Saints Training Camp (1 Viewer)

[Mister CIA]

I missed practices yesterday and this morning, but I finally made it to this afternoon's practice. It rained just before practice started and the field was a little wet.

Most notable to me was Colston - He may have just had his knee drained, but he looks better than ever (this is the third year in a row I've been to watch the Saints in camp). While his straight line speed is good for a guy his size, I've often thought his burst off the line was just a little slow. This year, his burst off the line looks notably better. His hands looked great too, maybe the best in the league. I don't do rankings or projections, but if I did I would bump him up a tick or two after watching him today.

Shockey played only briefly with helmet and pads, running some short routes. On one play Brees hit him in the chest and the ball bounced off him and hit a defender right in the breadbasket - INT. Some fans let Shockey hear about it and and he gave them a walk-away hand wave. The next pass to Shockey hit him in the gut and he dropped it. Later in practice he was by Coach Payton's side most of the time as the team ran more plays. They seemed to be talking quite a bit.

Reggie - Looked good. Not much more to say. Despite the picture I linked to in the Reggie Bush thread, he really looks about the same size, same speed, same everything. I did see him line up wide to the right once and he ran a route down field, but the QB did not look his way. As a Reggie owner in multiple leagues, I'm pretty optimistic that he will have a good season. Aside from the PCL injury last season, I think what has held him back so far is not just a maturity in his game, but in the Saints offense as a whole (which was on woeful display the first 4-6 games last year). I have a feeling things will be much better this year, which I guess is saying a lot considering how good they have been. He did have a couple of drops today.

Brees - Honestly, I did not pay much attention to the QBs today. I did remark to myself that Brunell as a backup is ideal for the team. If Palko latches on as QB#3 and spends a season or two behind Brunell, he might might be able to carve out a Jim Sorgi type career.

Duece - nowhere to be seen. I heard that he looks a lot slimmer. Maybe I'll see him tomorrow.

Meachem - Did not see anything spectacular today, but I got a good vibe about him. Still a very good player to have stashed on your dynasty roster, imo.

Adrian Arrington - Made the best play of practice as Brees hit him in stride 40 yards down field.

Stecker/Pierre Thomas - Stecker looks to be in excellent shape and does not look anything like a 33 year old running back. Thomas looked good too. All in all, Thomas looks to have good (better?) running back instincts, but Stecker seems to have a bit more of a burst to his game. At the beginning of practice, the team had first and second string on one side of the field, and third string and beyond on the other. Stecker was second string today. This is something I will want to keep an eye on. Based solely on one afternoon's practice, I'll temper my expectations for Thomas slightly this year, as Stecker does not look like he's going anywhere, but I still like him for 2009 and beyond.

Super Deep (really deep) sleeper - TE Ronnie Ghent (2nd year free agent out of Louisville) - Training camp practices are really a three ring circus and it's easy to miss a lot of plays, but two or three times he caught the corner of my eye. Looked pretty fluid for a 252 pounder running around on the field. From a distance, he looks built exactly like Shockey, but the program sheet lists him at 6'2", vs Shockey at 6'5". Eric Johnson was nowhere to be seen today (surprise!). If I remember correctly, the Saints played with 4 TEs last season, so maybe he can fight his way onto the roster. Other TEs include Billy Miller and Mark Campbell.

Formations - Although I'm a bit of a Saints fan, I don't remember if they ran many plays with 2 TE sets, but I saw them set up this formation several times today. Shockey was lining up both on the left and right. As already mentioned, Bush lined up wide right once. I saw Colston line up in the slot once too (and I don't recall much of that in the past two seasons).

Odds and ends - With nothing to base this on but vibes and body language, I'd certainly rank Lance Moore ahead of Copper, maybe even Devery Henderson - putting this altogether, if the Saints keep 6 WRs, I see it being Colston, Meachem, Patten, Moore, Arrington and Henderson. Unless he can make it as a return man, I don't see Skyler Green making any sort of dent at all. He caught the ire of his coach when he quit on a route only to have the QB throw it to where he should have been.

After watching Olindo Mare line drive his FG attempts last year, it was nice to see some arc on the FG attempts by Gramattica and Mehlhaff. Whichever one of these guys emerge as the FG kicker will have an excellent shot at being a top ten scorer this year.

 

[joffer]

good stuff, thanks

 

[EBF]

Anything else on Arrington? He's one of my dynasty super sleepers this year. I think I have him on all my teams.

