Behind Drew Brees, Colston is arguably the most valuable player on the Saints offense.  He set an NFL record for most receptions in his first two years as a pro and has been the leader of the Saints receiving corps from the day he set foot on the practice field two years ago. 

Unfortunately, Colston has been paid like a 7th round draft choice instead of a Pro Bowl caliber player for the past two seasons.  But being the stand-up, classy guy that he is, Colston hasn’t made a peep about the pebbles he’s been playing for, until now.  And his strike couldn’t have come at a better time. 

Now is the perfect moment for the budding superstar to make his protest for more money.  We are chest-deep into the NFL offseason, he isn’t missing any mandatory activities, and his absence is giving the other twelve thousand wide receivers on the Saints roster an opportunity to get some reps. 

Besides, you think Colston is sitting at home watching baseball on his couch getting fat?  I seriously doubt it.  I bet he’s in his backyard trying to figure out a way to make the jugs machine throw him slant routes.   

So it isn’t a big deal that Colston was a no show at this week’s voluntary OTAs.  The Saints know he is their best receiver and they’ll have a contract extension in the works soon enough.

But as long as we’re on the topic of Saints wide receivers, why don’t we take a more detailed look at who will be filing up behind Colston next year on the depth chart.

As far as I’m concerned, the battle for the No. 2 wide receiver spot will be one of the fieriest fights in this year’s training camp.  Of the top six receivers on the roster behind Colston, only three have a legitimate shot to secure the second starter position.  Devery Henderson, David Patten and Robert Meachem are the candidates.  Terrance Copper, Lance Moore and Adrian Arrington will be duking it out to be the third and fourth options.

Here’s how I see it playing out: The opening day starters will be Marques Colston and David Patten.  Patten, being the grizzled veteran that he is, will do enough in training camp to secure that opening day nod.  Meachem, however, will be nipping at his heels. 

I’m optimistic.  I think Meachem is going to make something of himself this season.  Do I have any concrete evidence to suggest that Meachem will be any more useful to the Saints than a five dollar bill at a strip club?  Of course not.  I guess it’s just wishful thinking.  But all reports out of Saints camp so far peg Meachem as being a drastically improved player, so we’ll see what happens.

If Meachem does pan out, he’ll force his way into the starting position by mid-season.  Patten will work back into the third-receiver slot position where he’s better suited anyway, and Meachem will begin to make amends with the team and fans for redshirting last season. 

So by mid-season the depth chart will look as follows: Colston, Meachem, Patten, Henderson, Moore.  I’m putting Moore in front of Copper and Arrington because I’ve never seen him drop a ball.  Behind Colston, Moore may have the best hands on the team.  His only drawback is size.  He’ll make some plays in special teams though and find his way onto the field in some capacity.

Arrington is a wild card.  The Saints plucked him in the 7th round of this years draft and have had nothing but good things to say about him thus far.  The question is, will he impress coaches enough in training camp to keep himself employed or will he be sent packing? 

In the end, this year’s receiving corps, with the exception of Meachem, will be similar to last season’s.  And if the Saints are smart, they’ll get a deal for Colston done quickly because if anyone deserves a pay day, it’s him.
         

This season the Saints will look to follow that blueprint after spending nearly all of their offseason attention on defensive improvement.  And much like the Giants, the Saints will lean heavily on a stacked defensive line to set the tone.

It all starts with Will Smith.  Smith has been the best player on the Saints defense for the past two seasons.  He’s the quickest, fastest and strongest defensive lineman in Black-and-Gold and when he plays well, the defense feeds off of him. Contractually speaking, the fifth-year pro is set for a pay day.  He’s been playing under his rookie contract since, well, his rookie year.  The Saints understand that Smith is worth more than one million a year–which he would receive this season under his current deal.  A contract extension is in the works and should be done by training camp.   After Smith’s deal is complete, the Saints will have heavy money invested in the bookends of their defensive line, which leads me to the next most important player on the line, Charles Grant.

Grant had a disappointing 2007 season.  He battled nagging foot and leg injuries throughout the whole year which robbed him off his explosiveness coming off the ball.  This is a new year, though, and come training camp, Grant should be healthy and ripping and rearing to go. 

