The Saints have acquired 27-year old TE Jeremy Shockey from the Giants for 2nd and 5th round picks in the 2009 NFL Draft.  Shockey has been a tad injury prone lately and he has some hard miles on his body, but, Drew Brees loves throwing to his TEs.  Shockey played in 14 games for the Giants last season and he caught 57 passes for 619 yards (10.9 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He still has enough speed to stretch the seam of the defense and he’s still very hard to bring down when he gets a head of steam up.  Shockey has now played in 83 games in his NFL career and he has caught 371 passes for 4,228 yards (11.4 avg) with 27 TD grabs.  Look for Shockey to be worth the draft picks for the Saints as he will likely catch the 3rd most passes on the team in 2008.

Mike Karney is a throwback player as he’s a good blocker who is very effective around the goal line with the ball in his hands.  Karney played in 16 games (9 starts) for the Saints last season and he carried the ball 11 times for 17 yards (1.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 13 passes for 78 yards (6.0 avg) last year.  Look for Karney to be effective again in 2008 for the Saints.  Karney has now played in 63 games (38 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 31 times for 69 yards (2.2 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also has caught 44 passes for 277 yards (6.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his NFL career.

6′0″, 238 pound fullback Kevin Dudley is the backup at fullback for the Saints.  He did not play at all last season.  Dudley has now played in 2 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has never touched the football in a game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  B-