Off-season talk

Mike Triplett's thoughts on the Saints' situation at OLB:


--August 26 at 8:32 PM

There's nothing good about the news of Will Smith's season-ending knee injury...he was going to play a key role this year...it's an extremely tough day inside the facility on Airline Drive (losing Will Smith)...one of the franchise's all-time greats
...
However, I do believe the Saints can recover from losing Smith...(the Saints still have) young Saints linebackers Junior Galette and Martez Wilson, both of whom are clearly poised to rise up into more prominent roles...The difference now is that Galette and Wilson MUST step up immediately (and) they've missed most of the preseason with injuries

Behind them, veteran journeyman Jay Richardson has had a nice camp and looks ready to be an adequate fill-in. Even though he's still not a household name in New Orleans, I'd venture to guess that Richardson is as good or better than any other veteran who might be available in free agency once players start getting cut around the league at the end of this week. When Richardson got cut by the New York Jets last summer, many teammates and observers were surprised. But there wasn't room for him on the roster. Now he's clearly got an opportunity, and he seems to be taking advantage this summer.

Other Saints backups like veteran Baraka Atkins and rookies Rufus Johnson and Eric Martin have also shown flashes this summer, but they would probably play more part-time roles, if anything, this season. And the Saints may indeed choose to add a veteran at week's end to add to the mix.


--August 26, 2013 at 9:27 PM

That didn't take long. The New Orleans Saints acted quickly to replace injured veteran outside linebacker Will Smith on Monday by trading for another veteran linebacker with a somewhat-similar skill set - the San Francisco 49ers' Parys Haralson. ... Haralson is an experienced veteran who should help stop the bleeding. He could potentially compete for a starting job -- especially if Galette or Wilson isn't healthy enough to play in Week 1. Or at the very least, Haralson should compete with fellow veteran newcomer Jay Richardson, among others, for a prominent role in the rotation. ... the scouting reports (of Parys Haralson and Will Smith) sound fairly similar. Haralson is known for being a very strong, high-effort guy who is decent as a pass rusher but even better against the run. His biggest weakness is chasing down faster athletes in open space....And he's a well-respected locker room leader by teammates and coaches. Reportedly some 20-30 teammates took turns shaking his hand and wishing him luck on his way out of the locker room Monday. ... Haralson reportedly took a pay cut from $2.6 million to $1.3 million to stay with the team this offseason. He still had a strong chance of making the roster as a backup. But he became expendable because the 49ers had several young pass rushers emerging.


--August 27, 2013 at 6:18 PM

The rise and fall of rookie outside linebacker Eric Martin was particularly swift. I wasn't too surprised after I saw how far Martin had fallen down the pecking order during the Houston Texans game, and I was already planning to replace him with fellow rookie Rufus Johnson on my projected 53-man roster. Still, I can't remember many rookies who came on so string and fizzled so quickly in previous years.

Martin really turned heads the first couple weeks of camp as a pass rusher and possible special teams asset (leading me to make him my No. 1 pick among the undrafted rookies before the preseason opener). But...then seemed to disappear in the preseason games.
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Don't read too much into the Saints' decision to place linebacker Victor Butler on the PUP list instead of injured reserve. That decision was a no-brainer. Butler is eligible for the physically-unable-to-perform list since he was injured before the start of training camp, so the Saints don't have to make any final decision on him until 10 weeks into the regular season. I still think he's an extreme long shot to play a snap this year, but the Saints don't have to decide for sure until November.

 

I was thinking the same thing. It would seem that they think he'll play or he would be on IR. If he's on the PUP when the season starts, I think he automatically stays on for 6 weeks per NFL rules. Would love to have him back for the stretch run if he's ready.

 

here's what Mike Triplette wrote on DE/OLBs Jay Richardson and Baraka Atkins on August 09, 2013:

Saints linebackers Jay Richardson and Baraka Atkins...were drafted one round apart in 2007 (Atkins by the Seattle Seahawks in Round 4 and Richardson by the Oakland Raiders in Round 5). Both have struggled to find a home in recent years, but both seem to have very legitimate opportunities this summer in New Orleans...