The Georgia native is an emotional force for the Saints.  Following the departure of Joe Horn a year ago, Grant immediately assumed the role of locker room loudmouth, but in a good way.  It seems like he is always upbeat and optimistic, no matter how bad the club may be struggling.  Last season as the Saints were toiling in the negativity of an 0-4 start, Grant made it a point to declare that the team would rally back and win their remaining 12 games.  “12-0,” he said when asked what his prediction for the rest of the year was.  “We are winning the rest of our games.”  His prediction was a bit off, but it’s his positivity that counts. 

And for those worried about whether or not legal troubles will plague Grant this season, don’t be.  If you read the details of the case, you’ll understand that Grant is only being targeted because of his wealth and fame.  The charges being brought against him are thoroughly bogus and he should be exonerated fairly quickly and easily.

I expect a bounce back year from the bug-eyed, dreadlocked No. 94.

If the strength of the defensive line starts with Smith and Grant, then it ends with newcomers Sedrick Ellis and Bobby McCray.  These guys are your two wild-cards going into this season.  The success of the Saints defensive could very well be contingent upon how well Ellis and McCray perform.

Will Ellis instantly seize the starting job in training camp and begin his quest to become Warren Sapp-like dominant?  Or will it take a while for him to adjust to the speed of the game?  Should Ellis adapt quickly, the Saints will have the luxury of combining power (Ellis) and speed (Brian Young) together at the two tackle positions.  If he’s slower on the uptake, New Orleans might chose to employ a different strategy, which again provides me with a beautiful segue into my next point pertaining to Bobby McCray (got to love that flow).

McCray’s addition to the team went relatively unnoticed this offseason, perhaps being overshadowed by the acquisition of Jonathan Vilma and Randall Gay.  What won’t go unnoticed though is if he can help bolster the Saints pass rush.  McCray is a speed guy who plays best coming off the edge.  If he can put consistent pressure on the quarterback from the outside, the Saints can then think about moving Grant towards the interior at times.  That would give Gary Gibbs a world of stunt and blitz packages to play with. 

To sum it all up, the Saints are somewhat stacked along the front line heading into the upcoming season.  The infusion of talent in Ellis and McCray coupled with the veteran leadership of Grant and Smith gives New Orleans a lot to look forward to.  They may not be at a Super Bowl level yet, but the Strahan, Umenyiora, Tuck potential is certainly there.  
 

With that said, here are a few Black-and-Gold topics you can munch on for the time being—or at least until minicamp ends Sunday.

How will the offensive line handle the permanent loss of Jeff Faine? 
Last season Faine missed a few games with an arm or chest injury (I’m not sure which, probably both) and backup Jonathan Goodwin filled in for him.  Goodwin did a commendable as a replacement and the Saints didn’t miss a beat on the line.  The question is, how will Goodwin play in a full time roll and captain of the O-line?  The closest he has come to being a full-time starter was in 2005 when he started 10 games for the Jets.  Other than that, he’s been a career backup since he entered the league in 2002.

An offensive line works best when it works together as a unit.  That’s what made the Saints’ O-line one of the best in the league last season.  They knew and trusted the men they were going into the trenches with.  Faine, I feel, was a natural leader and had a lot to do with creating a confident air among his fellow big uglies.  Can Goodwin have that same effect? 

Minicamps and offseason workouts are essential to developing cohesion along the lines, so now is the time for Goodwin to prove he’s worthy of the starting nod.  The coaches thought enough of him to let Faine defect to the Bucs.  We’ll see if he can live up to the billing.

New player impact.
This is a broad topic because it encompasses so many players at so many different positions.  Here is a list of new (and in one case, semi-new) players who have the opportunity to make a big impact in Black-and-Gold next season. 
Jonathan Vilma- If he’s healthy, he will immediately become the Saints best defender.
Sedrick Ellis- The Saints haven’t had a dominant defensive tackle since Laroy Glover.  Ellis wrecked shop on offensive lines in college, but will his talent and drive translate to success in the pros?
Robert Meachem- In my opinion, Meachem should have to endure another year of rookie hazing.  He should be taped to goalposts and made to carry the veteran’s bags for another year.  It’s only fair.  If Meachem was smart, he’d do it voluntarily to try and make up for his shameful effort last season. 
Tracy Porter/Randall Gay- If just one of these guys can make somewhat of an impact this season, I’d be overjoyed.  On second thought, as long as they don’t get burned by at least 20 yards on every play, I’ll take it.  Wow, I can’t believe how low my standards are for cornerbacks.  Thanks Jason David and Fred Thomas, you’ve allowed me to forget what a real life cornerback looks like. 

