressure is being put on opposing quarterbacks, and the once beaten down former coordinator Gregg Williams, is now being looked at in a new light, bounty scandals and all.

To not feel left out in the mirror gazing, sure-footed Garrett Hartley missed what could have been the game-sealing field goal in that unbelievable second half as well.

So where do the Saints go from here? These are all professionals and they won't just give up, but the odds and the schedule are against them. Looking at the next few weeks, the schedule is brutal (Green Bay, San Diego, Denver, Philadelphia and Atlanta are five of the next six games).

This may be one of those years where Saints fans can start reciting the old school Saints unofficial slogan, "Wait 'til next year!" Of course, next year can't come soon enough because then, Sean Payton will be walking through the door and the team will have it's mojo back.

Football is back! The Giants and Cowboys kicked off the regular season this past Wednesday and the rest of the league gets started this weekend. For Saints fans, the start of the season can't come soon enough. With bounty-gate, the ESPN-crafted eavesdropping story and Drew Brees' contract dispute, this offseason is one that fans soon want to forget. Here's a look at my take on how the season will play out: 

NFL Playoffs:
AFC North: Baltimore Ravens
AFC South: Houston Texans
AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC West: Oakland Raiders
Wild Cards: Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers

NFC North: Green Bay Packers
NFC South: New Orleans Saints
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys
NFC West: San Francisco 49ers
Wild Cards: Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears

AFC Championship: Patriots over Texans
NFC Championship: Packers over Saints

Super Bowl: Packers over Patriots

#1 Pick in 2013 Draft: Cleveland Browns

League Awards:
MVP: Drew Brees, QB, Saints
Offensive Player of the Year: Tom Brady, QB, Patriots
Defensive Player of the Year: DeMarcus Ware, LB, Cowboys
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Andrew Luck, QB, Colts
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Chandler Jones, DE, Patriots
Comeback Player of the Year: Adrian Peterson, RB, Vikings
Coach of the Year: Chan Gailey, Bills

The Deal is Done

Finally! Drew Brees has agreed to a 5 year, $100 million contract with the Saints. Man, that's a lot of Jimmy John's sandwiches. Congratulations to both Drew and the Saints, now, let's play some football.

NFL Releases 2012 Schedule

The NFL has released the 2012 schedule and like everything else the NFL does, it was big news. For the Saints, there are lots of interesting take-aways on this year's slate of games.

The first thing that pops out is that the Saints Bye week falls in Week 6. Was this a little "twisting of the knife" by Roger Goodell? What this means is that all the suspended parties (Mickey Loomis, Joe Vitt and players to be named) will have an extra week on their suspensions. The suspensions are for games, so Vitt's six game suspension will now conclude after Week 7 and Loomis' eight game one will conclude after Week 9.

Another interesting note is that even though they'll be playing without their head coach all year and there has been so much negative publicity surrounding the team that didn't stop the NFL from putting the Saints on primetime four times, including one Monday night and one Thursday night game (to be fair, every team gets a Thursday nighter this year).

The Saints open up with the Redskins, and potentially RGIII, at home and close with Carolina in the Superdome. There should be lots of fun game in between and Saints fans can't wait to see their team rise from these offseason ashes and silence all the haters.

Here's the Saints 2012 schedule:

Sun, September 9, Washington Redskins, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, September 16, at Carolina Panthers, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, September 23, Kansas City Chiefs, 12 noon, CBS

Sun, September 30, at Green Bay Packers, 3:15 p.m., FOX

Sun, October 7, San Diego Chargers, 7:30 p.m., NBC

Sun, October 14, BYE WEEK

Sun, October 21, at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, October 28, at Denver Broncos, 7:30 p.m., NBC

Mon, November 5, Philidelphia Eagles, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Sun, November 11, Atlanta Falcons, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, November 18, at Oakland Raiders, 3:05 p.m., FOX

Sun, November 25, San Francisco 49ers, 3:15 p.m., FOX

Thu, November 29, at Atlanta Falcons, 7:30 p.m., NFL Network

Sun, December 9, at New York Giants, 3:15 p.m., FOX

Sun, December 16, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, December 23, at Dallas Cowboys, 12 noon, FOX

Sun, December 30, Carolina Panthers, 12 noon, FOX

Bountygate penalties rock the Saints

The Saints have had lots of bad days in their franchise history, but none more uglier than today. The NFL has issued penalties for Bountygate, and they are severe:

• The New Orleans Saints are fined $500,000. In addition, because the violation involves a competitive rule, the Saints will forfeit their selections in the second round of the 2012 and 2013 NFL drafts.

