Absurdly Early Depth Chart Predictions: Tight End

Were it not for the Brett Favre saga, one of the bigger stories of the offseason would be the Saints' acquisition of former Giants Tightend, Jeremy Shockey. You should all remember the rumors leading up to the draft that the Giants were shopping Shockey and/or the Saints were asking whether or not he could be acquired. Loomis no doubt has an inside source of Shockey's true locker room influence from his former Offensive Coordinator, current Saints Head Coach Sean Payton. The problem was that the Giants felt that they should receive more from the Saints than what Loomis was offering, a 2nd and 5th round pick.

Loomis knew that the Giants needed to get rid of Shockey more than the Saints needed to acquire him, so he patiently waited... and waited... and waited... and then made Tom Benson, Sean Payton, Drew Brees and Marques Colston very happy guys, landing a Pro Bowl Tightend for the paltry sum of... a 2nd and 5th round draft pick.



Tightend: Jeremy Shockey, Billy Miller, Mark Campbell
This is probably not a premature call at all. Shockey is head-and-shoulders better than anything else on the roster, even though the Saints were not really hurting without him. Combined, Billy Miller and Eric Johnson were responsible for 75 catches for 706 yards and 4 touchdowns at a more than respectable 20 yards per catch average. Drew Brees has plenty of targets, but you simply do not turn down a guy of Shockey's caliber for a 2nd round and a throw-away second day draft choice.

The Saints hope to gain some consistency with the addition of Shockey, a true everydown player at the Tightend position. Over his six year career he averages 65 catches for 700+ yards and four TD's, almost exactly the production he will be replacing with the Saints. Payton is slowly immersing him into the offense, being careful to avoid any injury setbacks while he works back into game condition.

Billy Miller has shown promise since arriving in New Orleans. Long known for his blocking prowess and athleticism for his size as much as his injury prone career, he has finally displayed some consistency with his hands downfield. His hard work is apparent and beginning to pay off as Drew Brees shows more trust in his abilities. With the departure of Johnson and the addition of Shockey, he will likely see less balls thrown his way, but it's good to know he's proving to be reliable should Shockey go down with another injury.

Mark Campbell is coming off an injury that kept him off the field for all of 2007. Prior to that, he was the Saints leading receiver at Tightend. Campbell is spectacular at nothing, but solid at everything. He's a ten year veteran and brings to the table what ten year veterans are known for: maturity, work ethic, reliability. He's a solid locker room presence and a solid guy on the line of scrimmage. Barring any injury setbacks and/or Ronnie Ghent blowing up in the pre-season, Campbell should round out the roster as the third Tightend.