Past Quarterbacks the Saints could have drafted rounds 1 and 2 (1 Viewer)

[WilliamBrees]

I'm not a fan of Sander and Dart at #9, but unless you have a franchise QB, you got no shot. At this point, pick a QB and pray.

We have a franchise QB. But the fanbase doesn't want him.

 

[WilliamBrees]

Traded away a future first round pick to jump in front of Lamar Jackson to get Davenport.

If we did draft Jackson, would you have been fine with his playoff performances?

 

[HogsNSaints]

Remember when we traded up for Marcus Davenport?

I was so convinced when it was announced the Saints had jumped up that it was for Lamar Jackson and I was very disappointed. Celebrated when they announced Davenport..

Can’t believe how wrong I was

 

[firecouch]

So we missed out on Rodgers, Watson (before the scandal) Jackson and Love.

 

[Lionsaint]

So we missed out on Rodgers, Watson (before the scandal) Jackson and Love.

To me the big one is Jackson. While Rodgers is the best out of that group we ended with drew the very next year. So it worked out in my opinion. I’ll take Lattimore over Watson any day. And as others pointed out Love wasn’t ready. I think he would have struggled here.

 

[mdharper]

Looks to me like the Saints did a good job of passing on a lot of poor quarterbacks. Well done.

 

[Judge_Smails]

It made sense for a long time. We traded that 2nd round pick in Haslets first year for Aaron Brooks AND we had signed Jeff Blake so we didn’t need a quarterback in his entire tenure until Sean came around. Then 2017 was the draft that had great QBs and Drew was still great. We’d have taken Mahomes. At the time I thought we might take Watson if we wanted to build for the future but we took Lattimore and no complaints there. That next year we traded up for Davenport instead of staying put for Lamar. The entire world was shocked by that. I’m pretty sure they based Costner in draft day on that moment. Everyone thought we were trading up for Lamar and we took the Costner version of Vontae Mack except he was made of glass.
Back in the 80s we had Bobby and we traded a number one for Steve Walsh which is the same as drafting a QB so we didn’t need a QB all those years until Finks screwed the entire team up by not paying Bobby. We had a Super Bowl level team in ‘92 sans OC Carl sideshow Bob Smith and Finks just blew the entire thing up for his own ego. The problem with QBs back then is the rules sucked for offenses so it was harder to be successful. When Haslet came around with Mike McCarthy they took advantage of the rules and changed the culture to a faster paced quality passing game.
It’s pretty understandable why we didn’t take a QB until 2018 either we actually had (Steve Walsh, not a good trade, Finks stroking his own ego that he didn’t need Hebert), they weren’t available, or we had a QB and other needs.
We don’t have those excuses today. We desperately need a QB to develop this season while we still have Carr.

Not a Carl Smith hater or fan, but he did OC the Seahawks in 2 Super Bowls and won 1. Mora deserves most of the blame for not going to the next level and Smith’s philosophy was tied to his HC.

I’m not saying Smith deserves praise. I agree that McCarthy was definitely a HUGE upgrade, but he probably wouldn’t be where he is today if Mora had been the one to hire him.

 

[texasjefe]

The only context missing in the list is whether the Saints needed a future QB in a certain year.

I think Lamar would've been more coveted had he played at a bigger name school than Louisville. People didn't trust his passing coming out.

The Loomis-Payton draft cockiness is well chronicled but they were understandably loyal to Brees in 2018, after telegraphing after the 2017 draft how horny they were for Mahomes. Huge miss letting the Chiefs bump them, and huger miss on Jackson. Here we are.

Speaking of Carl Smith, the name on the list that got me thinking was Chris Miller, but Saints had no need as Hebert was playing great regular season ball. Miller and Hebert weren't too different. But the stark difference in Jerry Glanville letting Chris Miller run & shoot, versus Mora and Smith suppressing Hebert was so disappointing at the time. We've talked over the years how tied up in a knot Hebert was in those playoff games, and failed miserably.

 

[Saintslfc13]

Traded away a future first round pick to jump in front of Lamar Jackson to get Davenport.

This gets brought up a lot but I just don't think Sean Payton ever wanted Lamar Jackson the rookie. With hindsight maybe that's changed, no idea if he's ever commented on his play recently because I didn't watch much of Payton the pundit and he's not our coach anymore. When Lamar was coming out though people were high on his arm strength and athleticism but down on his accuracy and questioned his level of competition in college (can't remember if they questioned his decision making or not so I'll leave that out). Those two things pretty much make him the Anti-Brees. Payton did fall in love with Taysom though so perhaps it would've worked out but I just don't think we had that high of a grade on him for whatever reason. Fairplay to Jackson though, there is probably only 3 teams that wouldn't trade their current starter for him.