• Saints Head Coach Sean Payton is suspended without pay for the 2012 NFL season, effective April 1.

• Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis is suspended without pay for the first eight regular-season games of the 2012 season.

• Former Saints (and current St. Louis Rams) defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is suspended indefinitely from the NFL, effective immediately. Commissioner Goodell will review Coach Williams’ status at the conclusion of the 2012 season and consider whether to reinstate him, and, if so, on what terms. Commissioner Goodell said he will give close attention to the extent to which Coach Williams cooperates with the NFL in any further proceedings.

• Saints assistant Head Coach Joe Vitt is suspended without pay for the first six regular-season games of the 2012 season.

• The Saints and the individuals disciplined today are expected to participate in efforts led by the league office to develop programs that will instruct players and coaches at all levels of the game on the need for respect for the game and those who participate in it, on principles of fair play, safety and sportsmanship, and to ensure that bounties will not be part of football at any level.

These penalties seem overly harsh, but Roger Goodell has always ruled with a strong hand when it comes to player safety. I feel like these penalties are extreme, but now the Saints have to deal with them.

Losing Coach Payton for the entire year is going to hurt the most. Effective April 1, he won't be around the team. The 2012 Saints will defiantly have a different look and feel than any Saints team we've seen the past few years.

Pete Carmicheal will call the shots on offense and new defensive coordinator (potentially the interim head coach) Steve Spagnuolo will run the defense. Joe Vitt was tabbed to be the interim head coach, but he got a six game suspension himself. It's unclear how Mickey Loomis' suspension will affect the team. Early indications are that he'll be able to run the draft, but no definite answer on that has been given. No matter what, this is a black eye for the franchise.

The issue here is that the Saints were out to hurt their opponents and when asked about the program, multiple people lied multiple times. The league vowed to stop bounty systems from happening again and these harsh penalties should do just that.

But that doesn't make this any easier for Saints fans to swallow.

Kicking us while we're down

Heartbreaking ... Sting ... Agonizing ... Hurt ... Stomach Punch ... Unbelievable ... Finality. Whatever word you want to use to describe the feelings after the Saints last minute loss to the 49ers, none of them sound good to Saints fans. Then, to make matters worse, the Giants destroyed the Packers the next day in a game that would have set up the NFC Championship in New Orleans. Talk about adding insult to injury.

What a week it has been for Louisiana football fans. First LSU no-shows the BCS National Championship game, then the Saints fight back from one of their worse performances with 5 turnovers only to lose with 9 seconds left, and lastly, news broke last night that LSU commitment and #1 QB in the country Gunner Kiel was taking his talents to Notre Dame. Anyone else want to kick us while we're down?

Back to the Saints game. I've never had a loss linger with me for days afterward like this one has. Honestly, it does hurt. This team was posed to do something special and everything was lining up for them, only to have it snatch away, not once but twice. After the Saints defense played admirable for 3 1/2 quarters, their coverage disappeared and Alex Smith and Vernon Davis took over and put the Saints away.

Sure Drew Brees and company wouldn't go down quietly. First Darren Sproles grabbed the lead only to see Alex Smith run untouched for a touchdown minutes later. Then Jimmy Graham went beastmode and seemed to have put the Saints in the NFC Championship. But then the curse of Gregg Williams struck. The curse of putting safeties in single coverage on tight ends bit the Saints defense and a couple of plays later and Vernon Davis is crying on the sidelines. You have to give credit to both Smith and Davis for excellent throws and catches, but the Saints could have put themselves in better position to stop those plays.

With a minute and a half left in the game, the goal is to let the clock run. Keep everything in front of you and tackle in bounds. Sounds hard? Not really. But the Saints stuck by what they did all year and played man on Davis and he burned them for a long gain. When they finally went zone in the red zone (with everyone thinking the 49ers would play for OT), Davis and Smith stuck the dagger in Saints fans hearts and the dream was over.

Looking back, this was an amazing season, but it will always be remembered for what could have been. Could this have been the Saints last chance to get to the promise land? As long as Brees and Coach Payton are around, this team will compete, but they could lose a lot this offseason. They already are losing Gregg Williams, but not many fans will see that as a big loss. Williams changed the defensive culture in New Orleans, but it is a good time for a change.

There are some big decisions to be made this offseason. The core of this team is in place, but with free agents like Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Carl Nicks, Tracy Porter and Robert Meachem, there are some tough decisions to be made. Brees, Colston and Nicks will be priorities, but it will be tough to keep them all. Brees isn't going anywhere, so it will depend how fast his deal gets done and what money is left for the rest of the free agents. I'd like to see both Colston and Nicks stay, but if I had to guess, I'd imagine Nicks has played his last game in the black and gold. They already invested a lot of money in Jahri Evans and do you need big money tied up in your two guards. Nicks may be the better of the two, but it's easier to replace a guard than some of the other positions.

