2011 NFL Draft and Offseason

I was thinking the same thing about the Matthews kid. If he's anything like his older brother, he'll be a beast.

 

Q&A with New Orleans Saints defensive end Greg Romeus

he underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc early last season. very likely might not be a problem at all: top orthopedic surgeons at Northwestern University's Medicinal School (a Top 20 med school) recently published a study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine where they studied NFL offensive and defensive linemen that had herniated discs from 1982 and 2009, and they found that 33 of the 36 starters that had surgery to repair a herniated disc returned to being starters after they came back. also, RB Steven Jackson had surgery to repair a herniated disc before the 2010 season, and he came back to have a Pro Bowl season in 2010

he also tore his ACL last year. much more serious but there have been plenty of people come back from an ACL: CB Antonio Cromartie, RB Willis Mcgahee, RB Frank Gore all tore their ACLs while in college, and they all went on to have Pro Bowl careers in the NFL. Also, there have been plenty of players that torn their ACL in the NFL, and came back to become Pro Bowlers after their recovery, including RB Jamal Lewis, RB Edgerrin James, WR Jerry Rice, WR Braylon Edwards, and the Saint's very own Roman Harper (he tore his ACL as a rookie)

interesting the Saints spent so much time with him at the Combine. appears the Saints really wanted him, and he was projected 3-4 round (and much higher before his injuries, many had him as a "sure 1st Round pick"). very lucky we got him in the 7th

 

also, it's interesting that Daquan Bowers' torn meniscus is much more serious than a torn ACL:

that's from a study of NFL players from 1987-2000 presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting. the lead author is a team physician for the St Louis Rams, and a professor of orthopedic surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (a Top Five med school)
ACL reconstruction doesn't harm NFL career length, study suggests

 

they just had Gregg Williams on the radio, and he discussed each of our draft picks. he was saying good things about each of them, but his voice tone was pretty matter-of-fact about them--except for when it came to Romeus and Bussey. His voice tone was on the giddy side when when he talked about Romeus, and definitely on the giddy side when he talked about Bussey

regarding Romeus, he was saying something like: "how about that, we get the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in the 7th Round?!" and he said that we did a "tremendous job getting him." he talked about how great of an athlete he is and all this other stuff. he said he thinks Romeus will be ready to play in 2011, just like Saints DE Jimmy Wilkerson tore his ACL at the end of the 2009 season, and came back in 2010 to play all 16 games.

regarding Bussey, he said he'll be a fan favorite and how he "has something to prove" and all this other praise about him. he was saying not to just look at him as a special-teamer, but that he's going to play at weakside LB. he was saying something like:

"i hate hearing people make special teamers sound like they are on special teams because they aren't good enough to be on offense or defense. if you excel on special teams, you will see the field on defense. playing on defense is easier than playing on special teams, because on defense you get to play in space, where you don't do that on special teams. you have to run further on special teams..." and i forget the rest but his point was not to peg Bussey as "just a special-teamer" and that you will see Bussey playing in his defense

here's the times-picayune article about it:
New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams breaks down Saints' 2011 draft class | NOLA.com

that article left out most of the stuff GW said in his interview, for example it doesn't saying anything about building a lockerroom culture which GW spent a lot of time talking about (was basically saying he's known for doing that, and that the Saints had already done a great job of it by the time he showed up here, and that he thinks all our draft picks will be good fits for the the great lockerroom culture we have developed here in N.O.)

another thing that article left out was the stuff GW was saying about Johnny Patrick's ability on run defense. basically GW said something like "everybody i coach learns to play great run defense" then he was saying something about he teaches them run defense at practice that i forget, then he started listing player after player that he has coached and saying how "they said" each of them couldn't play run defense either, and look at them now

 

They might be value picks, but if they were so great the Saints would have taken them earlier so no one scooped them up. They are both long shots, but I hope like Hell they are another Ivory or Colston.