Saints encouraged by early production from 2016 draft class (1 Viewer)

[Andrus]

By Joel A. Erickson

MOBILE, Ala. – The jury is still out on the New Orleans Saints' 2016 draft class, and it will be for a few more years.

But the early signs are promising, according to assistant general manager Jeff Ireland, the man who heads the college scouting department in the Saints' front office.

"It takes a couple of years," Ireland said. "We're glad that all of them were able to get on the field, all of them were able to participate."

First-round pick Sheldon Rankins came back from a broken leg to make four sacks in nine games, safety Vonn Bell started 13 games and finished second on the team with 83 tackles, fourth-rounder David Onyemata played 393 snaps and seventh-rounder Daniel Lasco was a key special teamer when healthy.

And on top of that, second-rounder Michael Thomas shattered the Saints' record book, setting rookie marks for catches (92), yards (1,137) and touchdowns (nine).

"It goes to the effort that we put into this job," Ireland said. "We scout thousands of players, and to whittle it down. ... trim the fat to get down to a good number that we're interested in. ... to hit on one, it feels good. We need to hit on some more."

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