2018 New Orleans Saints

TwentyTwo

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The New Orleans Saints will have 16 white players on the opening 53 man roster.

Starters in BOLD

QB's (2)
Drew Brees
Taysom Hill

Full Back (1)
Zach Line

TE's (2)
Josh Hill
Dan Arnold

O-Line (3)
Max Unger
Ryan Ramcyzk

Will Clapp

D-Line (2)
Trey Hendrickson
Mitchell Loewen

LB's (3)
AJ Klein
Alex Anzalone

Nate Stupar

DB's (0)

ST's (3)
Thomas Morstead
Will Lutz
Zach Wood

Practice Squad: TBA
 

Freethinker

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Nate Stupar is gone but OL Josh LeRibeus is on the active roster, so a push.

LB Vince Biegel was also signed to the practice squad and I think he’s in a good position to get called up at some point. The Saints only have 5 LBs on the roster. He was very good at Wisconsin and was drafted fairly high. He never got a fair shake with GB’s new GM and could explain his release not lack of talent.
 
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So Taysom Hill is now the lead kick returner, he took 3 back for 68 yards. He also was taking direct snaps in crunch time against the falcons, ending with 3 carries for 39 yds!!
 

Shadowlight

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Since you brought him up Deceptive--I didn't know he was returning kicks--- but below is a collage with separate video footage of Hill taking direct snaps and returning kicks etc..

In basketball they call a player coming off the bench a spark. I hope Hill becomes a bit of a fixture for the Saints, a team that has been reluctant to showcase any white skill players. When was the last time the Saints played a white WR?

https://www.vanquishthefoe.com/2018...rything-in-new-oreleans-saints-ot-win-falcons
 
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Since you brought him up Deceptive--I didn't know he was returning kicks--- but below is a collage with separate video footage of Hill taking direct snaps and returning kicks etc..

In basketball they call a player coming off the bench a spark. I hope Hill becomes a bit of a fixture for the Saints, a team that has been reluctant to showcase any white skill players. When was the last time the Saints played a white WR?

https://www.vanquishthefoe.com/2018...rything-in-new-oreleans-saints-ot-win-falcons
I couldn't tell you the last time I've even seen a white WR on their roster.

Better yet when was the last time a back-up QB was a teams KR, if there ever was?
 

Shadowlight

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As for Saints WRs the best I could come up with as most recent of any import was Keith Poole (1997-2001). I still think the Chargers may have the longest drought when it comes to white WRs.

The KR/QB question is intriguing. Based on a quick search Joe Theismann returned punts for a spell in the mid 70's. Some QBs switch positions like the athletic wonder Matt Jones, a talented and fast white athlete who was possibly cold shouldered out of the game.

A part of me feels the Saints are using Hill like a clown as he runs down on kick offs. Quarterbacks just don't do those things so you wonder if the Saints seriously consider him to be a QB.

That said I can live with him running back kicks and being used as a legitimate QB/RB. I hope they actually incorporate him into the offense on a fairly steady basis as a pass/rush option rather than throwing him in there every once in a while as a gimmick.

Hill is another one of those versatile athletic throwback players who needs to see the field more often. I am sure we all will be monitoring his progress but based on the recent Saints history with white skill players I am not getting my hopes up too much.
 
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Liverlips

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For some reason the Saints seem a whiter team than 6 starters. Maybe they play more white backups than usual?
 

TwentyTwo

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Saints Run some interesting combos throughout the game! Taysom Hill runs Special packages as QB; Tailback & WR....TE's Josh Hill ; Dan Arnold ((ex-WR that Payton hopes to make next old school Jay Novacek)); & Zach Line plays plenty for a Fullback; wish he'd get more carries. WR Austin Carr looks white in uniform; but is mixed.

On Defense LBer's AJ Klein & Alex Anzalone(INT last week) are making impacts; D-End Trey Hendrickson is back after an illness; he is Very key in D-End rotation. D-End Mitchell Loewen is battling a neck injury.

The past few years the Saints have stepped up as much as any in the NFL Signing white defenders. Edge Rusher Davis Tull was not same after torn labrum injury (Now in NFL Developmental League) ; LB Michael Mauti(stomach ailment) , LB James Laurinatis (Retired) ; LB-Nate Stupar (now w Giants) ; DE- Paul Kruger (Retired); DB-Vinnie Sunseri (too many injuries wrecked career)
 

Don Wassall

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I'm puzzled by Peyton's usage of Anzalone. He started last year as a rookie but was injured (his bugaboo at Florida too) and went on IR. This year he's healthy but is being used mostly as a backup. Klein starts but is only a two-down SLB. For reasons known only to Peyton, Manti Teo is listed as the starting MLB. No way Anzalone should be behind Teo, who's been a bust. His interception last week really showed off his athleticism, and he's undoubtedly a tackling machine if given the opportunity.
 

Shadowlight

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Saints Run some interesting combos throughout the game! Taysom Hill runs Special packages as QB; Tailback & WR....TE's Josh Hill ; Dan Arnold ((ex-WR that Payton hopes to make next old school Jay Novacek)); & Zach Line plays plenty for a Fullback; wish he'd get more carries. WR Austin Carr looks white in uniform; but is mixed.

On Defense LBer's AJ Klein & Alex Anzalone(INT last week) are making impacts; D-End Trey Hendrickson is back after an illness; he is Very key in D-End rotation. D-End Mitchell Loewen is battling a neck injury.

