Unknown Saints come marching in

By Darrell Laurant  |   Tuesday, August 15, 2006  |  Comments( 3 )

New Orleans Saints
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Reggie Bush did what everyone expected in his New Orleans Saints debut last Saturday night, rushing for 59 yards in six carries and pulling off the obligatory spectacular run, reversing his field twice for a 44-yard gain in the Saints' 19-16 victory at Tennessee.

In preseason games, however, coaches yearn for previously unnoticed players to do the unexpected -- and in the case of new Saints head coach Sean Payton, running back Jamaal Branch and wide receiver Lance Moore obliged.

Branch carried the ball 11 times for 47 yards and grabbed a 24-yard pass. Moore was the Saints' leading receiver with four catches for 57 yards and provided the winning points with a 22-yard end zone reception from Todd Bouman.

Besides their Saturday performances, these two have a lot in common. Both came out of NFL Europe, both put in some bench time with the Saints last year but never got into a game, and both put up exceptional stats for low-profile college programs.

Branch, a load at 5-foot-11, 230 pounds, set a Division I-AA record with 2,326 rushing yards as a junior at Colgate, earning the Walter Payton Award as the top player nationally in that category. With Aaron Stecker having been carted off the field Saturday with what turned out to be a high ankle sprain, Branch has a golden opportunity over the next two games to show even more of what he can do.

Moore could be an even more intriguing possibility for a team that lacks depth at wide receiver. The son of a karate instructor, the undersized (5-9, 177) wideout set school records at Toledo for receptions (222), receiving yards (2,776) and receiving touchdowns (24) as he played catch with Bruce Gradkowski. He also scored twice on punt returns and averaged over 23 yards per kickoff return. He's currently listed third on the depth chart behind Joe Horn and Chris Horn.

NOTES: Another player who took advantage of an injury was linebacker Colby Bockwoldt, who started in place of the sidelined Tommy Polley and led the Saints' defense with four tackles.

In what has to be the freakiest injury of the young season, backup Saints QB Adrian McPherson was injured when hit by a golf cart driven by T-Rac, the Titans' mascot.

Drew Brees looked solid in his debut, leading the Saints on one scoring drive, hitting a couple of 20-yard passes, and finishing 5-of-9 for 60 yards.

Get more original New Orleans Saints coverage at Realfootball365.com
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