Posted by  Shawn Golan, Los Angeles, CA on 07/23  at  09:49 AM

One of the hardest things to find in the NFL is a true nose tackle - the kind that “commands” the double team.  If you can find one, your pass rush will usually be formidable.  The problem is that a lot of players get called NTs, but aren’t.  Sedrick Ellis is one of them, Hovan too.  In truth, they are nothing more than solid DTs.  They don’t have the speed to be a 3-technique, and don’t have the size to play the nose.  Place-holders, that’s all they are.  Solid players, but nothing thats going to improve a defense considerably.

Posted by  BigBucFan, Vero Beach on 07/23  at  09:26 AM

Shawn, I agree 100% with that assessment. I think Ellis like the Young Bucs Linemen, with hard work will get better each season. It’s hard to be a dominant defensive lineman in your rookie season. Look at Mario Williams in Houston now. All the Sports Gurus said what a bad choice Houston made instead of Reggie Bush or Vince Young. It just took a little time for Mario to develop, but he is a dominate force now. My own personal opinion is that many Trojans & Buckeyes get caught up in their own hype. They end up stepping back at the next level before they can move forward, because their conferences can be over-rated, unlike the SEC which usually has at least 6 top 10 teams. Humbling experiences are commonplace in the SEC.

Posted by  Shawn Golan, Los Angeles, CA on 07/23  at  08:36 AM

SaB-NOLA:

I understand what you’re saying - believe me, I do.  We’re having the same issue in Tampa and its caused our pass rush to slow down considerably.  The problem with your line is that the only guy that commands a double team is Thomas, and he won’t play every down.  I’m a west coast guy, so I’ve seen Sedrick Ellis play often.  He is NOT a true Nose Tackle.  He’s quick and strong enough, but a good NFL Center or Guard can take him alone.  Pac-10 stats and performances are overrated - this is NOT a good conference.  Ellis is, at best, an above average player.

Posted by  Saints are Better, NOLA on 07/23  at  01:45 AM

This year with the talent of Vilma(new), McCray(new), Pressley(new), Thomas and Ellis(new), somebody isn’t going to get double teamed. Our problem is, if Vilma gets hurt, we lose the only above average,athletic LB we have. The little bit of Stats Grant and Smith got last year, was done with some elbow grease; they busted the double teams to get them; one of there hands was there each time a QB went down or forced to throw the ball away; they’re good.

Posted by  Saints are Better, NOLA on 07/23  at  01:43 AM

Shawn Golan, Los Angeles, CA,

Totally see why you would want to believe so; there are many Saints fans that feel the same way. But I’ll tell you what I tell them,you need to see the bigger picture. We will have talent this year on our D line that we haven’t had in at least 5,maybe 10 years. Sure, neither Grant nor Smith had high stats last year. Grant was hurt for half of last season(ankle). The problem we had was, Grant and Smith didn’t have anyone to inhibit the double teams.

Posted by  BigBucFan, Vero Beach on 07/22  at  08:10 PM

SaB-NOLA, I like you. You make good points when you post. We’ll have to agree to disagree on the outcome of Game 1. Your team should still be better than they were last year, with the new D players. But if they aren’t, you can always become a Buc Fan. We’ll definitely give you something to cheer about. Go Bucs!!!

Posted by  Shawn Golan, Los Angeles, CA on 07/22  at  08:09 PM

Grant is such a “bruiser” in fact that he had 2.5 “bruising” sacks last year.  And, last year was no fluke, he has 11 over the last 3 years.  What a bruiser!

He’s a bum…so is most of your defense.  I will give you love on Vilma and Mckenzie…they’re butt kickers!  Too bad they’re the only 2 you have.  Tampa, on the other hand, has a roster full…some of the backups would be starters for you guys.

Defense wins championships…that’s why the Saints won’t win any.

Posted by  Saints are Better, NOLA on 07/22  at  07:41 PM

Grant was released on chump change. If they though he was directly involved, his bond wouldn’t have been so cheap. Think about it. Not to mention, he was stabbed while the girl was being shot…
The only court room he is going to have to face is civil court. Grant will be brusing Garcia on September 7th, trust me.

