This is A Great Draft for the Saints - all 7 picks
I think everyone (probably) recognises that this draft could give us 7 starters or 7 guys no longer with the team in a few years, and at the final reckoning it will probably be somewhere in between.
This is a good draft, in my opinion, because of the following:
- The picks seemed to match the areas of need (albeit with some exceptions)
- The picks seemed to fit what we do/fit our scheme/fit our prototypes
- The players selected appeared to provide reasonable to good value (when you consider composite rankings)
- The players selected seem to have the talent, athleticism, experience, production, potential etc to be seen as potential contributors, and often early contributors
- The players selected seem to fit our culture with a heavy weighting to character, leadership and service
- There was a good balance of risk and reward
- The trades we made made sense and didn't feel like over-paying for the value of the players we got
- We maneuvered our way through the draft and got ahead/ started two runs on a specific position group, getting our first choice in that target area
- There was a pleasing consistency to the draft where every pick just sorta made sense (to me at least) either immediately or with a minimum of reading up - no real clangers, or head scratchers - just good prospects at positions of need/value
If there's a negative from this draft, beyond the obvious which is that every player could be a dud,
it's that we missed out on a few areas of need (LB/1T) and created a new one (TE).
Agreed. My biggest concern here is at LB. The loss of Kaden Ellis now makes us really thin there. Not too high on the backups we have to fill his spot. Don’t b surprised if we eventually bring in a vet LB.
I really wanted us to draft a big 1T run stuffer, like Mazi, as well. But again, I think we’re either gonna bring in a vet, or sign a UDFA to help there. The good news here tho is dat we rotate so much along the D line. So if we can jus get a lil more
consistent play from this current group of DTs, esp against the run, than the one last year, it’ll help alot!
Finally, IMO, unlike Ellis at LB, IMO, losing Trautman did not create a new “area of need”. Id say it was more like creating an opening/opportunity for someone else to fill! 😂 But seriously, again, I think we can bring in a vet TE who can easily replace him.
Meanwhile, one of the reasons why I think the Saints drafted QB Jake Haener was to allow Taysom to play/ focus more on O at TE/HB even WR, along with playin STs.
Most importantly, I’ve been quite pleased with Juwans continued development n play at TE. With the addition of DC4 at QB ( who loves to go to his TEs) I think many are looking for JJ to put it all together this year n have his best season as an every down TE!
We’ll see