Leaner and meaner?

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 30, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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JACKSON, Miss. — Leaner and meaner, that’s what the New Orleans Saints defensive line hopes to be this season.

Leaner, certainly, than the 2007 edition after end Charles Grant and tackle Hollis Thomas shed some unnecessary pounds during the offseason and with 6-foot-6, 260-pound end Bobby McCray coming aboard to help out with the pass rush.

Meaner, hopefully, with aggressive end Will Smith returning to anchor the right side of the line and first-round draft pick Sedrick Ellis, a tackle who’s expected to disrupt opposing offensive fronts. And, of course, there’s new high-energy assistant coach Ed Orgeron to push them to greater heights.

At least that’s the plan for a unit that failed most of last season to generate a consistent pass rush and accounted for just 21 of the team’s 32 sacks during a 7-9 campaign that kept the Saints out of the playoffs.

“We’re leaner, but it’s not like we’re not meaner,” said Thomas, who reported to camp weighing substantially less, according to him, than last season. “We’re just trying to become a unit that’s a force to be reckoned with.

“We did some good things last year, but obviously, it wasn’t enough to get us where we need to be,” he said. “We need to be the catalyst in this game of football and for the Saints to try and get where we want to go.”

Much of their success will depend on the play of Grant and Smith. The anchors of the defensive line, they must play up to their capabilities and seven-year, $63 million contracts.

While Smith recorded a team-high seven sacks, Grant had just 2‰ while playing the second half of the season overweight and with ligament damage in his ankle that required offseason surgery.

Grant and Thomas, who provides a push up the middle when he keeps his weight down, rededicated themselves this offseason. They learned how to manage their weight and take care of themselves at the Duke Sports Medicine Center in Raleigh, N.C.

“I feel a significant amount of difference in my endurance and my ability to be out there more and run a little bit faster,” said Thomas. “Obviously, without the weight, comes quickness.”

Grant, who weighed 305 pounds at the end of last season, came to camp weighing 278. Since then, he’s dropped another three pounds, which has also helped his quickness so far in camp.

“The pressure and sacks are going to come,” Grant said. “One of the problems last year was we started 0-4. Nobody comes back from that. If you start 0-4, you’re playing catch-up all year.

“So the key is to start fast. If we do, we’ll get a lot of sacks because we’ve got the guys to get it done.”