Mike Detillier's Top 32 Prospects for the 2014 NFL Draft


1. Jadeveon Clowney- Defensive End South Carolina

My highest ranked defensive end prospect since Bruce Smith came out of Virginia Tech in 1985. Clowney's defensive playmaking skills are off the charts and the 6-5 ½, 270 pounder has great edge speed and closing skills to the ballcarrier. Despite constant double-team blocking he recorded 54 tackles, 23 ½ tackles for losses, 3 forced fumbles and 13 quarterback sacks in 2012.

2. Teddy Bridgewater- Quarterback Louisville

Bridgewater is a tremendous overall athlete who has excellent size, a strong arm and he has 1st rate accuracy skills in the pocket. His ability to move around outside the pocket is outstanding and he buys extra time for his receivers to get open downfield. The 6-3, 220-pounder completed 66.9% of his passes in 2012, he threw for 5,847 yards and 41 touchdowns.

3. Tajh Boyd-Quarterback Clemson

Boyd reminds me in so many ways of former Tennessee Titans QB Steve McNair. The Clemson standout passer is one tough dude hanging in the pocket until the last second to make a throw, he throws accurately from the pocket, he has excellent mobility skills and he is dangerous running with the ball. He completed 67.2% of his passes in 2012. Boyd passed for 3,896 yards and 36 touchdowns as a junior. He would have been the first QB off the 2013 NFL draft board, had he decided to come out early.

4. Marqise Lee- Wide Receiver USC

The 2012 Fred Biletnikoff Award winner caught 118 passes for 1,721 yards and 14 scores for the Trojans. The 6-0, 200 pound Lee has very sure hands, great foot speed and explosive openfield moves. Lee is not only a gold chip "stretch" receiver, but he also excels in the return game averaging 28.5 yards per runback on kickoff returns.

5. Jake Matthews-Offensive Tackle Texas A&M

Jake has some strong football genes in him being the son of former Houston Oilers NFL Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews. The 6-5, 305 pounder is a very good technician, he is a strong in-line run blocker and a very good pass protector. Has started for the Aggies since...

Full Story –Daily Comet.Com

Since the mid-2000's, the Southeastern Conference has become the premier league in college football.

From Alabama to Auburn to LSU and Florida, the BCS national champions have come from the SEC over the past few seasons.

From week to week, no conference plays defense or produces as many NFL caliber players like the SEC.

Over the past five seasons, the University of Southern California has produced the most NFL players drafted into the league.

Despite suffering the sting of an NCAA investigation, mainly centered around former USC and New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush, and the strict penalties following the investigation, the Trojans have produced 34 draft choices to the NFL over the past five seasons. Six of those players were first round selections.

By Mike Detillier-NFL Analyst / Daily Comet

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With the New Orleans Saints switching to a 3-4 defense, the team will need a defensive tackle to anchor the defense. The Saints were planning on using Akiem Hicks at defensive tackle, but they also drafted John Jenkins in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft. Both players seem capable of playing the nose tackle in the 3-4 defense, but both are inexperienced in playing that position at the professional level.

In order to add some depth, the Saints added defensive tackle Isaako Aaitui.

Aaitui spent some time last season with the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets, and has only every played in the preseason with four tackles and a sack. He will likely compete for a backup spot at defensive tackle, but having an extra player for the position will be valuable to the Saints.

By Alejandro Aviles / Rant Sports

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The New Orleans Saints are a team that is looking for a big bounce back year in 2013 after their 2012 NFL season was marred by the “Bounty-gate” suspensions to key defenders for most of the season and their head coach for the entire year. They finished last year at just 7-9 and six games behind the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South.

However, the Saints offense didn’t miss too much of a beat last year, with star quarterback Drew Brees throwing for over 5,000 yards and more than 40 touchdowns for yet another year. There’s no question that they could put points on the board last year, even if it was largely through the passing game.