 

[Rushmore]

Interesting mention of Ronnie Ghent. I always expected him to get more of a chance in Cincinnati, but to no avail. Thanks for the info.

 

[Mister CIA]

Anything else on Arrington? He's one of my dynasty super sleepers this year. I think I have him on all my teams.

Not much else to say about Arrington from today's practice, except that he looks like a heck of a specimen at 6'3, 192. Slowly but surely, Payton is starting to amass a collection of tall receiving targets for Brees (Colston, Shockey, Meachem and perhaps Arrington). My plan is to attend practices tomorrow and Sunday. Now that I've skimmed the landscape, I'll be looking at Meachem, Arrington and Pierre Thomas with most interest. Hopefully these guys will generate some highlights and show me something interesting.

 

[EBF]

Anything else on Arrington? He's one of my dynasty super sleepers this year. I think I have him on all my teams.

Not much else to say about Arrington from today's practice, except that he looks like a heck of a specimen at 6'3, 192. Slowly but surely, Payton is starting to amass a collection of tall receiving targets for Brees (Colston, Shockey, Meachem and perhaps Arrington). My plan is to attend practices tomorrow and Sunday. Now that I've skimmed the landscape, I'll be looking at Meachem, Arrington and Pierre Thomas with most interest. Hopefully these guys will generate some highlights and show me something interesting.

 

[gianmarco]

It's posts like these that make this place so fantastic. Thanks so much Mister, from a newly displaced Saint's fan

 

[rzrback77]

I've been swamped and will be unable to attend until Tuesday at the earliest. Interested in the crowd size. First year, it was really sparse, but last year there were so many folks there, it was difficult to access players after the work-outs.

It has been really hot and humid and the forecast is for more of the same for next week. Did they have many breaks or did they work hard straight through?

Thanks for the info!

 

[Mister CIA]

I've been swamped and will be unable to attend until Tuesday at the earliest. Interested in the crowd size. First year, it was really sparse, but last year there were so many folks there, it was difficult to access players after the work-outs.It has been really hot and humid and the forecast is for more of the same for next week. Did they have many breaks or did they work hard straight through?Thanks for the info!

You know, I actually did try to estimate the crowd size. My best guess was about 600 max, which is not too bad for a Friday afternoon. They practiced on the game field, which means the view was pretty good from the bleachers, but there was a lot less going on with only one field for everyone, unlike the two side by side fields up the hill. NOAA.gov is predicting 100° on Monday and 101° on Tuesday. The players have got to love that!As far as breaks and what not, I would not classify today's drills as intense. I'm expecting it to pick up in intensity tomorrow.

 

[Bri]

We've got a lot to cover on the first day of Saints' training camp, so keep checking back here throughout the afternoon for updates and insights. We've also got a video blog on the way.

The biggest news nugget of the day is that receiver Marques Colston missed his first practice Thursday morning, though both he and Coach Sean Payton described it as a precautionary measure. Colston had his knee drained Wednesday after experiencing some swelling. He's expected to participate in individual drills this afternoon.

Colston had arthroscopic surgery in February, but he was back and healthy throughout the summer training activities. This shouldn't be a big issue.

In other injury-related news:

- Tailback Deuce McAllister, who is recovering from surgeries on both of his knees, looked "awesome" during his first practice according to quarterback Drew Brees, who joked that Deuce is lighter than he's been since his senior year of college. McAllister, who weighed in at a slender 227 pounds when he reported to camp, participated fully in the morning practice session but will probably take it easy this afternoon.

- New tight end Jeremy Shockey was also on the practice field, but he was a bit more limited than McAllister as he recovers from leg and ankle injuries. He mostly ran with the third-string offense, so there were no real highlight moments for him in his first practice. But it was nice to see him and Brees getting to know each other as they walked from the practice field to the locker room. That could be quite a potent combination.

- Linebacker Jonathan Vilma (knee) looked great as he went full-speed on Thursday morning. He ran with the second team behind starter Mark Simoneau because Vilma is still playing catch-up after being limited this summer. But that will change sooner than later.

- Cornerback Mike McKenzie (knee), safety Josh Bullocks (knee) and tight end Eric Johnson (ankle) all missed practice, as expected.

...

There weren't many surprises on the Saints' depth chart. Jason David and Randall Gay ran with the first-string defense at cornerback, with Jason Craft and Usama Young on the second team and Aaron Glenn on the third team. That position will get even more crowded when McKenzie returns in a few days and when rookie Tracy Porter finally signs his contract.