This will be a long offseason, but an important one. The Saints don't have a 1st round pick thanks to the Mark Ingram trade, so free agency is that much more important. With Brees now 33, the window of opportunity will be closing soon, so the team needs to reload and get right back to work to make another Super Bowl run. It will be hard, but fans need to forget the "what could have been" season and get ready for next year. The Super Bowl is in New Orleans, so the Saints will have even more motivation to become the first home team in the big game.

NFL Divisional Round Predictions

Some big games this week in the NFL's 2nd round, most notably the Saints at 49ers. A lot is being made of the Saints 0-4 road playoff record and the notion that the Saints can't win outdoors. Are people forgetting their Super Bowl victory, which the last time I checked wasn't in New Orleans and was outside?

The tougher test will be the 49ers defense. They may be able to slow down the Saints power offense, but even then, the 49ers offense won't be able to keep up.

Predictions:

Saints 31

49ers 20

Broncos 21

Patriots 34

Texans 10

Ravens 24

Giants 27

Packers 23

Wild Card Picks

What a big weekend coming up for Louisiana football fans. The Saints take on the Lions in their first round playoff game on Saturday and LSU takes on Alabama in the BCS Championship game Monday night. New Orleans is going to be rocking, and it's going to be crazy.

Here's my predictions for Wild Card Weekend:

Bengals 21
Texans 13

Lions 20
Saints 38

Falcons 23
Giants 28

Steelers 17
Broncos 6

Congratulations Drew Brees and the Saints

A must read on Steve Gleason

Former Saint Steve Gleason was the honorary captain for the Saints vs. Texans game. Gleason is battling ALS and the Times-Picayune had a must read piece on him this weekend.

Ready for some football?

The NFL season kicks off tomorrow night with the Saints and Packers. What better way to start the season than with some inaccurate predictions:

NFL Playoffs:
AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC South: Houston Texans
AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC West: San Diego Chargers
Wild Cards: Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets

NFC North: Green Bay Packers
NFC South: New Orleans Saints
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys
NFC West: St. Louis Rams
Wild Cards: Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons

AFC Championship: Chargers over Patriots
NFC Championship: Saints over Cowboys

Super Bowl: Saints over Chargers

#1 Pick in 2011 Draft: San Francisco 49ers

League Awards:
MVP: Drew Brees, QB, Saints
Offensive Player of the Year: Mike Vick, QB, Eagles
Defensive Player of the Year: Ndomakong Suh, DT, Lions
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Mark Ingram, RB, Saints
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Von Miller, LB/DE, Broncos
Comeback Player of the Year: Tony Romo, QB, Cowboys
Coach of the Year: Steve Spagnuolo, Rams

Preseason Week 2: Saints at Texans

The Saints are on the road this weekend for their second preseason game against the Houston Texans. The biggest news of the week was that veteran right tackle Jonathan Stinchcomb was released. The move was a bit of a surprise, but after he played injured most of last season, the writing was on the wall for the former Pro Bowler. The Saints are groaming a new right tackle and it looks like fan favorite Zach Streif will get the first shot at the position.

A few veterans are battling through training camp injuries, so it will be interesting to see who plays and how much they play on Saturday. It will also be another chance for rookies and new comers to shine in game action. Mark Ingram, Josh Morgan and Johnny Patrick got Saints fans buzzing about their potential after their preseason debut. It will be interesting to see how they follow it up and if anyone else steps up.

In looking toward the game, I mostly want to see production from the first team offense. They didn't do much in limited opportunity against the 49ers. I'd like to see them come out like the Patriots offense has done in the preseason and fire on all cylinders, but as it is preseason, however they look, it's important to remember that we are still weeks away from these games counting and mattering. The players and coaches are more concerned with getting reps through live action and executing the play how it was drawn up. So fans need to just sit back and enjoy football and not be too critical if things aren't clicking 100 percent. Don't worry though, I'm sure Gregg Williams will make things exciting by bringing the house on blitzes even though its preseason.

As always though, here's to hoping there are no injuries!

Saints to Open Preseason Against 49ers

The Saints get the 2011 preseason underway tonight versus former division-rival San Francisco. Fans are geared up because football is back, so what to watch for tonight?