Posted by  BigBucfan, Vero Beach on 07/22  at  05:58 PM

There is nothing worse than Georgia Courts. They bring new meaning to the term “Hanging Judge”. Grant will be lucky if doesn’t do some time in the slammer. Mo Stovall is a better all around player than Colston. Colston has fantastic hands, but Big Mo will break out this season. Big Mo is relentless on Kickoff coverage. A complete headhunter. Big, Fast, Hard Hitter. Not too many WR’s in the NFL do what Big Mo does. He is the human clothesline & he’s comin for you NO.

Posted by  Shawn Golan, Los Angeles, CA on 07/22  at  05:44 PM

CaliSaint, Good for you for bringing it up…sorry I missed it.  Truth is, it doesn’t matter one bit, because, in the end, you’ve got an accused killer on your payroll and you’re over here talking about character.  Yeah, Stevens ALLEGEDLY did some terrible things while in college - but he was never formally indicted because, well, the authorities didn’t think they could convict him - that’s saying something.  On the other hand, authorities are confident enough that Grant did it that they went as far as to fomally charge him.

Great character in N.O., huh?

Posted by  todd, PSJ on 07/22  at  05:29 PM

The Saints record this year will be
8-8 that is an improvement from last year. You should be happy with that. I don’t know why you guys keep trying to sell any dreams around here because you have no takers. I have been following football for the last 26 yrs. “thats probably longer than some of these Saint fans on here is old”. I am just as good or even better then alot of these NFL Comentators are on predicting games. The first 3 weeks for the Saints are not going to be pretty.

Posted by  BigBucfan, Vero Beach on 07/22  at  05:29 PM

Cali, you’re a lucky guy. You live so far away and can talk so much trash with no consequence. You throw guys under the bus for weed, which at least 2/3 of our population has smoked at least a time or two. Then you post my name in reference to Coke. Are you a coke head hypocrite or is it Co_k you like and you live in SF & take it in the backslide. I don’t know, but you keep referring to it. Please don’t discrace that populace with your self indulgence. They are all far better people than you, that don’t go into other peoples houses & pick fights. It’s just a good thing you aren’t here punk. Keep talkin bigmouth or should I say cokmouth that you like so much. Hey perv, didn’t I see you on that Dateline preditor roundup.

Posted by  CaliSaint, So Cal on 07/22  at  04:53 PM

Ref you’re too funny. Faine a franchise guy huh? So clutch we let you give him 40+mm. Haye? As in “Haye, who the eff is this nobody?” Then saying you dont care about character guys. You should apply for the Clucks GM job…...

Posted by  CaliSaint, So Cal on 07/22  at  04:50 PM

Here we go again Ref, read my posts. I ATTENDED WASHINGTON THE SAME TIME AS JEREMY STEVENS! A Collgege grad who cant read? Must have stayed home to go to school…...Dont worry Ref,  you will see a post from me following Sep. 7th. he question is what lame duck excuses you will be coming up with….You and BigCokFan and Tood PSJ. Can hardly wait broseph

Posted by  ref813, memphis on 07/22  at  04:42 PM

I don’t care if our players are stand-up guys.  We signed Stevens because we pay him little and he is good.  This is the NFL, not church.  I never liked the player misconduct.  Then, Goodell stepped in and started suspending all sorts of people who had been in trouble more than once, even for minor offenses.  Now, I’d rather let players play and role models be role models instead of forcing both roles upon players.  Some are both.  Some aren’t.  Let them play.  I can’t stand Goodell.  I hope he’s having an affair or something so that we can soon find out that he’s a hypocrite.

Posted by  ref813, memphis on 07/22  at  04:35 PM

Calisaint, are you retarded?  This league cares nothing about failed tests and minor arrests?  That’s not the case since Goodell took over.  Who hasn’t been to college?  I doubt your fellow supporter Jesse has and you and several others are certainly possibilities.  Any sentence ending in a question mark written by me is either a question or a restatement of a ridiculous comment posted by someone else.  I can’t put a period after such statements since they don’t deserve such a punctuation.  Keep enjoying our site.  I still haven’t found any reason to go checking out the sites covering your team.

