The Saints Nation Gathering Hole.

 I was asked to create a new thread as a one stop for the Faith-ful .

I have to say , Let us Gather and celebrate and Gripe about our beloved team    .

 Come Night Shade, DR, BygKev, LFG, DD, and Mudville. Come all ye the Faithful of the mighty Saints Nation.

  Lets start our own little Mardi Gras on the Board. 

 Nos7432   

Ok I guess I'll lead off on somethin I wonder about:

The "other" X factor

Sure we know 2 things that can give us a chance at a great season and what can break it (i.e. Brees injury, another poor secondary outing, star player in trouble with the law)

The "other" X factor is what player has to step up and make a difference to a true SB run like we all want here.  True we havent drafted, but a lot of these players most likely (most likely, some of these cats might be stars in the future, but on paper....) will be role players this year.

Mine is Robert Meachem. 

We got guys like Bush, Johnson, Harper, and Bullocks who could start but seem like they might have the same impact as in 2007 which is minimal.

Meachem can REALLY take this O into another level and open up things in the middle for whoever starts at TE and the slot reciever.  If all other pieces fit of course.

Meacham is not a bad pick. I think J Goodwin or whoever else is playing center will have a profound affect on our success. A center is like the QB of the line, they call the shots, if they call the wrong ones or when opposing D's figure out the weak link, our offense will be FUBAR.

Great idea NOS  I'm ready for the draft hey guys once every 3 months my part time job I do on the weekends takes me to New Orleans we should meet up at a resturant in the French Quarter sometimes I'll post when I will be getting back down there.

foreest I agree I think Meachem will have a breakout year and give Colston some relief from being the main focus of the opposing defenses he has the tools, attitute and work ethic to make a big impact .

Goodwin is a solid center and while he won't be as good as Faine in the passing game I think he will be better in the running game.

Mine is Jonathan Vilma hands down this guy will get back to 2004 & 2005 form. The presence of Vilma upgrades the front 7 exponentially and I feel extremely confident with Jonathan directing the defense. I can't help but picture Gary Gibbs & Vitt sitting around a table drawing up defensive options on cocktail napkins like Sean Payton did when he knew he was drafting Reggie.

If Dan Morgan gets healthy or the Saints draft Rivers this LB corps will be down right scary.

X = Mr. Vilma

Thanks NOS for starting a watering hole type of page where we can just come in and chat. I think you can go ahead and pin it because we will use it a good bit.

Saint2Miami has a son now go congratulate him

http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/messages/chrono/7709636/0/1
/7709792#ID7709792

WHOA Brock - TRIPLE X? Bush's girlfriend Kim already did a XXX movie, we dont need Regging getting caught up with that hahaha...

I know this is a Saints forum but alot of the Saints fans are also Hornets fans sooooo......

It looks like the Hornets will be playing the Nuggets. How do yall feel about that matchup?

While all of the guys above are possible X factors and I agree with everyone of them; I'm going to reach outside the box a little bit and go with # 23 Pierre Thomas.  I believe that if this kid shows us what he did towards the end of last season and the preseason, (Chicago Game - Week 17 - 105 Rushing Yards on 20 attempts, 12 catches for 121 yards and a td) Reggie Bush will flourish and the passing game will be magnificent once again.  I hope that we can see this kid get enough touches to distinguish himself as the premiere back that I think he can be. 

If things go as planned I hope we are having a tough time deciding who produced more at the end of the season out of all these guys!

Good idea NOS7432. My X-FACTOR for the Saints this year believe it or not, is the COACHING STAFF. Gary Gibbs has to be able to get whoever we end up with playing defense to play smarter, more physical and more aggressive this year. To me that was a MAJOR problem for us last year. My X-FACTOR #2 is for Sean Payton to get back being the offensive wizard at playcalling this year that he was in 2006. We can all bash players all we want, but in the end the responsibility of success or failure comes down to this.

Well Patduke - if I had to say what it is outta coaching and players, Id say offensively coaches, but defensively, players.

Grant had an injury and played through it.  We all know Grant isnt a top 10 lineman but he can be a top 15 man.  Smith is a top 10 lineman, but who else was there besides McKenzie?  Just about all of the other defensive starters would probably be good backups a la Bobby McCray.  Bullocks gets faked and isnt in the right spot TOO MUCH for coaching to be blamed, likewise for Jason David and Scott Shanle.  Simoneau 70 tackles?  Be for real.  Then Hollis Thomas and Brian Young are getting old.  Young is supposed to have that motor, but its running out.  He also gets caught up in the line too much.  Damn thats just about everybody else.

Loomis did the right thing by going out and getting some recognizable names such as Vilma, Morgan and McCray.  Gay would be a great nickel but they are asking for him to compete to start. 

Maybe the X factor could actually be the class of 2007. (Meachem, Young, Alleman, Bushrod, Mitchell)