Fleur-De-Lis Fever | Top Five Position Battles To Watch In Saints Camp

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

It's 97 degrees in southern Louisiana and that means one thing: Saints training camp is just a little over a month away.

As I gaze over the Saints' roster, there are a few positions that are already spoken for.

There is no debate who reigns at quarterback and middle linebacker.

Other than that, however, there will be heavy competition at a number of positions.

Here is a list of five positions of which the competition should be the fiercest.

Running Back

Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush will get the bulk of the carries.  Deuce McAllister is gone and the Saints struggled to convert on third and short and goal line situations. 

They need someone to emerge as the "thunder" in their rushing attack.

Mike Bell, Lynell Hamilton, P.J. Hill, Herb Donaldson are candidates to be the short-yardage back. 

What else do they all have in common?  They all broke into the NFL as undrafted rookies.

Bell signed with the Denver Broncos in 2006, Hamilton signed with the Saints in 2008, and Hill and Donaldson signed with the Saints in 2009.

Bell by far has the most playing experience of the quartet (that's not saying much).  He played in the final four games of 2008 for the Saints.

Hamilton's only career game came in the season finale against the Carolina Panthers.

Hill played three seasons at the University of Wisconsin, while Donaldson finished four seasons at Western Illinois.

I expect that the Saints will keep only one or two of these players. 

If the Saints keep two, one player will be the short-yardage specialist and the other will ride the bench until someone gets injured.

Competition should be fierce.

Wide Receiver

Five receivers caught at least 11 passes from Drew Brees and two others, Courtney Roby and Skyler Green, returned kicks.

I expect the Saints to keep six receivers.

While Marques Colston and Lance Moore are expected to be the starters, it really doesn't matter who starts for this offense because the Saints so often use three and four wide receiver sets.

Drew Brees will get the ball to whomever is open, regardless of depth chart status.

The battle will be at the bottom of the depth chart.

Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem, and Adrian Arrington will all be fighting for playing time as the third and fourth receivers.

Each receiver has their own strengths and weaknesses.

Henderson is the fastest receiver on the team and the team's best deep threat, but has been inconsistent at catching the ball.

Meachem demonstrated flashes of great open field running.  Of course, that was against the other team's third and fourth string.  His work ethic has been questioned by head coach Sean Payton.

Arrington also looked promising last preseason and was praised by the coaching staff.  At 6'3", he gives Brees another big target opposite 6'4" Marques Colston.  However, he has no regular season experience.

Finally, look for the Saints to keep either Courtney Roby or Skyler Green as the sixth receiver and kick returner. 

Both players had a kick return of at least 60 yards last year.  I expect their competition to come down to the last round of cuts in August.

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