Mahomes was the one we "missed" on at least partially in part because of Payton running his mouth. If I remember correctly though, Mahomes himself has told a story where he told the Chiefs if they wanted him they had to trade up because the Saints were going to draft him. Now who knows exactly how true that is (it's a great story to sell your fanbase, especially AFTER you've been successful) but I have no reason to call the man a liar so it seems to me that he wanted to play in KC more than NO.

As far as Jordan Love goes. He's PROBABLY better than what we have but that's mainly because he's still got time to elevate his game further whereas Carr is not likely to do so, and Haener/Rattler both had issues when called upon to start this year, granted one was a sophomore and the other a rookie. That being said if Love doesn't progress further than for me he's kind of a "limbo" QB, where he's good enough that you don't feel a need to draft his replacement but not at that top level. Kind of like Detroit's version of Jared Goff, good enough to get you in the conversation but you would feel way more comfortable with a more elite QB once you got there. That's not to say I don't think he can win a superbowl as is, I just don't think he's clearly elite by any stretch of the imagination. To be fair I only really think Mahomes, Allen, Jackson, and Burrow are elite QBs right now. Some people might want to add Hurts to that list after the SB, some people might disagree on Jackson because of playoff performances. For me though, it's those 4.

 

[3ParStillDriver]

IDK why, I just had this thought. If they Saints are looking for a future franchise QB they are extremely limited. OP may or may not realize it, but he gave a great example that the Saints have really only had 2 opportunities to draft a franchise QB and hit in the last 10 or so years.

Mahomes (should've traded up rather then waiting)
Jackson (everyone chose against him except the Ravens)

Here we are at #9. If we're going to draft a QB, we're down to two options.

1. Recognize in this draft.
2. Trade back and acquire capitol to maneuver into position to draft one next year.

Then theres the last option. Plan on looking to free agency or trading for one.

What the Saints CANNOT afford to do, is not trade back acquiring capitol for next year's draft and not draft a QB @9.

It stands to reason that there's a real possibility a QB selection could occur more so then not. I think that debate can be made. The question is, do they see a QB in this draft that can be a franchise QB? That we don't know, and should never know until the draft happens.

Cam is too expensive to move up for which only really leaves Dart IMO. They've spent a lot of time with him, so hopefully they have their answer. I'm sure they already have their answer with Sanders and all the other QB's in this draft.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens. It's possible that use this draft to set up positioning for next year's draft.

 

[Darkhorse985]

Moral of the story… talented QBs are rarely available when the Saints pick, so don’t pass on Shadeur if the opportunity is there to take him.

 

[Lionsaint]

I’m excited for the draft this year simply because I literally have no clue what that Saints are thinking or who they may pick. I mean we never know but usually the picture is clearer. My dream scenario for this year would be a trade down for more picks next year. Then use those picks plus future picks if needed to move up and grab the top QB next year. I don’t see anyone super excited about Sanders or Dart. Or referring to them as can’t miss prospects. That’s why I would prefer to pass. If Coach Moore and the front office are sold on one of them then I’m fine with us picking either. I’m just worried that they will talk themselves into drafting one of them just because they’re scared to not draft a QB. We need a QB of the future so they overlook a few flaws and put too much trust in the positives so they can justify the pick. That’s what scares me.

 

[3ParStillDriver]

I’m excited for the draft this year simply because I literally have no clue what that Saints are thinking or who they may pick. I mean we never know but usually the picture is clearer. My dream scenario for this year would be a trade down for more picks next year. Then use those picks plus future picks if needed to move up and grab the top QB next year. I don’t see anyone super excited about Sanders or Dart. Or referring to them as can’t miss prospects. That’s why I would prefer to pass. If Coach Moore and the front office are sold on one of them then I’m fine with us picking either. I’m just worried that they will talk themselves into drafting one of them just because they’re scared to not draft a QB. We need a QB of the future so they overlook a few flaws and put too much trust in the positives so they can justify the pick. That’s what scares me.

I'm not concerned about that at all. While QB is important, Moore has proved time and again he can funnel an offense through a RB over a QB. In fact, you can argue (and IMO its not even an argument) that he funnels the offense through the ground game more then the pass game on previous teams. I think its a fair question if he did so because the talent on the offense leaned that way. For this reason I doubt we'll force a QB that Moore doesn't feel really good about.

For this reason, I'm very confident that we will either go RB early or QB early. I'm just not sure which, and in truth no one is. And I'll clarify early as in Day 1 and Day 2.

The only way I'll be surprised is if its round 4 and we haven't gotten a RB or a QB. I suspect if its QB it'll happen in round 1. I'm also still leaning towards a trade up for Jeanty, or a trade up from the 2nd round back into the first for Hampton. I really do believe Warren is in play @9. My issue is that its hard to imagine trading up for, and I also think its more likely he'll be selected before us. The other position that I find to be a strong possibility @9 is OT. Whether its Banks or Campbell is the question there.

 

[BayouSAINTJoe]

We have a franchise QB. But the fanbase doesn't want him.

Who?