For now, David is still ahead of Gay on the depth chart, based mostly on seniority. But I can see any one of four or five guys winning starting jobs with this team. None of the candidates really stood out, good or bad, on the first day of practice. I'm going to try and play close attention to Young during these early practices to see how far he's come in his second year in the league. I think he's the biggest wild-card of the bunch.

...

The other most compelling battle on this team is at receiver, where seventh-round draft pick Adrian Arrington continued to make things interesting on Thursday. Early in seven-on-seven drills, Arrington beat cornerback Greg Fassitt deep down the left sideline and laid out for a diving 45-yard catch from quarterback Tyler Palko. It was easily the play of the day.

Later, Arrington caught another deep strike from Palko down the middle of the field after safety Chris Reis just missed a chance at an interception. By Arrington's count, he dropped one pass during the morning session after he slipped.

"It felt great," Arrington said. "You want as many opportunities as you can to make plays. The most important thing for me is to show the coaches what I can bring to this team."

Arrington was being harassed during the interview by veteran teammates Craft and Gay. Craft said he needs to make at least three or four more catches before he deserves to be interviewed, and Gay gave a more serious warning that he better not get a big head.

But in brief glimpses throughout the summer practice sessions, Arrington has continually impressed as a big target with good downfield speed and consistent hands. He'll have to pass up a few veterans over the course of this next month if he wants to make the final roster, but he's certainly capable of doing it.

None of the receivers ahead of Arrington on the depth chart had a bad day. Second-year pro Robert Meachem had at least one impressive grab on an out route from Brees, and he said he feels healthy and confident as he tries to put last year's struggles behind him.

...

Shockey made his long-awaited debut in front of the media today, discussing his trade for the first time.

He made it clear that he was happy to get a fresh start with the Saints after pushing for a trade out of New York, though he still had some nice things to say about his former team, complimenting the Giants on the run they made to the Super Bowl championship last year.

"If I would have gone back to the Giants, it would have been a circus," said Shockey, who thinks the deal was a win-win. "New York got a good package. Hopefully New Orleans is going to get a really good package."

Shockey admitted that he is a passionate person who wears his emotions on his sleeve, but he insisted that he cares about winning, first and foremost.

"I'm starting from Ground Zero and working my way up like I'm trying to make this team," said the four-time Pro Bowler.

He wasn't especially animated during his press conference, but he did challenge reporters a couple of times when he was asked about his reputation for being a distraction to his team, asking where they got their information.

Shockey suggested that those types of stories can often be blown out of proportion.

"They build you up, and they break you down," he said of the New York media.

...

Defensive tackle Hollis Thomas appeared to have a rough start today. About two hours into practice, he took a knee, and the trainers came to cool him off. He sat out the final 20 minutes or so. I didn't get a chance to talk to him after practice.

I don't think it's necessarily a bad sign. The heat was no joke this morning, and he's a big dude who's always struggled in these kind of conditions. He actually made weight for the first time in his three years with the Saints, and he's always survived these early struggles to come back strong in the regular season.

Thomas lined up with the second string behind Kendrick Clancy today. Those two battled back and forth for the starting job throughout last year's training camp. They might both lose out to first-round draft pick Sedrick Ellis, though, if he ever arrives in camp.

...

Of the Saints' remaining contract holdouts, Porter looks a lot closer to getting signed than Ellis. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see Porter here by Friday from what I'm hearing.

But nobody seems optimistic that Ellis will arrive any time soon, with the early first-round signings moving at a snail's pace.

...

Another guy who stood out to me today was second-year offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod. He lined up at left tackle with the second-string offense, while Zach Strief was at right tackle. Bushrod definitely has the size and athleticism to play left tackle, and the Saints have been excited about his potential since they drafted him out of Towson in the fourth round last year. He was particularly impressive during one head-to-head matchup against defensive end Will Smith in pass-rushing drills.

Rookie DeMario Pressley had an impressive spin move in that same drill that caught my attention. He was lined up against third-string offensive lineman Isaiah Ross, but his speed and athleticism were evident.

Another highlight from Thursday morning came when Vilma tore through the offensive line to get to tailback Pierre Thomas in the backfield. Because the Saints aren't tackling yet in practice, he just tapped Thomas on the pads.

...

If you haven't checked out our chat from earlier this afternoon, take a look. I went into more detail on some of these observations and hit on several more topics.

Check back this evening for a brief report following the P.M. practice.

