Injuries and stats, are two of the things wide receiver Adrian Arrington is battling as he makes his bid to secure a spot on the Saints 53 man roster. He has until September 5th to overcome the obstacles.
Arrington was the darling of camp and well on his way to making the roster last year after a strong pre-season, only to have a turf toe injury pave his way to injured reserve. The Saints jumped back into the 7th round of the 2008 draft to grab Arrington out of the University of Michigan. When the Saints selected him, Saints Coach Sean Payton was impressed with Arrington's size and speed. He fit in with Payton's preference for big physical receivers.
Arrington started training camp this season healed from the toe injury, but had a hamstring injury that limited him the first couple of weeks. Over the last couple of weeks he's been getting more full speed contact and work on offense. Last week in a 38-14 pre-season win over the Texans, Arrington caught 3 passes for 77 yards in about 1 and 1/2 quarters of work, flashing big play ability, and hauling in one catch with Texans defenders draped all over him.
Heading into this week's contest against Oakland, Arrington figures to get some work with the starters. They are slated to go through the first half and on into the third quarter.
"My goal is just build on this last pre-season game, just stay consistent." Arrington explained.
Listen to Arrington:
When you watch the lanky wide-out in practice, you'll notice Wide Receivers Coach Curtis Johnson in Arrington's ear all the time, forcing him to run better routes, starting a drill over, and even challenging him a bit with some inspirational words that are not suitable for print.
WWL's Bobby Hebert says Arrington is an intriguing player with great physical presence, but somewhat sporadic. "He'll make one catch that only a handful of guys in the league can make, and then the not so difficult pass that might be just a tad behind him, he'll drop, and you can't do that if you are trying to make this roster, there's too much talent at receiver on the Saints team."
The depth Hebert was referring to? Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore, and Robert Meachem are all essentially locks to make the team. Arrington is well aware of the battle he has on his hands. "I'm in a huge fight right now, we got a deep receiving crew, a lot of good guys."
Typically the first two or three receivers on the Saints roster haven't been called on to play special teams, but Arrington knows that will separate him from the others trying to snatch up the 5th receiver spot. "I definitely feel that I'm going to have to make my mark somewhere on special teams to make this roster."
Specials teams?
Hebert says that's not a strong suit for Arrington. "If you watch him practice, he's struggled from time to time in special teams drills, he's so long and lanky that it's gonna be difficult for him to be a good special teams player." What about as a possible returner? "Not a chance, he's not a better returner than Cortney (Roby) Skyler (Green) or heck even Rod Harper is better," Hebert explained.
When the Saints get things going Saturday at Oakland Arrington is sure to get some more opportunities. "They want him to make this team, they are giving him every opportunity to make this team," Hebert insists. Three catches in first game action since last year, certainly is a good start. "If he keeps making plays when he get's the chance, they'll find a way to keep him. But, the problem again is that he can't play special teams that good, and Coach Payton likes versatile players."
The clock is ticking for Arrington. While he should survive the league mandated trimming of rosters by September 1st, he'll be keeping a careful eye on Saturday, September 5th. That's when the Saints have to pair their roster to 53 players.
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