SAINTS EXCHANGE

Dario "The Realist":

Why do you love reggie bush so much? I don’t know. He is overrated Louis. Seriously……. He gets way more attention than his production warrants.

Louis "The DeadLock Saints Fan":

From memory alone and watching the game and not from stats, Duece is a much better short yardage back than deuce is as far as pounding it in there.

As I said I made my determination about Deuce long before looking at the stats. I look for end results and not how you did it. Yeah Deuce pounds it in there but the stats still don't lie and my eyes didn't lie to me before the stats. Since Deuce has been our Starting running back we have always been a below average short yardage team, even back in the Haz days.

Louis:

Minnesota- Peterson and Taylor – Peterson was explosive north and south hit the hole runner and Taylor is more of a look for the hole and not as explosive

Chester Taylor is a BEAST. I think he is just as explosive as Adrian Peterson, but than I think the O-line really contributes to that tandem, and don't bring up the pro bowl because Adrian Peterson was the only player out there actually trying like a crazy man. :)

Louis:

I meant Ron Dayne and TJ Duckett are NOT power backs.


I think Meachem will contribute unless he gets hurt again. Pierre punches it up in there pretty good I think he fits the mold of an emmitt smith type back as for as running style. After the Chicago game the Chicago defenders commented on how hard Pierre ran and how hard he was to tackle. Size doesn't always determine the type of back you are. Big back doesn't always = power back, and Smaller back doesn't always = scat back. Ron Dayne and TJ Duckett are considered true power backs. Walter Payton was not considered a scat back. I believe that Reggie and Pierre can be complimentary backs. I have always saw something different with Deuce. Yes he does pound it up in there but there was far too many games I have seen over his career where it is 3rd down and we need a couple of yards and he gets stopped in the backfield. I think that had a little to do with Faine being the center and he always got blown up in obvious short yardage situations, but Deuce is really not that effective in short yardage situations. I have seen him run over his share of people but it doesn't seem to translate in short yardage. Just so you know I made that decision about Deuce long before I saw his stats in short yardage situations. People can say what they want about Reggie but when he sees the sticks he will punch it up in there and get the first. The only time I have really seen him get stopped on short yardage is when Faine and the O-line was getting blown up.

Dario:

From memory alone and watching the game and not from stats, Duece is a much better short yardage back than deuce is as far as pounding it in there.. However, Reggie is not as bad as people may think because he dances and scats and seems to be able to get those short yards. That is from memory alone. My only problem is that Pierre and Reggie are close to the same back as far running style. They both are quick, make people miss back and Duece was a run over you type back. It represents a problem because Pierre does not change the pace when he comes in the game for Reggie. The top 5 dual back systems last year had two or mutliple different types of backs:

Minnesota- Peterson and Taylor – Peterson was explosive north and south hit the hole runner and Taylor is more of a look for the hole and not as explosive
Jacksonville – Drew and Taylor – Drew is shifty, dancing small runner and Taylor is bigger, physical
NYG – Jacobs, Ward, Bradshaw, and Droughns – Jacobs power but good feet, Ward more of a straight ahead power guy, Bradshaw is shifty, Droughns is like Ward
Tenn – Chris Brown and White – Brown is a hit the hole shifty north and south runner and more explosive, White is straight ahead power back
Oak – Fargas, Jordan, Rhodes – Rhodes is hit the hole, shifty north and South, Fargas is shifty, hit the hole north and south, Jordan is more of a big shifty back

How would you describe Thomas and Bush and do you think they will be an effective tandem?
Do you expect Meachem to really contribute if you had to say RIGHT NOW?


Louis:


1) Honestly, between you and I, what do you NEED to see from Reggie Bush next year?
I don't NEED to see anything out of Reggie Bush because I believe that he is a decent player and has the potential to be outstanding. If I had to pick one thing that he needs to work on is for him to protect the ball in traffic. If you noticed in the situational stats that I sent you just about all of Reggie's fumbles came in traffic up the middle. I also think that he needs to stop listening to fans and the media and just play his game. How many times have you seen him run up the back of the blocker in open field trying to follow the block. I think he took the first step in improving himself this offseason by participating with the team in the offseason workouts. I don't think Reggie understood the power of the the NFL offseason training program last year. I really believe that working out with them will get him stronger and more prepared to play NFL football. People also seem to forget that last year Reggie was only healthy for like 7 of the 12 games he played and it was obvious that something wasn't right those last five games when he played hurt. I believe he will come back and have a very good year this year.


2) With the focus on defense this offseason, is it possible that our offense could maybe decline from year 2 to year 3?

I think the Saints made a smart move by not re-signing Faine. How many times in watching the Saints did Faine ge t blown up in the running game. I think Faine was a liability in the running game and with Goodwin in the lineup you will see a drastic improvement in our running game. I really believe that the saints will address offense in the draft, because of their focus on defense in Free Agency. It is rumored that they are interested in Mendenhall or Forte.

A) My biggest concern is tight end and receiver where we have not made any upgrades. I think we should be trying to look at some small impact players at both positions similar to what we did on defense last year with Jason David, Simmons and Kaesviharn. Otherwise, we can get into 3 5 or 6 games and realize that our receiver core is weak. With basically the same core from year 1 aside from Meachem and Horn ( although I believe Patten is a Horn clone), the defenses can really catch up to our offensive philosophy. OR, do you think and Mr. Payton think that he is a genius and can pass the ball with Zedrick at receiver?

You said that the core is the same as year 1 but I believe that Patten is an upgrade over Horn, which is obvious when you compare production from last year. Also if Meachem performs the way I expect him to you have 6'3" 4.3 40 guy who can catch and get YAC. I think the staff is not worried about the core because of their expectactions from Meachem. I believe a starting 3 of Colston, Meachem and Patten is a very good WR core.

B) If Duece does not recover, are you worried at all about our short yardage runningback?

I think with Goodwin in as center we won't have short yardage problems. Although many people don't like to admit it Duece really wasn't that good of a short yardage back. It seemed like no matter who was in the backfield we got blown up in obvious short yardage situations. In 2006 on 3rd with < 3 yards to go Duece only averaged 2.2 YPC which means he didn't even get the 1st. In comparison Reggie averaged 4.0 YPC in the same situation last year. In 2006 Reggie averaged 6.0 YPC on 3rd < 3. The stats don't lie and really think about how many times have we needed a yard with Deuce and he couldn't get it. Check out the stats for yourself.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5470/situational;_ylt=Aj_0euKYoi_UIYAq5A5HSsP.uLYF?year=2006

C) What kind of player do you see Meachem being?

I hope Meachem can be what he was in college. He has the physical tools to be good and the perfect compliment to Colston. I will reserve judgement til I see him in training camp.

Dario:

1) Honestly, between you and I, what do you NEED to see from Reggie Bush next year?
2) With the focus on defense this offseason, is it possible that our offense could maybe decline from year 2 to year 3?
A) My biggest concern is tight end and receiver where we have not made any upgrades. I think we should be trying to look at some small impact players at both positions similar to what we did on defense last year with Jason David, Simmons and Kaesviharn. Otherwise, we can get into 3 5 or 6 games and realize that our receiver core is weak. With basically the same core from year 1 aside from Meachem and Horn ( although I believe Patten is a Horn clone), the defenses can really catch up to our offensive philosophy. OR, do you think and Mr. Payton think that he is a genius and can pass the ball with Zedrick at receiver?
B) If Duece does not recover, are you worried at all about our short yardage runningback?
C) What kind of player do you see Meachem being?