 

[Bri]

Cornerback Tracy Porter made his debut within hours of signing his four-year contract with the Saints. He lined up with both the second and third teams at different points and looked pretty comfortable out there. His best play came late in the afternoon when he broke up a pass that was intended for receiver Todd Blythe.

"It is a happy time for me because you never want to be away from your team," Porter said afterward. "You want to develop chemistry with your teammates and learn the playbook."

Porter's deal is worth about $4.2 million, according to league sources.

- The Saints' offense got off to an ugly start this afternoon. Center Jonathan Goodwin and quarterback Drew Brees botched the exchange on a snap during the walk-through period. Then Brees had two passes intercepted by backup linebacker Marvin Mitchell - one of which bounced off the hands of tight end Jeremy Shockey.

Shockey dropped two passes during that drill. Later in passing drills, Reggie Bush dropped two balls. And tailback Pierre Thomas topped them all by falling on his face during agility drills when he was trying to high-step over a series of large pads.

Eventually, the offense got its act together. But this was the first sign of the fatigue that's sure to set in over the course of these two-a-day sessions.

- Brees ended his day on a high note. The final two plays of the day were a deep completion to receiver Lance Moore and a nice tight spiral to tight end Mark Campbell. ... Cornerback Jason David got burned badly on the pass to Moore - a disappointing finish to an otherwise-impressive day for David.

- The two biggest plays of the day came back to back late in Friday's afternoon practice. Safety Chris Reis made a terrific interception on a pass thrown by quarterback Mark Brunell. The ball bounced off receiver Adrian Arrington's hands, then Reis kept it alive by batting it in the air before pulling it in.

On the very next play, though, Brunell hit Arrington deep down the field. Arrington beat cornerback Jason Craft for a gain of about 40 yards.

- Defensive end Will Smith had his best practice to date this afternoon. He was repeatedly bursting into the backfield and getting pressure on Drew Brees. He beat second-year tackle Jermon Bushrod on at least two of the plays. Later, he also got in the way of tailback Reggie Bush to snuff out a run play.

- We got our first glimpse at the tantalizing kicker battle this afternoon. Martin Gramatica each got two attempts from 35 yards and one from 40 yards. Gramatica missed his 40-yarder wide left - a bit of a knuckle ball. Mehlhaff appeared to go 3-for-3, but he had a distinct hook on each of his kicks, and we were watching from across the field, so I'm not 100 percent positive on the last one.

- Shockey has been making a noticeable effort to bond with his new teammates. He was the first to run over to Gramatica to pat him on the helmet after the miss. He did the same thing with about a dozen other teammates throughout the practice after good and bad plays alike.

- No surprises on the injury report. Mike McKenzie, Josh Bullocks, Brian Young and Deuce McAllister did not participate. Marques Colston was limited a little bit, spending a portion of the practice on the stationary bike next to McAllister. Shockey was also limited.

Defensive end Bobby McCray sat out the final 20 minutes or so, looking like he was suffering from the heat.

- Receiver Carlos Robinson, who injured his hamstring this morning, wasn't on the field. He is expected to be waived-injured. A likely replacement is tight end Buck Ortega, who was released earlier this week to make room for Shockey.

- The Saints practiced inside Millsaps' stadium for the first time during this camp after it rained for a little while earlier in the afternoon. The team doesn't use that field very often, but the artificial field-turf surface drains better than the grass fields.

It was the most exciting thing to happen in Millsaps Stadium since this classic play last fall:

- The Saints announced that they will be holding a scrimmage inside Mississippi Veteran's Memorial Stadium next Saturday, Aug. 2, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The scrimmage is free and open to the public.

 

[Bri]

Previous two posts (I pasted)by Mike Tripplett at NOLA.com

Personally, I think he does an awesome job coverring camp for the Saints

http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/2008/07/ne...ctice_re_1.html

http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/2008/07/th...ice_report.html

 

[Mister CIA]

Interesting mention of Ronnie Ghent. I always expected him to get more of a chance in Cincinnati, but to no avail. Thanks for the info.

Maybe he sticks. I missed this earlier, but Eric Johnson was released. That explains why I did not see him at practice.

 

[Mister CIA]

I made it to morning practice about 5 minutes after it began and found the bleachers packed. I don't know what the crowd count was, but it was pretty close to maxed out. Alas, I had to fight for everything I saw, which in the end was not much. I arrived early enough for the afternoon practice to get a seat with a view. Still there is not a whole to report on today. Here are some random comments:

Deuce was on the field for both practices, but only wore pads in the afternoon. I've read that he is 8 pounds lighter, and it shows. All in all, he looked pretty smooth on some half-speed runs from scrimmage.