How does Reggie look?
I may be drastically outnumbered in my opinion, but I think Bush is primed for a break out season.  He took a pounding last season, both on the field and in the media.  Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline wrote an article a few days ago proclaiming Bush as the most overrated player in the NFL.  I don’t think this is going to sit well with Reggie.  To me, Bush comes off as an internally motivated player.  He’s a Chris Paul type.  A guy who takes it as a personal mission to defy all of his critics.  I think Bush has been stewing all offseason about how poorly he played a year ago and how many detractors he picked up along the way.  Redemption is goal No. 1 in his mind.  I expect big things out of him this season.

So relish in the news and notes from this weekend’s minicamp, Saints fans.  Soak up all you can because it’ll be a while before the pads start popping again.              

Me: Tracy….Porter? Who the heck is that?

Mo:  Tracy Porter…senior…Indiana University (said searchingly).

Me: Who is Tracy Porter?

Mo: Never heard of him.

Me: Well, at least we got Ellis.

Directly following the draft, all news and notes about the Saints’ selections centered on Sedrick Ellis, and rightfully so.  He’s the big time run-stuffing, pass-rushing All-American who is expected cannonball his way into the Saints starting lineup this fall.

One thing Ellis can’t do though is jam a receiver at the line of scrimmage or jump a slant route and make a pick.  Those duties will be assigned to Porter—a man, up until a few weeks ago, I knew less about than the NHL.  (Quick, name 10 NHL teams in 25 seconds starting now…….Ok, stop.  I only came up with three) 

But if the Saints invested a second-round pick on this guy, I figured he must have some redeeming qualities, despite the fact that I’d never heard of him or seen a single down he’s played.

What I found out about him with a quick and easy Google search was pretty impressive.  First of all, I didn’t know the guy was Louisiana born and bred.  Straight out of Port Allen, LA, Porter only started playing football his junior year of high school football.  That explains why he played for a bottom dweller in the Big 10 instead of somewhere in the SEC.  He wasn’t on the recruiting radar early enough. 

When you look at his college stats, a couple of things jump out.  The day he walked onto campus he was a starter.  He earned a spot on the Big 10 All-Freshman team and made two picks in his first ever college game.  Four years later when all was said and done, Porter finished second in school history in interceptions with 16 and first in interception return yardage with 413.  He was named first team All-Big 10 as a senior.

Those are some pretty hefty accomplishments for a guy who had only been playing football for two years before entering college.  And it shows he’s still improving. 

As it stands, the Saints are backlogged with players at the cornerback position.  Unfortunately, in this case quantity doesn’t translate into quality.  Going into training camp the projected starters will likely be Jason David and Mike McKenzie—assuming McKenzie has fully recovered from knee surgery and David doesn’t get burned so badly in minicamp that he’s extradited to the Voodoo. 

Those are some shaky projections though and I have a feeling that the coaches will be looking for someone to emerge from the pack.  Randall Gay and Usama Young would seem to be Porter’s biggest competition.  But if Porter lives up to the second-round talent the Saints feel he has, Sedrick Ellis might not be the most talked about rookie in Black-and-Gold next season.     
 

But because the NFL is a league of trends, and because a strong defensive line is what made the Giants champions and set the current trend, the Saints went with Ellis.

I haven’t seen Ellis play a single snap of football in my life, so I can’t really judge if he’s any good or not.  But judging from what people who have seen him play say, this guy is a monster. 

But should the Saints have taken the second best defensive lineman on the board over the No. 1 rated cornerback?  I think so.  Many people would argue that any other year besides this one, Ellis would have been the best defensive lineman in the draft.  I’ve heard him referred to as the 1a. to Glenn Dorsey’s 1.  That’s encouraging to hear because in my opinon, Glenn Dorsey is one of the most dominant interior defensive lineman to every play in the SEC. 

If Ellis is near Dorsey’s level, the Saints have found themselves a keeper. 

