McShay and Kiper's New Mocks (1 Viewer)

[Kamara Time in NO]

You can get good offensive linemen in the middle rounds. Unless one of the better tackles falls, there is no reason to reach at 15 by picking Fluker. BPA will not be a RT at 15 in my opinion.

 

[sammymvpknight]

Can't green thumb this post enough. As much as I'd like to see our Defense improve this team will always be run by the Offense while Coach Payton is HC. Think about it, we almost made the playoffs last year after a 0-4 start, with no HC and a historically bad Defense and honestly, if it hadn't been for our Offense not being as efficient in previous years - we probably would have!

My point is this; our Offense must stay at the top to keep this team in the hunt. The Defense only needs to be decent. Last season our Offense slipped because we had turnstiles at manning the Tackle positions. FO.com actually wondered in the end of season rankings "If Bushrod hated his QB" he played so badly.

So with that said, I'd be over the moon if the Saints could use one of the flashy names (Tavon Austin or Geno Smith maybe) to trade down from #15 to the mid to late 20s and secure more picks and strengthen the Offensive and Defensive lines.

We are spoiled because it happens...over and over and over again. Lose a WR...throw one in there...stud. Lose an o-lineman...throw one in there...stud. Sean Payton and Drew Brees makes everyone look good. If we can skimp on offense and still be a top three offense year after year after year...why not?

 

[SAINTS 12]

With many pass rushers dropping, Tank Carradine still generating buzz from recent workout. Saints seem quite intrigued among others

 

[AdamWest]

Get out of here, McShay.

Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[Trey W.]

while I wouldn't cry about getting Fluker, I think we could find just good OT's in the middle rounds while addressing more pressing needs in the first. Unless one of the Top 3 OT's fall I think with Smith, Brown, Jones, and Harris competing for the LT spot and back up RT spot, solidifing the RT spot with Fluker wouldn't be a bad call. Again though I think Watson, Chris Faulk, Jordan Mills, etc would be just as good at RT in our offense.

 

[SAINTSFAN]

Fluker will not be a LT. He will be a RT. If RT does not work out, he will be a guard.

 

[CantonLegend]

We are spoiled because it happens...over and over and over again. Lose a WR...throw one in there...stud. Lose an o-lineman...throw one in there...stud. Sean Payton and Drew Brees makes everyone look good. If we can skimp on offense and still be a top three offense year after year after year...why not?

What stud offensive tackles do we have?

You can't skimp on a position like that

Would you like us to skimp on QB as well? That very well could happen if we choose to ignore such a glaring need.

There aren't more important positions out there than offensive linemen. Why risk the health of our QB and running backs. Why limit our offense because fans want a sexier pick?

 

[CantonLegend]

You can get good offensive linemen in the middle rounds. Unless one of the better tackles falls, there is no reason to reach at 15 by picking Fluker. BPA will not be a RT at 15 in my opinion.

With a draft so deep in pass rushers, why waste an early pick on one of them when the level of talent at OT has such a steep dropoff?

 

[Dart]

We are spoiled because it happens...over and over and over again. Lose a WR...throw one in there...stud. Lose an o-lineman...throw one in there...stud. Sean Payton and Drew Brees makes everyone look good. If we can skimp on offense and still be a top three offense year after year after year...why not?

This is my point; imho that reasoning is backwards. It's the Offense that's running this show. Last year it fell off which correlated directly with us having one of the worst starting Tackle pairings in the League. Over the offseason, in losing Bushrod, that situation got worse. You cannot keep overlooking that position or we will no longer be such a strong Offensive team and then it won't matter who you draft on Defense.

If Drew gets hurt or is running for his life, this team cannot make the playoffs. Last year our best Offensive weapon (Jimmy Graham) also spent far too much time chipping pass rushers.

Our Defense will be better this year one way or another (new DC, new scheme, new talent in the draft and good new FAs) - but unless we can protect Drew, everything else we do is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic!

 

[Saints420Fan]

sadly on draft day, i have a gut feeling someone ahead of #15 will take a chance on Fluker. not a bad reach if u need a solid RT

 

[cki3915]

The Payton/Loomis regime seems to wait until the middle rounds before they take offensive linemen and this has seemed to work from them in the past. They drafted Brown in the second, and that has been pretty much a bust to this point. I do not see this regime drafting OL in round 1 unless a lineman is the only player who grades out at #15.

 

[zknotts61]

I just don't see us getting a tackle at 15 unless one of the top 3 fell. We need a defensive playmaker very badly. I think we can get a tackle in the later rounds easier than a defensive playmaker.

 

[Dart]

The Payton/Loomis regime seems to wait until the middle rounds before they take offensive linemen and this has seemed to work from them in the past. They drafted Brown in the second, and that has been pretty much a bust to this point. I do not see this regime drafting OL in round 1 unless a lineman is the only player who grades out at #15.

See, I'd liken that kind of thinking to the man who says 'I've never yet had lung cancer smoking and I heard about someone who died of lung cancer and he didn't even smoke - therefore I'm going to keep smoking'.

The 'we've been fine in the past' argument, to me, suggests you're not paying very close attention to the trends here. Did our Tackle play severely inhibit our Offense last season? Well, Drew was hit more than previous years. Our passing efficiency was down. Our interceptions were up. Our best Offensive mismatch - Jimmy Graham - spent too much time chipping and blocking as opposed to receiving. I think it's hard to answer 'no' to that question.

Has our Tackle situation got worse this off-season? Well our starting LT departed in FA. So that's a pretty resounding yes. Our projected starter at LT right now is the guy you labelled a bust. I can't really see how this couldn't be the biggest issue on our roster right now. I mean, even Coach Payton admitted it's keeping him up at night and signing a former high draft pick who's already been cut by two teams is merely depth and hints a desperation more than anything.

Finally, at the risk of upsetting some people, the assertion which I've heard on here recently that because previous high picks didn't work out we ought to abandon drafting at that position is, frankly, ridiculous. The Ricky Williams pick didn't work out for us, so should we not have drafted Deuce? Each player is different and you have to trust your evaluation of them, even if you've been wrong in the past. If there is an OT at the top of the Saints Big Board, wherever they end up picking in the first or second (whether they stay at #15 or trade back) I'm hoping they pull the trigger.

 

[Swampy Saint]

sadly on draft day, i have a gut feeling someone ahead of #15 will take a chance on Fluker. not a bad reach if u need a solid RT

:aargh:

Reach?

Will he or won't he be a very good O-Lineman?

I put my money on "yes".

If you agree, then what does it matter which round or how high you take him?

If you don't agree, then why waste any pick?