The Saints threw 671 pass attempts last season, while calling just 370 rushing plays. They have been and will likely continue to be a team that heavily favors throwing the ball, largely because Brees is such a game-changer. Despite how great Brees is, though, having a consistent running threat would make him even better. However, the Saints didn’t have that last season.

By Cody Williams / Rant Sports

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Inside the New Orleans Saints defensive meeting rooms, Martez Wilson has been a peripatetic of sorts.

The third-year linebacker arrived in New Orleans ready to play outside linebacker in former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams' 4-3 defense. Then before last season, he was switched to defensive end during Steve Spagnuolo's one-season stint with the Saints. Now a year into that experiment, Wilson finds himself back at outside linebacker.

Only this time, he's doing so in the 3-4 alignment being implemented by new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.

By Nakia Hogan / Times Picayune

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For those who figured Sean Payton would make the most of his season-long suspension by coming up with several new innovative wrinkles to bring back to the New Orleans Saints, it's already begun. In the weight room.

The high-intensity CrossFit workouts that helped Payton get into the best physical shape of his life have inspired a new approach to the Saints' offseason workout program.

The Saints' new workouts now include both the rapid series of various high-intensity workouts, but also the spirit of competition that CrossFit promotes.

By Mike Triplett / Times Picayune

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It’s fair to give the New Orleans Saints a pass last year after being torpedoed by BountyGate, but there were still many serious issues lingering over the years that only came to head in 2012.

Boasting the league’s worst defense sounded the alarm for this organization and they went right to addressing it, at long last, this offseason. New Orleans brought in excellent-if-emphatic defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to help shore things up along with spending their first-rounder on safety Kenny Vaccaro. They further showed seriousness in addressing this defensive unit by adding blossoming young cornerback Keenan Lewis via free agency.

The Saints let some less-necessary parts walk in Jermon Bushrod and Chris Ivory among others, but Drew Brees can cover up plenty of deficiencies — and the RB spot is already stacked.

By Thomas Emerick / Rant Sports

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As a journeyman quarterback in the NFL, Luke McCown has grown accustomed to making stops and feeling comfortable before long.

But McCown is feeling especially familiar in his latest stop with the New Orleans Saints. The locker room, his teammates, the playbook and the offense all have that familiar feel because McCown was in this same position last season before the Saints cut him in favor of Chase Daniel.

The Saints signed the nine-year veteran this offseason as a free agent to compete for the backup job to Drew Brees after he moved on to spend last season with the Atlanta Falcons.

By Terrance Harris / Times-Picayune

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With four weeks of their offseason program for veterans already in the books, the New Orleans Saints coaches will get their first look at the 18 players they drafted or signed after the draft in a three-day minicamp that begins Friday.

The Saints are set to have 70 players at their Metairie practice facility; they’re allowed to bring in members of their practice squad last season as well as veterans and rookies who will participate on a tryout basis.

In addition to orientation and classroom work with their position coaches, the players will be on the field twice Friday and Saturday and wrap up the weekend with a single practice Sunday.

By Sheldon Mickles- Sportswriter / The Advocate

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No one can claim new New Orleans Saints linebacker Victor Butler lacks confidence in his new teammates and his old defensive coordinator.

Butler understood the surface of what he walked into when he signed a two-year contract with the Saints earlier this offseason. He knew the Saints were the worst defense in league history in 2012 in terms of yards allowed.

An energetic Butler was asked Wednesday night before the Ben Grubbs charity softball game at Zephyr Field if he felt a responsibility to help wipe away the infamous tag attached to the Saints' 2012 defense.

By Larry Holder / Times-Picayune

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It's hard to imagine that any New Orleans Saints player is enjoying this offseason more than linebacker Jonathan Vilma. Although he still referred to the NFL's harsh bounty punishments as a "raw deal" on Wednesday night, he's no longer living under that dark cloud of a looming one-year suspension and a vicious legal battle against commissioner Roger Goodell.

Just as refreshing, Vilma is now fully healthy after battling through a major knee injury over the course of two full seasons.