Posted by  ref813, memphis on 07/22  at  04:24 PM

Jesse, I would say that Ruud, June, Phillips, Jackson, White and/or Haye, Faine, Sears, Trueblood, Joseph and Graham are all franchise players.  If you really kept up with the Bucs, you would agree.  We could use a few more franchise players at “skill” positions, but I think we’ll be fine with the O we have.
By the way, Jesse, everyone picked the Saints last year, too.

Posted by  CaliSaint, So Cal on 07/22  at  03:51 PM

Still no mention of Steven’s past? Why not? Your management was so wise in its infinite wisdom that it offered a contract to Stevens just two days after the Seatle Times printed a very lenghty article about Jeremy and his college antics…..Just two days! Learn to read into something prior to commenting. I attended Washington and was there while Jermey was there. Not a stand up guy

Posted by  CaliSaint, So Cal on 07/22  at  03:48 PM

Shawn Golan, before you go spouting off at the lip try reading some of my earlier posts where I brought that to light in great detail. Do some research huh? Maybe read all of my posts before you go blowing air about the most recent. Go take a look and let me know. How bout it chief!

Posted by  Shawn Golan, Los Angeles, CA on 07/22  at  03:30 PM

CaliSaint, before you start harping about the Bucs having guys with bad character, I’d take a look at your team first.  Didn’t one of your defensive linemen just get indicted for manslaughter?  Oh yeah…Charles Grant.  You must not have heard about that or you wouldn’t have even thought about trying to talk character.  Putz!

Just so you know, I’ll take a pot-smoking CB and one rowdy Safety over a killed any day…and twice on Sunday.

Posted by  CaliSaint, So Cal on 07/22  at  03:23 PM

When Alex Smith makes the 4 Pro Bowls then you can boast that comment guy. Ben Troupe was so good that he was jettsioned out of Tennessee although he was suppost to be the safety net for VY, yeah he’s real good…..J. Stevens was so good he dropped 3 easy first downs and a TD in the SB when he was with Seattle, thats why hes notthere anymore after being a first round pick. Not to mention his checkered past…....The other guys are nobody squared

Posted by  Bucsrule, Mad Beach on 07/22  at  03:23 PM

Caliscum, you are referring to third string safety, bottom of the depth chart, might not even make the 53 man roster, and better than every player in your secondary, Nicholson. He was trying to help a friend, made a mistake, first time offender. Relevance?????????????????? Sean Peyton would kill to have him. Gone Fishin

Posted by  CaliSaint, So Cal on 07/22  at  03:19 PM

Even this homer Ira Kaufman thinks the bucs arent in the top tier of teams in the league. He’s got NO and TB in the 2nd teir catagory. Trailing the Vikings? I dont care how good the Vikes D is, they still have TJack as their QB. Even this guy thinks that it takes more than a great D and running game to get all the way. So more for football experts huh?
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/20/sp-super-bowl-xliii-whos-got-a-shot-whos-dreaming/?sports

Posted by  Bucsrule, Mad Beach on 07/22  at  03:16 PM

Shockey v. Alex Smith. Smith is younger, smarter, faster, stronger, catches & blocks better. Complete team player and not a big complainer. Troupe, better all around. Gilmore better blocker. Stevens, the man who sealed your fate in Week 13. All you sc#mbags make sure to come back now after your Aints Week 1 loss. Nobody sucks like N.O. Sucked so hard for so long. The champions of sucking. The alltime basement of the NFL. Aints are like 1 for 40 on the winning season column.

Posted by  CaliSaint, So Cal on 07/22  at  02:46 PM

Can anyone go into any more detail about another great young Clucks player that just got tasered this morning? Fantastic character from the front office shining brightly once again. Goes to show that your owner is more concerned with the European Premier League than the NFL.