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Look out NFC, the Saints may have just become the best offense in the conference. On Monday, the Super Bowl champion New York Giants decided that their former Pro Bowl tight end was dispensable ...

Jeremy Shockey May Give Saints Best Offense in NFC

by Chris Gordy (Contributor)

6

2,340 reads

Opinion

July 23, 2008


Look out NFC, the Saints may have just become the best offense in the conference.

On Monday, the Super Bowl champion New York Giants decided that their former Pro Bowl tight end was dispensable and agreed to trade Jeremy Shockey to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for second and fifth-round picks in 2009.

The offense already has superstars in Pro Bowlers Drew Brees and Deuce McAllister, as well as Heisman trophy-winner Reggie Bush and 2006 NFL Rookie of the Year finalist Marques Colston. The Saints' high octane offense is about to get more potent.

With Shockey, the Saints get a tight end who is strong, fast, physical, and loves to catch the ball. He also blocks better than most tight ends in the league.

Throughout his six seasons with the Giants, despite battling several injuries, Shockey established himself as a huge offensive threat en route to making four Pro Bowl appearances. Shockey has averaged 61 catches for over 700 yards each season, with a total of 27 career touchdowns.

Now, back under the tutelage of Sean Payton, Shockey is expected to surpass his 74 career receptions this season. With quarterback Drew Brees coming off of two consecutive 4,000 plus yard seasons, there is no doubt Payton likes to spread the ball around.

With a tight end who can catch and block in the mix, this takes pressure off of the Saints' other play-makers in Bush, Colston, and McAllister.

Last season, the Saints thought they had the answer by adding former 49er Eric Johnson, but that did not go as planned. If you are an opposing defense, it is quite possible you may have to plan on on stopping Shockey, Bush, Colston, McAllister and Brees all at the same time. That may be darn near impossible.

So as the Saints start up their preseason training at Millsapps College in Jackson, Mississippi this week, Payton will go to work immediately on scheming some of his offensive plays which proved to be genius two seasons ago.

And if Deuce McAllister returns 100 percent healthy to the offense, there is no doubt this will be the best offense in the NFC, even if Brett Favre returns to Green Bay. Expect the Saints to be an automatic playoff contender with their offense alone.

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6 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Mionjacon 11 months ago

    "Look out NFC, one of the worst offenses in the conference may have just become the best."

    What in the hell are you talking about?? The Saints are not one of the worse offenses in the league before Shockey.

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  2. Jadi Mwendo 11 months ago

    One of the worst offenses? What football are you watching? We were the top ranked offense two years ago and the number four offense last year. What you meant to say is that one of the better offenses in the NFC may now be the best. I would add, one of the better offenses in the NFC is now the best offense in the NFL.

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  3. Robert Lewis 11 months ago

    Lets give him the benefit of the doubt, he was under duress when he wrote that line. As far as the rest of the article its on point. The Saints Offense will be unstoppable this year as long as everyone stays healthy. And it gives a cushion in case someone does go down. Last year we lost both our threats, and defenses knew we were going to throw, and who it was going to. Can you imagine, how succesful Colston will be now that he will not be double covered. Look what he did with 2 guys on him most of the time. He is going to the Pro Bowl for sure this year.

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  4. Bruce Dickenson 11 months ago

    Not a bad article, but it looks like it may have been edited before I read it.

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  5. Chris Gordy 11 months ago

    No, I wrote the article how I wrote. The Bleacher Report editor changed my first line to something that wasn't factual, so I had to change it back. Covering the Saints year round, of course I knew they did not have one of the worst offenses last year. I had to change to correct their mistake.

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  6. Emery Songer 11 months ago

    Hmm... I would say that Shockey adds a key dimension to the Saints. But I'm not sure he will lead them any farther than they got a couple of seasons ago: to the NFC title game. Deuce is oft-injured and Bush isn't what we expected so I would hold my breath on that running game before I concede they're the best in the conference.

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