The past few years the Saints have stepped up as much as any in the NFL Signing white defenders. Edge Rusher Davis Tull was not same after torn labrum injury (Now in NFL Developmental League) ; LB Michael Mauti(stomach ailment) , LB James Laurinatis (Retired) ; LB-Nate Stupar (now w Giants) ; DE- Paul Kruger (Retired); DB-Vinnie Sunseri (too many injuries wrecked career)


For me two games recently have kept me involved. It is so nice to watch games that keep my interest due to the possibility of white players making big noise. Both the Saints/Rams and Panthers/Steelers games offered those tantalizing possibilities. Too often the caste fest NFL games are nearly impossible to get excited about.

The Saints are perplexing and I have to admit during the course of the game ( I missed some of the first half) I ended up rooting for the Saints. Since WR is obviously my favorite position and the Rams have a budding star in Kupp that is heresy in my book. I wanted Kupp to have a big game but take Kupp out of the Rams and there isn't a heck of a lot left. There is some defensive presence but it is a little scant. They have a white TE.

Meanwhile the Saints as noted above have been drafting white players but frustratingly they rarely get to make a statement on the field as 22 above nicely delineates.

Yet my instincts gravitated to them despite years of despising them. The great play by LB Anzalone. The potential of TE Arnold. DE Hendrickson hopefully making strides and seeing the field more often. And most importantly Taysom Hill, to me the most fascinating player in the NFL this season.

Nothing is fixed in my mind. I could be rooting for the Rams more down the road. It all depends on what the Saints look like as we proceed. If Taysom Hill's role expands I will have trouble resisting. Time will tell. But better to be dealing with these type of dilemmas as opposed to sitting through caste fest games that suck the life right out of me.
 

Don Wassall

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He should be a three down linebacker, hopefully his strong play will force the Saints to use him that way.

Alex Anzalone ‘making a difference’ on Saints defense with impact plays

By Christopher Dabe, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

cdabe@nola.com

The Times-Picayune

The routine last season consisted of injury rehabilitation, weightlifting during practice and position meetings. The routine lately has been to make impact plays for the New Orleans Saints to run their winning streak to eight games.

Second-year linebacker Alex Anzelone in the last three games forced a fumble, intercepted a pass for the first time in his career and recorded a sack for the first time this season. The first two plays were crucial to a pair of Saints wins, and the third one was gravy on top of a 51-14 thumping of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Anzalone typically plays between 30 and 45 percent of the team snaps on defense, so his chances to make impact plays are somewhat more limited, yet the Florida product selected in the third round of the Saints' loaded 2017 NFL Draft class has found ways to do it.

“I just want to do my part,” he said during a Monday (Nov. 12) teleconference with reporters. “The coaches did a good job putting us in position to make plays. I think the defense is executing the plays, being in the right spot at the right time.”

Being in the right spot is one thing. But the athleticism shown on his leaping interception in the second quarter Nov. 4 against the Los Angeles Rams is another. The takeaway came with the Saints leading 28-14, and the resulting touchdown proved significant in a game the Saints won by 10.

Anzalone dropped into coverage on that play as the receiver behind him began a crossing pattern. The linebacker took a step to his left before a quick change of direction to leap with his right arm outstretched so he could pull in the ball thrown by Jared Goff.

“It’s something we work on all the time,” he said. “The way I was able to get the ball form the position I was in, I took a step and then I cut back.”

The previous week against the Vikings, Anzalone was credited with forcing a fumble by Minnesota wideout Adam Thielen on a play that also involved P.J. Williams. Marshon Lattimore’s 54-yard fumble return to the Minnesota 18 set up the touchdown that put New Orleans ahead 17-13.

On the sack, Anzalone came unblocked through the middle of the Cincinnati offensive line for a takedown of quarterback Andy Dalton. The Saints at that point led 38-7.

“Anytime anyone makes a play, we’re all encouraging each other and having fun,” he said. “You see our celebration. If someone makes a play, the whole team makes a play. That’s pretty cool to see.”

Last season, Anzalone played four games before a shoulder dislocation required surgery and put him on injured reserve. He had twice before suffered shoulder dislocations, but after last season he said “it was fixed really well this time."

His play only adds to the quality of the 2017 NFL Draft class that the includes offensive and defensive rookies of the year in running back Alvin Kamara and Lattimore at cornerback, along with starters in Ryan Ramczyk at right tackle and Marcus Williams at safety.

“He’s been playing really well this year,” Ramczyk said on another Monday teleconference. “The interception he had last week was a very athletic play. You can see he’s making a difference on defense playing at a high level. It’s cool to see.”

https://www.nola.com/saints/2018/11...ence-on-saints-defense-with-impact-plays.html
 

Quiet Speed

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I'm puzzled by Peyton's usage of Anzalone. He started last year as a rookie but was injured (his bugaboo at Florida too) and went on IR. This year he's healthy but is being used mostly as a backup. Klein starts but is only a two-down SLB. For reasons known only to Peyton, Manti Teo is listed as the starting MLB. No way Anzalone should be behind Teo, who's been a bust. His interception last week really showed off his athleticism, and he's undoubtedly a tackling machine if given the opportunity.

I attribute the muddled linebacker position for the Saints to linebacker coach Mike Nolan. I figure he has a certain amount of influence. He is a suspect character.
 

Don Wassall

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I attribute the muddled linebacker position for the Saints to linebacker coach Mike Nolan. I figure he has a certain amount of influence. He is a suspect character.

You're right about that. During a press conference in 2007 when he was the 49ers head coach, Nolan said that if he focused just on acquiring players of good character, he would "end up with a lily-white team that doesn't beat anybody.''
 

BeyondFedUp

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You're right about that. During a press conference in 2007 when he was the 49ers head coach, Nolan said that if he focused just on acquiring players of good character, he would "end up with a lily-white team that doesn't beat anybody.''
What a piece of scum. I prefer not to root against a whole team because of one individual, but that bit of information makes it hard not to. It's these type of double standards that make me turn the corner on someone to never return...
 
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