NFL Draft 2007

Here we go, the MUCH anticipated New Orleans Saints draft preview for 2007!

What a year it was for our beloved Saints! Never before has a Saints team made it to the doorstep of the most hallowed game in all of sportsdom, only to have the door slammed in their face.

But there's a lot of be proud of and more work to be done if they want to get back to the level they were last year.

Let me say, for the draft this weekend, the Saints pick #27 in Round 1. That's pretty low and it's so hard to predict who they'll pick at that spot since so much can happen in front of them.

I will say they have done enough in the off season that gives them the luxury of picking the BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE, instead of being locked into picking for a need position. But I have a hunch as to who is going to fall to them at #27, but we'll get to that in a bit.

So let's review off season transactions for our Saints:

2/10 Scott Shanle LB re-signed, four-year contract
2/22 Charles Grant DE Designated franchise player
2/27 Hollis Thomas DT re-signed, agreed to terms, Four-year contract
3/1 Joe Horn WR cut
3/1 Ernie Conwell TE cut
3/1 Billy Miller TE re-signed, One-year contract
3/3 Antwan Lake DT re-signed/unrestricted free agent, Two-year contract
3/3 Jon Stinchcomb T signed/unrestricted free agent, two-year contract
3/6 Brian Simmons LB signed/unrestricted free agent, Three-year contract
3/7 Eric Johnson TE signed/unrestricted free agent, one-year contract
3/14 Kevin Kaesviharn S signed/unrestricted free agent, Four-year contract
3/26 Terrance Copper WR re-signed
4/4 Olindo Mare K traded, for 6th round draft pick
4/5 John Carney K cut
4/12 David Patten WR signed, One-year contract
4/19 Jason David CB signed/offer sheet, Four-year contract

I think they did an excellent job this offseason. Mainly because they re-signed some key players from last season in Scott Shanle, Hollis Thomas, Terrance Copper and locked up Charles Grant (even if he is miffed about being franchised). These moves were huge.

Some comments on our free agents:

LB Brian Simmons (from Bengals) - Is going to rock for us because he's the thumper Middle Linebacker and playmaker we need. He many not be long term solution for this position since he's 32 but he is a good starter and an upgrade at that position on this team. This frees up Mark Simoneau to be excellent depth at linebacker, being that he can play all 3 positions.

TE Eric Johnson (from 49ers) - Fast, athletic and big pass catching tight end that Drew Brees will use as yet another weapon for this offense. Big part to our offense that has been missing in this offense and should be a great addition if he can stay healthy.

S Kevin Kaesviharn (from Bengals) - Smart, hard hitting free safety that will push Josh Bullocks for the starting spot at the position. This guy makes plays. Payton wants playmakers in the secondary and this guy pulled in 6 ints last season in Cincy!

WR David Patten (from Redskins) - Quick and sure handed split end that has 3 super bowl rings. This guy is a leader and fantastic locker room presence that should occupy Joe Horn's role as experienced teacher for our young crop of WRs. But don't look for him to start, my guess is they want to draft a new #2 receiver to line up opposite of Marques Colston.

CB Jason David (from Colts) - Undersized and feisty, this 3 year starter for the Colts now has a super bowl ring and has been nothing but productive for his former team. Nice pickup if the Colts don't match the offer sheet. Will end up starting at CB.

2007 Draft Needs (projected round):
Wide Receiver (Early Rounds)
Cornerback (Early Rounds)
Defensive Tackle (Early/Mid Rounds)
Tight End (Mid/Late Rounds)
Linebacker (Mid/Late Rounds)
Quarterback (Mid/Late Rounds)
Guard (Mid/Late Rounds)
Defensive End (Mid/Late Rounds)

And finally, my prediction:

With the 27th pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints select...

Dwayne Bowe, Wide Receiver, LSU

!!UPDATE!! Come Sail Away...

Arrrr matey!

The search has been called off, but not because they found any of the three men missing...

Story is still creepy.

Officials said they were baffled by the fate of the crew but Sunday called off the rescue search, admitting that the chances of finding them alive had faded.

"Unless information comes in, in terms of sightings or something like that, the search has been suspended," a police spokeswoman said.

Linky

Come Sail Away...

"The engine was running, the computers were running, there was a laptop set up on the table which was running, the radio was working... and there was food and utensils set on the table ready to eat," said Jon Hall, a spokesman for Queensland's Emergency Management office.

"It was a bit strange," he added.

Interesting...Creepy, but interesting, read the article.

This one would make for a KILLER movie plot or episode of Lost.

25K

Long wait list for Saints season tickets (Deb Albertson, WWL)

There are enough people on the Saints' ticket wait list to fill just under half of the Superdome!

Mike Stanfield is in charge of ticket sales for the black and gold, and he says now that the 2007 schedule has been announced, lots of people are waiting for season tickets.

He says, "People that are looking for season tickets they can still certainly sign up at neworleanssaints.com to get on our wait list for this upcoming year. The wait list right now is about 25-thousand people."

Stanfield says people who try to get them on Ticket Exchange will also have to wait.

He says, "that won't be turned on until season tickets are paid in full, so we still have quite a bit of time for that."

Stanfield says there are no tickets yet available on the website.

Doing Church - Minus the Estrogen

For only the last five or so years have I realized why I couldn't stand going to church when I was growing up. It felt uncomfortable. Other guys would kinda snicker when they found out I got all dressed up in a tie to go to Church on Sunday mornings. So, I really couldn't put my finger on it until about five years ago when I was reading John Eldridge's book "Wild at Heart", it's because church is and has been, well, not real manly. An under curring trend in the last century (or so I'm told) is that the church has become feminized. I'm sure this trend was accelerated with the advent of the women's movement in the 60's and 70's.

Here's a pertinent quote on this subject from Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill in Seattle, "The problem with the church today is that it's just a bunch of nice, soft, tender, chickified church boys. 60 percent of Christians are chicks, and the 40 percent that are dudes, are still, sort of...chicks."

Best quote I've ever heard.

Anyway, here's an article that talks about bringing back some masculinity to our church culture nowadays. For the most part, I like the idea but I'm not sure having a service in a basketball gym and the preacher getting a sermon taught before the shot clock goes off is quite the idea I'm looking for.

Dig it.