Here are some players I'll have my eye on to see how they perform:

• Mark Ingram, RB, #28 - of course all eyes will be on the former Heisman Trophy winner. This is the guy the Saints traded back into the 1st round for and reviews from camp so far have been glowing. This will be most Saints' fans first time to see Ingram in the black and gold.
  
• Cameron Jordan, DE, #94 - just like Ingram, Jordan was the Saints first 1st round pick this year and reviews have also been stellar so far. The Saints lacked a pass rush from their ends last year, let's see what Jordan brings.
• Patrick Robinson, CB, #21 - with Tracy Porter being out with an injury, Robinson has been seeing more reps and should get lots of playing time this year. Let's see what kind of improvements he's made from year one to year two.
  
• Men in the middle (Shaun Rogers, DT, #92 and Aubrayo Franklin, DT, #99) - the Saints beefed up the middle of their d-line with the additions of Rogers and Franklin. Let's see these two giants in action.
• Linebacker battle (notably Will Herring #53, Martez Wilson #95, Scott Shanle #58, Jonathan Casillas #52, Clint Ingram #57, others) - all training camp reports note OLB as the tightest and toughest race on the roster. Let's see who starts to separate themselves in this crowded group.
  
• Who's that guy? - every year fans latch onto to a "camp beast." We've seen fan favorites such as Junior Gallette (watch for him tonight as well), Pierre Thomas, Marques Colston, Rod Harper, Onome Ojo, Boo Williams, Zach Hilton, among others catch everyone's attention in the preseason. Who's it going to be this year? Some names that are being talked about in 2011 so far include Joseph Morgan, WR, #13; Joique Bell, RB, #20; Korey Hall, FB, #35; Tom Johnson, DT, #72; and Jarred Fayson, WR, #88.
• The Reggie Bush Factor - Reggie was a fan favorite, so everyone will want to see what we got for him (Jonathon Amaya, S, #40) and the man who is replacing him (Darren Sproles, RB, #43).

There will be lots to look for and lots of things to nitpick after tonight's game, but one thing we don't want to see is any injuries, especially to starters. *Keeping my fingers crossed*

Newest Saints at Training Camp

Yahoo Sports has lots of training camp pictures, including some of the newest faces at Saints camp. Here are some pictures of some of the bigger names.

The man traded for Reggie Bush, Jonathon Amaya:

Free agent signings:

Darren Sproles:

Aubrayo Franklin:

Saints 1st round picks:

Cameron Jordan:


Mark Ingram:

Cha-Cha-Cha ... Changes

The second day of free agency turned out to be a crazy, busy day for the Saints. Let's take a look at all the names that were involved in deals:

• Reggie Bush was dealt to Miami
• Remi Ayodele signed with Minnesota
• Jermon Bushrod resigned
• Usama Young signed with Cleveland
• 3rd round pick Johnny Patrick signed
• Scott Shanle, Chris Reis and Jo-Lonn Dunbar resign
  
• Danny Clark resigned
• Randall Gay was cut
• Darren Sproles was signed

Wow, take a breath. All that happened in one day. That's not to mention Lance Moore and Leigh Torrence who announced their own deals via Twitter the day before. It's safe to say that the Saints roster will be completely different than last year. It's safe to say that that roster will be changing daily in the new look NFL. The Saints official site even put up a .pdf version of the roster dated July 28, 2011, showing that they too realize this is a very fluid time for the league.

Looking at the moves, the obvious big one is trading Reggie Bush. While Bush was loved and hated by Saints fans, he was great for New Orleans. He helped put the Saints on the map and gave the team star power when it needed it most. Now he's moving on to Miami, so to fill the void and not have to alter the offense too much, the team signed Darren Sproles. Sproles is smaller than Reggie Bush, but he is a similar player to Reggie. I think this is a solid move and the spotlight won't be nearly as big on Sproles as it was on Reggie, which will be a good thing. I with Reggie Bush the best of luck in Miami. I enjoyed watching him and rooting for him. Now, let's see if can really take this opportunity to be the man and fulfill his promise.

Out of the other signings, Bushrod is probably the most important. The Saints have one of the top O-lines in the league, so keeping continuity there is important. Now, the Saints biggest move will be signing all their draft picks and resigning Roman Harper ... Oh, and there's the tiny matter of Drew Brees' contract being up after this season.

Saints get busy in free agency

After the free agent floodgates opened yesterday, the Saints are getting involved today. The biggest news is that Lance Moore resigned with the team for five years (Moore broke the news himself on Twitter). Moore is a favorite of Drew Brees and a key part of the Saints offense. The Saints also signed LB Will Herring from Seattle and announced the signing of 20 undrafted free agents.