Pierre Thomas still began practices with the third stringers, but once all the RBs grouped together I got to see him make several runs and catch a few balls out of the backfield. I like what I see, but if Deuce is healthy, I would again temper my enthusiasm for Thomas in 2008. My SWAG is that Deuce, if healthy, will be on a pitch count all season, with Thomas getting a slightly bigger role and Stecker filling the role as needed. 10 touches per game is probably Thomas' ceiling on any given week with everyone healthy. For dynasty leagues where RBs are difficult to come by, don't let him get away cheaply. I think he's going to be a good FF option in another year or two.

Not a lot to share about the WRs since I never really got a good view of their drills. By an large, everybody performed well. Listening to the buzz in the stands, I'm not the only one trying to watch Arrington.

That's about it. Well, I did see Peter King trolling the sidelines. A polo shirt and khaki shorts hitched up high - Snazzy!

 

[Bri]

(should have said so earlier) Thanks for posting these MisterCIA

 

[valhallan]

 

[BigRed]

Shockey played only briefly with helmet and pads, running some short routes. On one play Brees hit him in the chest and the ball bounced off him and hit a defender right in the breadbasket - INT. Some fans let Shockey hear about it and and he gave them a walk-away hand wave. The next pass to Shockey hit him in the gut and he dropped it.

Shocking I do think he'll have a good year FF-wise, but as a coach I would hate that putz on my team.Fun read tho, thanks for these.

 

[LBH]

thanks for the reports

 

[eric rymer]

great stuff here guys. keep up the good work.

 

[Mister CIA]

I missed morning practice.

The highlight of this afternoon's practice was a cool front that blew through, dropping the temp about 15-20 degrees. Several players thought it was the second coming.

Nothing too significant to share, except that second round CB pick Tracy Porter was injured covering on a pass play. Not sure on the exact nature of the injury, but he was down for about 3 or 4 minutes. He walked off the field under his own power ... straight to the cart, and rode off into the distance.

Arrington continues to impress catching the ball. He made two very good grabs. He struggled with his blocking technique, which is probably normal for a rookie WR. Having such a high center of gravity does not help. He definitely needs to work on strength and technique, which surely keeps him in the dynasty stash category.

Meachem also continues to look good, though several times he used body to catch the ball. I've seen him show good hands on several occasions, so the body catches probably represent a conservative effort on his part. Buidling confidence is probably the most important aspect of his game that needs to be worked on. He looked very good with his blocks, once knocking second year corner Usama Young on his ###.

Both Arrington and Meachem got some run at gunner on punt coverage. Recalling Meachem's reluctance to go after the ball after taking a big hit from a Steeler in a pre-season game last year, I find encouragement in all efforts to get Meachem as much contact as possible.

The one player who really started to stand out in my eye during practice today was Devery Henderson. He seemed to be catching everything, until he dropped a sure TD, in stride, in the end zone. My initial reaction was "Damn! You were looking like you turned a corner." Still, from a FF perspective, with all the weapons the Saints have on O, he might turn out to be a valuable WR to plug into your redraft rosters in a pinch. Dynasty wise, I'm still kind of meh on him ... but if his hands do improve, there's potential for him to amount to something in FF.

Deuce continues to look good. I recall watching him in 2006 camp, returning from ACL surgery, thinking he won't contribute much ... and we all know how that turned out. What everyone's role is in the Saints backfield will be is anyone's guess, but don't be surprised if Deuce is getting 15 touches a game toward the end of the season, like he was in 2006 as the Saints headed into the playoffs.

As for Pierre Thomas, he continues to look good. PT owners may just have to wait a season or two for his ship to come in.

One last note, Brees throws are looking very crisp. That, along with all the O talent on the team, may lead me to consider reaching for him at QB #3 in redrafts. Hopefully the O-line comes out of the gate performing better than they did last year, and Coach Payton rebounds from what seemed to be a sophomore slump with his play calling.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

Heard a local radio show today that's reporting from Saints camp. If I heard them correctly, and I think I did, it said they are practicing in full pads today and Shockey is in tshirt and shorts due to his ankle issues.

 

[BigRed]

may lead me to consider reaching for him at QB #3 in redrafts.

That's a reach?