I think it’s a smart move to go with defensive line over cornerback at that spot.  When you think about it, no cornerback is any good if the opposing quarterback has all the time in the world to throw around him.  Defense starts and ends with the defensive line, and a quality interior lineman is vital to rushing the pass and stopping the run.

Another thing I like about Ellis coming to New Orleans is his relationship with Ed Orgeron, the Saints defensive line coach.  Orgeron recruited and coached Ellis during his time at USC.  Now he’s Ellis’ coach on the pro level, which is good for the rookie because he’ll have a familiar face to talk to in the early stages.  The sooner Ellis becomes comfortable in the Black-and-Gold, the sooner he’ll be able to get on the field and start blowing people up.   Orgeron will help Ellis make a smooth transition. 

So for the first time in a while, I’m not left scratching my head in confusion after the Saints made their first-round selection.  Ellis was the best available player on the board and he may soon be the best defensive lineman on the team.             

I am definitely excited.  Today the Saints will make additions to their roster that could possibly put them in position to win a Championship.  Don’t underestimate the importance of a good draft.  These are the players that could either elevate your team to that next level, or cripple your roster with failed expectations. 

With that said, here are a few thoughts I have on the morning of the 2008 NFL Draft:

The Saints are going to move…a lot.  No one has been hotter on the rumor mill over the last week than New Orleans.  Whether it’s to move up to the No. 2 spot to snag Dorsey or a second-round swap for Jeremy Shockey, the Saints aren’t expected to sit still today.  The latest rumor that’s been circulating is that Jamaal Brown is being dangled on a string in front of the Rams.  The Saints desperately want to move up to the No. 2 spot and offering a Pro Bowl left tackle might force the Rams pick up the phone and listen. 

I think a more realistic move for the Saints will be making a go at Sedrick Ellis.  He’s the second best option at defensive tackle and won’t cost as much as Dorsey would.  A move from No. 10 to No. 7 is much more plausible than moving up to the No. 2 spot.  And the Patriots, who own the No. 7 pick, are big time draft day movers.  They likely won’t be able to resist moving back three spots and picking up a 2nd rounder in the process. 

Thought #2: When the dust settles around 10 p.m. the Saints will have two immediate impact players in the fold.  Saturday’s draft consists of just the first and second round.  The remaining rounds will be completed Sunday.  So at the end of today, New Orleans hypothetically will have selected a player in the first and second round.  I think that by the time the sinks below the Baton Rouge levee, the Saints will have selected an impact player and traded for one. 

Whatever they decide to do in the first round (unless they trade down or out) will yield an impact player.  Odds are they’ll select somewhere in the top 10, which means whoever they get will be a highly regarded commodity. 

The Saints are going to use their second round pick to snare Shockey.  It’s a foregone conclusion that he will be moved this weekend, and word has it he’s pushing for relocation to the Big Easy.  He played under Sean Payton for a season in New York and likes him as a coach.  I expect him to be a Saint at the end of today.  The Giants can’t afford to keep him on their roster because of the animosity that developed during his injury last season, so their hand is essentially forced.  When the Saints go on the clock in the second round, the Giants will probably call and offer Shockey for that pick.

The Saints will say yes and go to bed Saturday night comfortable with the two brand new difference makers wearing the beloved Black-and-Gold.    

But if someone made me choose between the two; if someone threatened to blow up Tiger Stadium unless I picked the Saints or LSU as my favorite football team, there’s no doubt in my mind who I’d pick. 

It would be the Saints.  Of course it would. Who dat baby!

That, of course, is not the topic of my post today.  The reason I bring it up is because there might be a situation — as we linger on the eve of the Super Bowl of NFL offseason this weekend — in which I might have my cake and eat it too.

You see, this year’s graduating class of Tigers is ripe with talented players. And it just so happens that these athletes play the exact same positions the Saints need to address.

With the exception of Early Doucet (wide receiver) and Jacob Hester (fullback), every draft-eligible Tiger this year plays a position of need for the Black-and-Gold.

Here’s a look at a few possibilities:

Defensive Tackle: Glenn Dorsey

This is the obvious one. Help on the interior of the defensive line is currently the Saints biggest need.  Dorsey is priority No. 1 for the Saints draft camp and should be. He would provide instant production at a position where the Saints are undermanned and would immediately become the most beloved Saint on the roster.

