Saints 53-Man Roster Taking Shape

I've gotta tell y'all that I have been very busy the last couple of days.  News concerning players has been coming in by the truckload.  Trying to get a lot of it confirmed has been a job within itself.  Today will probably be the busiest yet because the rest of the cuts will be announced later on.  I'll be on top of it as best I can.  If I don't get to come back and post here, please check me out at http://www.saintsgab.com/ for the latest updates.  It gets kinda hard trying to keep up with work and two blogs, so y'all please bear with me.

Okay.  Let's get to it.  Yesterday's cuts brought with them some surprises.  I was shocked that the Saints released QB Patrick Ramsey.  Although I thought Chase Daniel clearly outperformed him in the preseason, I really thought the Saints would go with the more experienced player.  They typically like to do that sort of thing when it comes to choosing between a player with more experience and one who is virtually a novice.  Maybe they're stepping outside of their comfort zone this year to put a new twist on things, you know--so they'll still maintain the element of surprise which brought them marked success last year.  Congratulations to Daniel who is now officially Drew Bress' backup.

I was also shocked they cut Ladell Betts.  I really thought they'd brought him in for the reason of actually employing him in the running attack; I figured they'd keep four backs.  I'm surprised, but I've got to say, not sorry.  I wondered how productive Betts could have been anyway coming off of the devastating injuries he'd suffered.  There just wasn't enough time to evaluate him.   If Chris Ivory is healthy (and there's been absolutely no word on his status yet), the running game should be on track.  It has been confirmed that DeShawn Wynn has emerged as the fourth entity on that potent four-headed rushing machine that the Saints love to use.  Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, Chris Ivory, and DeShawn Wynn are going to be something to watch.  I hope they can at least duplicate last year's success.

For those of you who haven't heard already, also cut yesterday were:  Kendrick Clancy, Bobby McCray, and Nick Leckey.  I wasn't terribly surprised by Clancy's departure because they just brought him in earlier this week.  I was hopeful though that maybe they had become concerned enough with the deficiencies in the run defense to actually try do something about it.  It's bad, people.  And with AP coming to town less than a week away, it's past time for concern.

I wasn't surprised Leckey was let go either because all reports have indicated that the Saints have been quite impressed with Matt Tennant.  But of all the cuts, I dreaded Bobby McCray the most.  But we have to trust that the Saints know more about what they're doing than what any of us think.

Reports have also confirmed the following so-called "bubble" players have made the team:  Chris Ivory, Adrian Arrington, Junior Galette, Usama Young, and DeShawn Wynn.  Unconfirmed reports also suggest that rookie DT Al Woods apparently made enough of an impression in the Titans game to secure his place on the roster.  When I hear something more definite, I'll let you all know.