And perhaps best of all, he's still here with the Saints.

Vilma, 31, had to take a significant pay cut to stay in New Orleans, from $6 million in salary and bonuses to $1.2 million. And that probably meant swallowing a good deal of pride for the three-time former Pro Bowler as well.

By Mike Triplett / Times Picayune

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The comments made by New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton this offseason about how the uncertainty of the team's left tackle position has kept him awake haven't fallen on deaf ears.

The words uttered by Payton may not have been a direct challenge to fourth-year veteran Charles Brown, but Brown certainly appears to be taking it that way.

After the Saints signed former No. 2 overall pick Jason Smith and drafted Terron Armstead in the third round of last month's NFL draft, Brown knows this is put-up or shut-up time for him.

A second-round pick in 2010, Brown likely will be given the first crack at replacing Jermon Bushrod, who signed this offseason with the Chicago Bears, at left tackle. But the Saints are expected to have open competition at the position with both Smith and Armstead getting an equal opportunity to win the battle for the right to protect the blindside of record-setting quarterback Drew Brees.

By Nakia Hogan / Times-Picayune

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What is the intensity level like at offseason workouts to this point? What is it like having everybody back?
“Workouts have been great. It’s really the first normal offseason we’ve had in a long time, really since 2009. When you think about it, 2010 was coming off the Super Bowl, 2011 was the lockout year and then 2012, obviously with everything going on last offseason, it was definitely not the norm. Just to get back in mid-April, get going again, get back in the locker room, being around the guys, and Sean Payton is back; we’ve really had some great workouts, not just the stuff in the weight room but on the field with our route sessions and some of our football school. It’s really been great and you can tell that guys are just chomping at the bit to get back and get rolling.”

On the importance of getting to a fast start in games:
“There are a lot of elements to a game, as you know, that play a factor in the outcome. I definitely think that the faster you start, there is this confidence level. It reaffirms everything that you studied throughout the week and in practice. Your first 15 plays, if you come out and are able to be successful, there is that momentum that kind of shifts to your side and that confidence level of ‘we’re prepared for these guys and we’ve got them pegged.’ I think, definitely, when you start fast it kind of carries throughout the game. We pride ourselves on being not only a fast-starting team, but a great finishing team.

By New Orleans Saints.Com

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The New Orleans Saints hosted two special guests Tuesday afternoon as Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise and Legislative Affairs Officer/Liaison to the INFINITY Science Center Myron Webb visited the team’s facility on Airline Drive in Metairie.

Haise wanted to visit the Saints to personally thank Owner/Chairman of the Board Tom Benson for the team’s support with INFINITY Science Center, an interactive science center in Hancock County.

The Saints teamed up with the Center and the Mississippi State Tax Commission to create Mississippi Super Bowl XLIV license plates to help raise funds for the Center, which opened in late 2011. The license plate monthly fees continue to support the Center’s operations. Haise presented Mr. Benson with a #1 Mississippi Super Bowl XLIV license plate on Tuesday.

By Alex Restrepo / New Orleans Saints.Com

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There has been a tremendous amount of debate about statues in sports. How soon is too soon to erect them? Who deserves them?

Outside of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, there are two. The first honors Dave Dixon, the man generally considered the visionary who moved the building from idea to the home of more championship events than any other venue since it opened. The other represents “The Block” where Steve Gleason fully splayed out to block a punt against the Atlanta Falcons on the night the Superdome reopened following the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Both are great and appropriate, but there is an egregious omission from this select club.

It is time for “The Dome Patrol” to be immortalized in bronze. I know that I speak for a number of New Orleans Saints fans who are bewildered by the fact that the most famous and honored collective of players in the history of the franchise, a group dubbed the “Greatest Linebacking Corps of All Time” by the NFL Network and a quartet that is still the only set of linebackers named to start in a Pro Bowl, has not been properly honored by the Saints.

By David Grubb / SportsNola.Com

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