Rodgers-Cromartie...4.28 40 yard dash' (merged)

Maybe. I mean it depends on what you're prioritizing I suppose. Brandon Flowers comes to mind. I believe DownWithDisease came down in favor of him. He was a starter at V-Tech, has a lot of experience in both zone and man, is physical in run defense, smart football player, and has by all accounts great technique. V-Tech also has a good history of turning out CBs.

So you could probably suggest Brandon Flowers is more "NFL ready".

That said Flowers isn't in the same ballpark as Rodgers-Cromartie physically. DRC has a real shot at being something totally special. My preference is to swing for the fences if you think you have a legitimate shot at getting out of the park. But that's me.


The key thing to remember though when you look at these rookies is don't get too caught up in "scheme". Patrick Willis went from a Tampa-2 to a 3-4 defense. Shawn Merriman and Demarcus Ware went to an entirely new position. Ware went from C-USA competition to the NFL.

Even though within the college players there are varying degrees of "NFL ready" ALL will have a lot of work to do in terms of technique/learning scheme/adjusting to level of competition.

This "did he play in an NFL scheme" business is overrated. It helps some in trying to get a scouting report of the player but ultimately it comes down to the same two factors

1) Does he cut if physically

2) Does he cut it mentally

Either they meet the criteria or they don't. "Scheme" "Level of competiton" etc are just factors in helping you evaluate those two items.

I don't necessarily disagree with you on any points. My only thought is that we have spent at least the last 2 first round picks on players that have yet to live up to their pre-draft hype. Say what you want about Reggie, I don't call him a flop, but he's far from living up to his potential.

I just wonder if the Saints, what I consider to be a "win now" team, can continually afford to draft very gifted players and let them take 2-3 or more years to develop to their potential....as opposed to a Willis, Ryans, etc that came in and had an immediate impact, albeit for poor teams.