(Jay Richardson -- 6-6/280)
Richardson, a 6-foot-6, 280-pounder who was just moved from defensive end to outside linebacker on Tuesday, worked with the first-string defense during Thursday's practice.
...
last year, (Richardson) signed with the New York Jets and had a great performance at both end and outside linebacker before being cut because too many established guys were on the roster
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when Rob Ryan (was DC of the Raiders from 2004–2008, he) coached Richardson (as left DE in a 4-3 defense) during Richardson's first two seasons with the Raiders...Richardson started 22 games (all at left DE in a 4-3 defense)...with a total of four sacks and 85 tackles....Richardson actually signed with the Saints in January - more than a month before the team hired Ryan. So it was just a bonus when the two were reunited.
"I think he's tough, he's smart and he works hard," Ryan said. "I've never had him at linebacker before, so we're gonna play him there and see what that looks like. He's had two days to be with (linebackers coach) Joe Vitt, so I think he'll be alright."
"he's been showing up, he's been looking good at defensive end, and we're just trying to create that position flexibility."
...

(Baraka Atkins -- 6-4/265)
(originally, he played DE in a 4-3 defense for 2 seasons with Seattle, registering 2 sacks and 28 tackles in 21 games). Over the past three years, Atkins has fallen into an all-too-familiar pattern of being signed in January, then released after the preseason - with the Denver Broncos in 2010, the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011 and the Dallas Cowboys in 2012 (where he also played for Ryan). It's hard to believe that Atkins hasn't caught on anywhere, because he has definitely passed the eyeball test so far this summer. The 6-4, 265-pounder from Miami has repeatedly "flashed" as a pass rusher, with a combination of speed and strength.
"Another big, physical guy that hopefully he'll shine," said Ryan, who vouched for Atkins before he was brought in for a post-draft tryout. "He did some good things last year (in Dallas), just we were stacked at that position last year."
...
Atkins also has a leg up on many of his new Saints teammates since he played for Ryan last year (during the preseason only) and played in a 3-4 defense (during his preseason-only stints) with the Steelers and Broncos, as well. His skill set fits best as a 3-4 outside linebacker. As he joked the other day, "I've always had that 'tweener label since before it became cool."

 

Jay Richardson (now 29) as a recruit out of high school: Rivals 3-star (#32 strongside DE), NR by Scout, had offers to Ohio State, Mich State, South Carolina, Clemson, Kentucky, Pitt, Boston College

at Ohio State (DE)
2006: 4 sacks, 8.5 TFL, 25 tackles
2005: 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 11 tackles, 1 forced fumble
2004: 1 sack, 2 TFL, 15 tackles
2003: 0 sacks, 0 TFL, 1 tackle


Richardson at Ohio State (2003-2006) and with the Raiders (2007-2009)

 

Baraka Atkins (now 28) as a recruit out of high school: Rivals 4-star (#11 strongside DE), Scout 4-star (#16 DE), had offers to LSU, Florida, Ohio State, Miami, Michigan State, etc

at Miami (played both DE and DT):
2006 (DE): 4 sacks, 11 QBH, 9 TFL, 49 tackles
2005 (DT): 2.5 sacks, 6 QBH, 5 TFL, 50 tackles
2004 (DE): 6.5 sacks, 19 QBH, 9 TFL, 33 tackles, 2 forced fumbles
2003 (??): 5.0 sacks, 16 QBH, 6.5 TFL, 43 tackles, 3 forced fumbles


Atkins at Miami (2003-2006), Broncos (2010 preseason), Cowboys (2012 preseason)

 

preseason stats for Saints OLBs through 3 games of preseason:

Parys Haralson -- 2 sacks, 7 tackles (with 49ers)
Baraka Atkins -- 1 sack, 5 tackles
Will Smith -- 1 sack, 3 tackles
Jay Richardson -- 0 sacks, 3 tackles, 1 fumble recovery
Rufus Johnson -- 0 sacks, 3 tackles
Eric Martin -- 0 sacks, 1 tackle
Chase Thomas -- 0 sacks, 0 tackles

DNP
Junior Galette
Martez Wilson
Victor Butler

 

Saints have to trim their roster to 53 today, but I haven't been able to find a list of cuts. Anyone have a list of notable cuts?