The New Orleans Saints, where to begin? Well first off they don't know who their Head Coach will be next year....or who will be playing on defense...........or who their quarterback will be. Nevertheless I will attempt to describe what the saints should do this year.
The Saints most dire need is to find a pass rusher. They need to find someone to play opposite of Will Smith who can get to the quarterback. Now, I still think Cameron Jordan could develop into that type of player, but the Saints should draft another pass rusher as insurance. I like Boise State prospect Shea McClellin as a pass rushing end. A lot of people think Shea is too small to be a defensive end and would be better suited to play outside linebacker in a 34 defense. But he has been putting on extra weight since the end of last season and had an impressive combine showing. He ran a 4.62 40 yard dash, jumped a 9.5 feet broad jump, and had a 31.5 vertical jump.
Actually I lied, the Saints most pressing need is to sign Drew Brees to a long term contract before the pre-season starts. The Saints also need to draft a quarterback in the late rounds to develop behind Drew as I'm not sure if Chase Daniel is the quarterback of the future. The Saints could go after Kellen Moore of Boise State or Case Keenum from Houston. They are both quarterbacks that would fit Sean Payton's system being smaller, agile, accurate, decision makers. They also could potential draft Brock Osweiler from Arizona State to backup up Drew Brees. Osweiler is a behemoth of a man at 6'7'' but is also pretty good as a runner, running a 4.7 40 yard dash.
And a position of need that may not be quite as much in need now is linebacker. With the signings of Chris Chamberlain and Curtis Lofton the linebacking corps is looking strong next year, pending bounty suspensions. The Saints could look to solidify their linebacking corps with TCU prospect Tank Carder. He can play inside and outside and had an amazing combine running a 4.56 40 yard dash. He also had a broad jump of 10.1 feet and a vertical jump of 34.5 inches.
What really strikes me is that a guy with the talent of Vontaze Burfict could fall to the Saints in the 3rd round. His draft stock has fallen very low because of a lack luster junior year and some attitude problems. He also had a terrible combine running the slowest time out of all linebackers. Nonetheless Vontaze has the potential of being an amazing linebacker, and if you get him in the 3rd or 4th round I say the risk is worth it.
If the Saints can get Drew Brees signed to a contract soon I think they will be able to overcome the bounty penalty and win the NFC South again. Their toughest competition will come from a bit of a dark horse team in the Carolina Panthers. I could see the Saints winning 11-13 games and being in contention for a home Super Bowl if they adopt an "us versus the world" mentality and make this an advantage.
Good blog
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