Linebacker: Ali Highsmith

Highsmith’s stock plummeted fast after the NFL combine where he ran a 5.0 forty time. He said he was battling a groin injury, but I think he just forgot to take off his ankle weights.  Nevertheless, Highsmith is now projected as a late third, early fourth round pick.  The Saints could get incredible value in Highsmith if they grabbed him in the fourth round.  This is a guy who played in 12 games as a true freshman in 2004 (the year after LSU won the national championship) and became a full-time starter as a sophomore.  In the SEC, that’s hard to do.  New Orleans needs to add depth at linebacker and Highsmith would be a great fit to come in and develop himself as a backup with the potential to become an impact player two years from now.

Cornerback: Chevis Jackson

The only reason Jackson isn’t being touted as a second-round pick is because of his speed.  He didn’t run as fast as people thought he could in the forty, so his stock took a nose dive.  Let me say this: if Chevis Jackson is available in the fourth round when the Saints are on the clock, they’d be stupid not to take him.  Trust me, Jackson has NFL starter written all over him; he’s one of the most athletic players to come out of LSU in a while. 

I remember watching him work out at LSU’s pro day last month and just being astonished at how high he leaped in the high jump.  He hung in the air so long, I wondered if I had enough time to go eat a sandwich and be back before he came down. It was remarkable.  The Saints need all the help they can get at cornerback and Jackson would be a steal in the fourth round. 

Safety:  Craig Steltz 

I am of the opinion that the Saints hurt just as bad at the safety position as they do at corner.  Josh Bullocks is undeniably the worst starting safety in the league and Roman Harper, while he is getting better, still blows way too many coverage assignments. 

Steltz is a high-energy guy who the Saints should really look at if he’s around in the fourth or fifth round.  The former Rummel star isn’t the best athlete around, but he’s got incredible instincts and a nose for the ball like you wouldn’t believe.  Plus, he’ll knock the snot out of you if he gets a good opportunity.  The Saints need a hustle guy like Steltz on the roster—if only to replace the dearly departed Steve Gleason’s hustle.  RIP Steve Gleason’s hustle (and wild-flowing hair), you will be sorely missed.

So if New Orleans is smart, they’ll look long and hard at what’s coming out of their own back yard in this year’s draft.  They could find some serious talent in the later rounds and make me a happy man in the process.              

The latest and most noteworthy rumor presently swirling around New Orleans is the Glenn Dorsey trade up.  Sources are saying Dorsey is the No. 1 focus for the Saints draft camp right now.  He’s the top player on their board and from what I’ve heard in the past two days, the Saints are going to pull out all the stops to try and get him. 

Problem is, St. Louis might want Dorsey just as badly. 

The Rams are now on the clock after the Big Tuna reeled in Jake Long on Tuesday, so that means no one makes a move for Dorsey at the No. 2 spot unless St. Louis says it’s okay

I know Jim Haslett loves Dorsey with the second pick. He was practically drooling over him at LSU’s Pro Day a month ago.  He will undoubtedly be pushing his club to take Dorsey.

The Rams might be thinking bigger picture though, with their biggest need being on offense, not defense.  Their offensive line is soooo bad.  Jonathan Sullivan could probably even get a sack on them.  This has to be the top priority for St. Louis.

Wouldn’t it make sense then for them to swap picks with New Orleans, grab OT Ryan Clady with the tenth pick, and then have the Saints’ second and third round picks and next year’s first round pick to play with?  Of course it would.  I’m not absolutely sure that’s what New Orleans would offer, but it would likely be in that neighborhood.

Whether or not the Rams make a move remains to be seen.  But you can count on the Black-and-Gold putting the full-court press on for Dorsey. 

The other rumor involving New Orleans and the draft is the Jeremy Shockey deal.  Supposedly it’s Shockey for a second-round pick and possibly Roman Harper. The Saints have to be careful with this one. 

Shockey could be a monster pick up for New Orleans.  He would give Drew Brees yet another weapon to torture defenses with.  But if he comes at the cost of Roman Harper, the Saints have to back off.  They just cannot afford to swap defense for offense at this point, especially Roman Harper – probably their best defender in the secondary. 

If the Giants asked for Josh Bullocks instead, the Saints would pull a hammy getting to a phone to accept.  Unfortunately, the Giants aren’t in the market for an undersized safety who can’t make a read or stick a tackle to save his life.

