Astute Saints fans weren't counting on Dan Morgan to start at weakside linebacker, or even be on the opening day roster. And now that we know his five-plus concussions haven't inhibited him from making the smart choice about retirement, those of us are vindicated. It's also clear to everyone now that the Saints haven't upgraded that spot in the front seven at all, and that's the fault of a flawed Saints philosophy.
The team hasn't had a good set of linebackers since the early '90s. The best linebacker they've had since, Jonathan Vilma, hasn't even gone through a day of training camp. In the past, bad linebacking could be attributed to bad drafting, but Sean Payton has gone in the opposite direction.
In over two years since Payton has taken over, he's preferred veteran, unspectacular linebackers at the expense sometimes of age, health, and ability. Vilma and, arguably, Scott Fujita are exceptions. But aside from those two, we've seen Scott Shanle, Mark Simoneau, Brian Simmons, Anthony Simmons, Dhani Jones, and now Morgan brought in with decidedly average results, if any at all -- Jones didn't last a preseason, and Anthony Simmons retired in the offseason just as Morgan has. Even Vilma, with his knee, is a gamble.
Which means you'll see Shanle and Simoneau fight for the weakside job, with maybe another listless vet thrown in for "competition." But for once at this position the Saints should target upside -- perhaps a deal with Dallas for Bobby Carpenter, the former first-rounder who seems lost outside of his native 4-3. The team has gambled on plenty of linebackers lately, this is just a different sort of gamb
I agree with some of the post, however, when Sean P took over the Saints, we had multiple issues at multiple positions. I think over 3 years Sean P has slowly but steadily addressed those positions. You can do one stop shopping in the NFL. Unless you have a ton of picks( Like Kansas City) it takes time to fill bodies at every position of need. When Sean P came here, the o-line sucked. Now it's one of the best in the league. It's stocked full of talent and potential, but it didn't happen over night. We started off on the right foot by getting Vilma. The MLB was sorely lacking, however we took care of SLB with Fujita and we're trying to handle WLB soon also. If we had stayed pat in the draft, we probably would have drafted Rivers and our WLB spot would be solved, however we had proably and even bigger hole at DT and so we addressed that one. We also had some bigger issues at CB and we addressed those. In all honesty, by the time we came up to pick again in the 5th, what LB do you think was worty of picking? Not much to chose from. Now I do think we could have put more effort into bringing in some rookie FA LB's .
As for trading for Carpenter, that is something to look into, because he is obviously struggling in that 3-4 defense. We'll see what happens though.
I like the idea of bringing in Carpenter but at the right price. Maybe a 4th round pick next year. I think the Saints will address either CB or WLB with next years 1st round pick. Don't be suprised if the Saints draft a RB early next year.
Our first next year if definitely going on a OLB. I hope we could get Odell Thurman. He is young and talented and his contract would be miminal. I also believe he has no downside because he is healthy and for the last two years he has put his past behind him.
I think Payton has really tried to increase the talent level on this team across the board.
Remember, "Rome wasn't built in a day."
Sean Payton seems to address problem areas by pouring in new talent at a particular position. Early on it was the oline. This past draft he grabbed a pair of dtackles. I think that next year we may see a couple of linebackers drafted. I'm glad they got the players they did in this draft and didn't reach for a "backup" quality LB. I don't like Simoneau, but I do think that Shanle is serviceable. Not athletic or dynamic. Steady. Fairly reliable. In other words, if we go into the season with Shanle as our WLB then it won't be the end of the world.
That being said, I am intrigued by Thurman and Carpenter. Parcells loved Carpenter when he came out and may have been a little biased because his dad played for him, but the fact that Parcells picked the guy makes me think he might have something. Parcells has a great track record for finding talent. Perhaps the 34 defense is a bad fit for Carpenter. (The 34 defense seems to be a more complex d, requiring a greater emphasis on discipline and football intelligence. Maybe Carpenters game is predicated on instinct. A switch to the 43 could possibly save his career.)
True - Since Carpenter is a former first rounder and is young, Jerry will want a 2nd or 3rd for "unproven goods".
Dhani Jones was Cincinnati's leading tackler (not saying much, but I mean he led the team.) He also is slated to start at middle linebacker. If he has a 100 tackle season, then maybe this article was right about wrong linebackers.
It still seems to go back to the money. We have ofensive guys Payton dosent want to give up and while we want a tight end, our D is lacking, and so are the cap dollars. We signed Morgan to a minimal contract, Gay, Kaseviharn, McCray, GLenn, and a lot of our cap is between Brees Bush and Deuce.
It really aint our fault because really players want too much money, and use other players' salary as leverage. Particularly at corner and DE. I think if we really were gonna sign a vet, it coulda been S Gibril Wilson from the G-unit. He can play both Safety positions and would have been a definite upgrade over Bullocks and KK. I really think that he would have come out better than any besides Vilma is not better. Yet we're still signing 3rd tier defensive help.
NOw Grants indicted Morgan's retired, Glenn's hurt, Bullocks is hurt, Vilma's not 100, Mac's not 100, and Smith is unsigned.
Well Kev, June 1 cuts are comin - we'll pick up more in this garage sale comin up.
I believe next year's 4th is tied up in the Vilma deal. Depending on his performance we might owe the Jets a 4th or higher
Actually next year's fourth is fine. The deal is this, I do believe. If we resign' Vilma, the Jets get a 3rd rounder, if Vilma goes to the prowbowl or something like that, we give the Jets a 2nd rounder, but we get a 3rd rounder in return. The only thing I'm not too sure about is the fact that I also think that we get a 4th back even if we just resign him. In any event, having an extra 4th round could be a huge benefit for us.
As for Carpenter, I think he can play, I think Parcells mistake was thinking the guy would be able to pick up the 3-4, and far that's not the case. Plenty of good LB's struggle in that system. We have one of the best on our team because of that. So it would be interesting to see if we could indeed get Carpenter and let him play in his preferred 4-3 defense.
