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

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.

Defensive Tackle

Second-year player Sedrick Ellis is entrenched as one of the starting tackles, but there will be a battle for the second starting spot.

Kendrick Clancy was the starter last year, but he is just average. 

Contributors Hollis Thomas and Brian Young were cut in the offseason because of their inabilities to remain healthy.

Clancy's main competition will come from second-year player DeMario Pressley and free agent Rod Coleman. 

Both Pressley and Coleman both sat out 2008 to recover from injuries.

Outside Linebacker

The Saints are dying for some athleticism here. 

Strongside linebacker Scott Fujita and weakside linebacker Scott Shanle have started for the past three seasons. 

These two outside linebackers have been serviceable, but are not instrumental in forcing turnovers.  Last season, they combine for two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and zero fumble recoveries.

Troy Evans is a special teams standout but hasn't started a game in his seven-year career.  He has never made a sack or forced a fumble.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams needs athletes who can be a threat to blitz on any down. 

Enter JoLonn Dunbar and Marvin Mitchell.

Though not the best athletes at their positions, Dunbar and Mitchell, both 24, are significantly younger than Fujita, 30, and Shanle, 29.

Dunbar started two games last season.

While Mitchell played inside linebacker in college at the University of Tennessee, he will need to learn how to play outside if he wants to see the field as a pro.  Middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma played every down for the Saints last year.

Cornerback

After two years of futility, could this actually be the strength of the Saints' defense?

Last year's number one corner Mike McKenzie is gone after suffering major knee injuries in consecutive years, but second year player Tracy Porter, the other week one starter, is back after suffering a wrist injury against Minnesota.

The Saints signed veteran Jabari Greer away from Buffalo to replace McKenzie. 

They also drafted Malcolm Jenkins out of Ohio State.  Jenkins will likely be the nickel back (fifth defensive back) this year, but could turn into a starter at either cornerback or free safety within the next couple of years.

Randall Gay, who became a full-time starter after McKenzie and Porter went down, will be the Saints' dime back (sixth defensive back). 

He is more suited as a situational player than as a starter.  He started only a handful of games in four years with the Patriots before arriving in New Orleans last year.

Veterans Jason David and Leigh Torrence will battle undrafted rookies Danny Gorrer and Reggie Jones for the final cornerback spot.

Gorrer played his college ball at Texas A&M, while Jones hails from Portland State.

I expect Leigh Torrence to make the team based on the team's desire to re-sign him as a restricted free agent in the offseason. 

The Saints will likely keep six cornerbacks.  That means that either David, Gorrer or Jones will also make the team.

The Saints kept seven cornerbacks on the final 53 man roster last year but cut Jason Craft after just two games.  Craft finished the season with the St. Louis Rams and former Saints head coach Jim Haslett.

There seems to always be one or two training camp surprises every year with the Saints. 

In 2007, the Saints kept undrafted rookie Pierre Thomas in favor of fourth round pick Antonio Pittman.

In 2008, Taylor Melhaff and Andy Alleman were cut in favor of Martin Gramatica and Carl Nicks, respectively.

It'll be an interesting summer as we wait and see which underdogs make the roster.