What the Saints can do though is play hardball.  I’m pretty sure the Giants and Shockey aren’t exactly seeing eye-to-eye anymore which means he’s got to be moved eventually.  All the Saints have to do is sit back and wait them out. New York needs to move him more than New Orleans needs to acquire him.  Disinterest is the ultimate bargaining chip.

So as of now, the Saints are heavily rumored to be making some legitimate moves on draft day.  Stay tuned who dats, it’s about to get interesting.      

I’m talking, of course, about wide receiver Robert Meachem. 

Plenty of people have already written Meachem off as a bust.  I understand that point of view completely.  If a guy is drafted in the first round, he should crack the lineup at least once in his rookie season, no questions asked (unless he’s a quarterback who’s purposely sitting a year to learn the NFL game).

In Meachem’s case, he didn’t even crack the active roster. 

But I’m not ready to name Meachem the next Jonathan Sullivan.  Not yet, at least.  Sullivan, as I’m sure plenty of you Saints fans painfully recall, was a guy the Saints traded up for in the 2003 draft.  He was the defensive tackle that was supposed to solve the Saints’ defensive woes.  Of course, he didn’t.  Instead, Sullivan ate himself out of the league and in the process set the Saints defense back at least five years. 

If you don’t believe me, try this on for size.  Here is a list of three guys the Saints could’ve drafted had they not moved all the way up to the No. 6 slot to pick Sullivan: Troy Polamalu, Marcus Trufant and Nnamdi Asomugha.

All three have made at least one Pro Bowl and Trufant and Polamalu have played in a Super Bowl.

Like I said before, I’m not prepared to say Meachem is the next Sullivan.  It’s just way too early in his career to make that judgment.  Sullivan toiled through at least two or three years of worthlessness before the Saints finally gave up on him.

Meachem should get a least a full season of play under his belt before we can decide whether he’s worth a damn or not. 

Who knows? He could be a late bloomer. He could come in this season with a huge chip on his shoulder, (a Sullivan sized chip, perhaps?) wanting to prove to everyone that he is a first-round talent. 

That task might be a tough one though.  With Colston, Henderson, Patten, Copper and maybe Lance Moore firmly entrenched ahead of him in the rotation; he will have to really turn some heads in camp.

With the odds stacked against him though, I think Meachem will respond this season.  I think he’ll do enough in camp to earn some playing time and when he gets it, he’s going to do something with it. 
My prediction for what essentially will be Meachem’s rookie season: 35 catches, 400 yards and two touchdowns. 

But if he doesn’t pan out like I’m hoping he will, at least the Saints will have another rookie-first rounder to get excited about.   

But as I’ve chronicled so often over the past year, New Orleans has been atrociously horrible in the secondary for the last few seasons. 

So the addition of Old Man Aaron (can we really call him anything else after 15 seasons in the league?) has to be seen as a move made to strengthen the position.

I say strengthen because I don’t want to think that OMA has a legitimate shot to secure the starting position.  I’d like to think he’s there to provide depth. 

If the Saints had signed OMA, say eight years ago when he was hitting his athletic prime, I’d have said that was a really solid pickup.  But he is now 35 years old and hasn’t been a starter since 2004.  He can’t be considered the answer to the Saints’ cornerback woes. 

Odds are OMA is getting a one-year deal in the $1 Million range, which means the Saints aren’t expecting much out of him.  Perhaps he’s being brought in to serve as both a mentor and an on-the-field contributor. 

Either way, his signing doesn’t really mean much. He’s coming cheap and he won’t do anything to screw up the secondary—only because it can’t possibly get any worse.  Maybe it’ll be good to have a guy whose been around forever in the locker room to provide guidance.  Like I said, it can’t really hurt.    

So now you’ve got to wonder where New Orleans will be going in the draft.  They’ve added two cornerbacks in free agency thus far in Randall Gay and OMA, so does that mean they’ll look elsewhere with the No. 10 pick?  I think it does. 

Of course, the cornerback position is still in need of an upgrade, but with upwards of six cornerbacks now on the roster, New Orleans has to be looking for help elsewhere with that first-round selection.

Defensive tackle maybe?  Linebacker perhaps?  Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until April 26 to find out.