Late draft choices show Saints targeting special teams
It’s no secret to New Orleans Saints fans, or the NFL in general, that the Saints have had struggles with their special teams unit over the past several seasons. In fact, during the Saints Super Bowl winning season, the black and gold had the worst special teams ranking of any team in NFL history to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
The special teams struggles continued in 2011, as not only did the team lose games due to poor place kicking, their coverage units cost them at least one game (against the Browns in the Super Dome) and was suspect in several other games during the season.
To counter these special teams struggles, the Saints selected a few players in the later rounds of the 2011 draft that should help their coverage units on both punts and kickoffs. The team’s second third-round draft pick, former Louisville cornerback Johnny Patrick, will likely make his mark on the team his rookie year as a gunner on special teams due to his speed and coverage skills.
He’s not the only Saints rookie expected to make a difference on special teams. Seventh-round pick Nate Bussey, a linebacker out of the University of Illinois, was called the best special teams player on his college team, and appears likely to be the next fan favorite special teams player out of the mold of Steve Gleason and Fred McAfee for the Saints.
Regardless of how they finished on special teams in past seasons, it’s good to see that the team acknowledges those problems and have selected some players that can make a difference in 2011.
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[...] to shore up their special teams after a dreadful season of coverage in 2010. The team used the later rounds of the draft to target players who were versatile on special teams, and Amaya’a acquisition only furthers [...]
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