METAIRIE, La. -- Remember that deafening buzz surrounding C.J. Spiller last summer, when he joined a New Orleans Saints offense that seemed ideal for his skill set as a dynamic runner and receiver?
Well, the buzz is long gone after his disappointing 2015 season. But Spiller is still here.
And with him comes some reason for cautious optimism, now that he is further removed from an arthroscopic knee surgery last August that hampered him more than he wanted to admit.
“His health and movement skills look noticeably different,” said Saints coach Sean Payton, who called Spiller one of the team’s pleasant surprises early in OTAs. “He worked his butt off in the offseason to get the strength back in that knee. That’s been really encouraging.”
Chances are, Spiller’s 2015 fantasy owners aren’t ready to go back to that well again this year. But the 28-year-old former Pro Bowler remains confident that the Saints offense is a great fit for him -- and vice versa.
“I know when I’m 100 percent and able to do what I’m able to do, I know I can flourish in this offense,” Spiller said. “This offense is built for my type of skill set. I wouldn’t want to be in any other one. Then you have a great head coach that understands how to put players in position to make plays. Then you’ve got a quarterback (Drew Brees) who’s a future Hall of Famer and understands matchups and how to take advantage of each and every play.
“So I’m just happy to have a chance to try to, I guess you can say, revamp or redeem myself, and get this team hopefully a 100 percent thriller.”
Spiller said he didn’t need any further procedures on his knee after the Saints decided to shut him down late last December and place him on injured reserve.
But he did reluctantly admit that the knee never got back to 100 percent last season.
Although Spiller insisted during the year that he still felt healthy and explosive -- pointing to plays like his 80-yard touchdown catch in overtime against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 -- he said he wasn’t fully able to cut and plant like he needed to.
“That played a big role, because of the style I play with, the cutting and stopping. Whenever you don’t have that explosion that I’m known for, it hampers your play,” Spiller said. “But I tried to block it out as much as I could, tried to go out there and give everything I can. But good thing it’s behind me now. The road to recovery is looking very bright, and I’m just gonna continue to take it day by day.”
Spiller’s roster spot with the Saints seems to be secure -- for financial reasons, anyway. All of his $3.25 million in salary and roster bonuses this year are fully guaranteed.
And Spiller said he feels more comfortable with the playbook and with what Brees is looking for on the field now that he is in Year 2.
However, he will still have to outperform others in a crowded Saints backfield to secure a key role on the team. Veterans Mark Ingram and Tim Hightower both have proven to be versatile enough to catch the ball out of the backfield. The Saints also re-signed runner/receiver/returner Travaris Cadet, who has a similar skill set to Spiller. And they have young backups Marcus Murphy and Daniel Lasco.
“I always have high expectations. The biggest thing is just going into the season making sure I’m 100 percent, because I know what type of player I am when I’m very healthy,” Spiller said. “I feel I’m one of the top tiers in this league when I’m at full strength. And I want to be able to give this team that chance to be able to see that.”
