Best 1st rounders in Saints history (1 Viewer)

[SaintRay]

Russell Erxleben

Dude could hit the Superdome Gondola in pregame warmups!

 

[diehardfan]

Wayne Martin was a Saint his whole career, so that says something. Not the greatest, but he was one of those 1st rounders that didn't fail? Or did he? An old timer would have to answer that.

Wayne Martin was a very good player for the Saints. He certainly did not fail. If we could pick a Wayne Martin caliber player with all our 1st rounders, we'd be in pretty good shape. Wayne Martin was a beast!

 

[Skrill]

Reggie Bush. Think about what it meaned at the time

 

[Mamba]

You just describe Pro Football HOF and Saints Willie Roaf to a tee. Good grief guys we only have 2 HOF'ers from the Saints. Besides being a HOF'er, Roaf had more All Pro and Pro Bowls than any Saints player as well. Wayne Martin nor any of the others come close. The title of the thread is Best 1st rounders in Saints history not your favorite. And that is La Tech's Willie Roaf hands down.

RounderS. Plural.

 

[Goatman Saint]

Wayne Martin was a man on the field. Jackson had great numbers, but right next to him was Martin who was right there with every step. Roaf was amazing, Martin, Duece, Manning, Stan Brock, Jim Dombrowski, and lets face it Bush. Yeah I know he may not have been with the others on the field, but when he was announced with the second pick in the draft it did more emotionally for the fan base than any other player that has been drafted.

 

[Mudbug67]

I think it's hard for younger Saints fans to say he is the greatest 1st rounder in Saints history, but I can not argue with that. Willie Roaf may have the All Pro's, and the HOF, but Archie stayed here nearly his whole career, and ran for his life that whole time.

Archie who?

 

[thegoldenapple]

I think Deuce and Ricky and Archie were our best. Ricky could have done so much more if our coaching staff and timetable was different. Imagine the 1-2 punch of Ricky and Deuce? We definitely gave up way too much for Ricky but just looking at it as a first round pick, he was solid....the rest of giving up your future on him messed up everything; not just as far as not having draft picks but also in terms of too much pressure on a pick that would have absolutely produced for us.

 

[Semper]

I dont think so. It was the best season by far, but that was an east year to be a saints fan. Try living the 80s

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy III.

 

[thegoldenapple]

Try living the 80s

I grew up in the better period in the 80s. Cha Ching and Mora leading a dominating defense and all of that.

The Saints could have been such an historic team if they had been in another division where they could have won a first round bye for all their success.

 

[krushing]

Russell Erxleben

Dude could hit the Superdome Gondola in pregame warmups!

Maybe we should count him because that am was often the highlight of the game.

 

[Brock Meaux]

I kind of feel like, on the field production-wise, Willie Roaf and Deuce McAllister are pretty easily numbers 1 and 2, respectively. Archie was arguably the most important first round pick we had due to his appeal to the fanbase; he was basically our first "face of the franchise," which helped endear the team to the area and made us what we are today. Reggie Bush filled the same role years later, and was a big part of our rebuilding of the team, both on the field and in image and perception. He didn't live up to the lofty expectations of being "the next Gale Sayers," but he was pretty damn good, and if nothing else versatile. Wayne Martin gets overlooked because everybody remembers the Dome Patrol and not the defensive line. Joe Johnson also had a pretty nice career, though it didn't end too well here.

Somewhat ironically, maybe one of the better 1st round picks the Saints ever made, when you take into account their entire career, both here and elsewhere, was Ricky Williams. He obviously had his issues and he cost US too much pick-wise, but it's hard to downplay a Pro Bowl & All Pro selection, a rushing title, 11 NFL seasons, and 10,000+ rushing yards from a running back.

 

[Geldo]

Bum picked George Rodgers in the #1 spot and left Lawrence Taylor on the board. That could have been the ticket.

Since Bum failed us then, then I guess Roaf is our best first rounder.

I know what you're saying, but remember this - if we had taken LT (a HOF OLB) in the first round we would almost certainly have passed on Rickey Jackson (a HOF OLB) in the second round.

I always thought there was little between LT and RJ. Both are legends of the modern game but LT played in the Big Apple's mediazone so got more kudos.

The biggest regret for me is not that we picked George Rogers, who had the kind of power and speed that obviously made Bum feel he had another Earl Campbell one-man offence on his hands - but that George threw away his talent doing coke.

But for the drug issues George might have gone on to rival the greatest backs in history.

 

[boutte]

Imagine Lawrence Taylor on one side and Rickey Jackson on the other.

 

[LSSpam]

Wayne Martin was a Saint his whole career, so that says something. Not the greatest, but he was one of those 1st rounders that didn't fail? Or did he? An old timer would have to answer that.

Wayne Martin was amazing. Absolute success.

 

[Consigliere]

It really is depressing, considering how many high first-round picks this team has had in the past 45 years, that really only 4 names can reasonably be nominated for this thread: Archie, Deuce, Roaf, Martin. The remaining 41 out of 45 were unimpressive at best and historical busts at worst; mostly just forgettable.

I vote Roaf, because he was arguably the best to play his position, ever.