New Orleans Saints: Darren Sproles is a man sized “Mighty Mouse”

As everyone knows during the short off season activities the Saints traded one of their most explosive play makers in Reggie Bush.

However they quickly responded to that loss with the addition of Darren Sproles the same day the traded was agreed upon that shipped Bush to the Miami Dolphins.

People have been comparing stats between the two since the transaction was made public. Darren Sproles a good pick up given his past performance, and is he better than Reggie Bush.

In his first game as a Saint Sproles had what I’ll call the “Mighty Mouse” effect.  Just when Saints players began to look depressed on the sidelines, Sproles  broke open a big play and brought that same sideline back to life.

It was just like that old cartoon, when everything was thought to be lost, here came Mighty Mouse.  Sproles managed to become that spark the Saints needed to overcome the 14 points Green Bay had scored in the first quarter.

Drew Brees is the clear leader of the Saints offense, but I am almost certain that Sproles will become the spark that starts the fire in each game.

I realize that I may be jumping to conclusions relatively quickly about his impact, Reggie could have that same sort of impact in any given game as well, but the biggest difference that I see between the two backs other than size is drive.

Reggie wanted to be the featured back and had made strides to improve his running, although he was plagued by injuries. 

Though he became a better runner Reggie would dance around instead of lowering his shoulders and running forward during key downs.

He performed his job while he was a Saint, but he did not embrace it.  These are all things that average Saints fans would pull their hair out over during his tenure. We could all see the potential, but would he ever reach it?

Sproles on the other hand has come to the Saints embracing his role.  Sproles offers that same explosiveness that Bush did in every aspect, with the added bonus of being able to run between the tackles. 

I do believe that the biggest addition is his size, he is hard to see and once the opposition does see him he has the chance to make that play into a big gain.

The addition of Sproles, who is happy with being a set piece in Sean Peyton’s high octane offense, is only going to make this an even better marriage.

I believe that we have only seen the beginning of the impact that Sproles will have on the Saints this year, and if the game against Green Bay is any indication, I think the front office of the Saints definately made the right call.