Saints losing College Scouting Director to the Broncos for a personnel VP role

sfidc3 said

It's hogwash, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Saints organization is behind it.....


I don't think you are taking into account how much luck and other factors play into draft picks.....no team hits on all of them....and Pennings physical metrics were comparable to the guy he was set to replace (TA - who may be the freakish athlete of a LT I've ever seen), someone clearly missed on the mental, work and development projection.....and that someone is rumored to be Loomis....

Folks routinely criticize personnel folks for the more recent drafts but IMO it was more the injuries, I mean Davenport would have been a really good player for us had he been able to stay healthy, he just can't seem to.....

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I mean Loomis has the final say so in the end, it's his fault no matter what. But, Loomis isn't the guy out there doing the groundwork on him, talking to coaches, family, friends and the player beyond the time he spends with a guy during a combine or post combine interview which is highly limited. Someone has to supply him that information that only the scouts have.

Anyway, I find it hard to believe that the scouts were telling him that Penning was going to be a bust or was really a 6th round pick and he ignored them and took him in the middle of the first. Maybe it happened, but it seems unlikely given the way Loomis, Ireland, and Payton have always described the draft process as being collective with the scouts.

It seems more likely that the scouts were saying he was a lower first round pick or high 2nd round pick and Loomis chose to ignore that and draft him in the middle of the first because they were in desperate need of a LT. Clearly, it was the wrong move even if Penning gets healthy and turns into a solid player because he was taken way too high given how long it will have taken him to develop.

As far as injuries, I agree that injuries that didn't show up in college aren't really the fault of the scouts or the person making the pick. That being said, I think a major issue with Davenport is that he's just not that into being a football player. He lacks the desire to be great and that is a bigger issue for him than injuries.