Tankathon: Saints top 6 draft pick watch (59 Viewers)

[DSnfla]

Interestingly, in a NOF article Nick mentioned that after the GB game Mathieu said that the scheme needs to be tweaked to deal with modern offenses that use a lot of movement like GB. He thinks it's a good scheme, but they way it is now if a team moves around three guys on offense the defense is going to "fork it up". Makes me wonder if a lot of what we are seeing is about guys not playing the correct assignment more than about a lack of talent.

Anyway, no doubt we need secondary help. Taylor has been more or less okay at outside CB, but I think he was bordering on being a great Slot CB. If we can find an outside CB that allows us to move him back into the Slot, I think it makes the defense better. That could be Adebo being healthy and/or Kool-Aid taking over, but none of the guys we have are sure bets at outside CB whether it's because of age, experience or injury. And that assumes we sign Adebo to a new deal.

At the same point, we also need help at DL and LB given the age and lack of performance issues there. And the same is more or less true at every position on offense.

Which is why I'm fine with any position in any round. There are not positions where we don't need help or an upgrade.

The D has other than DL gotten worse since DA left. Yeah partly because of Adebo going down and trading Latt, even though he would not have played until a wk a go. There's a reason why Joe Woods was fired in Cleve. he's awful.
Any judgement on Taylor on the outside is premature since for most of the yr he had embraced being a slot. He needs a full offseason on the edge.

I still think that CB including slot is one of our deepest position groups, so unless a DB has a head and shoulders way above grading over a WR or DL I'd pass on one in the 1st or 2nd

 

[DSnfla]

Yeah but you can find those in the second, third round and beyond. We always fine either good or decent wide receiver in later rounds. I just don't want us to make a stupid mistake with our first round pick especially if it's going to be in the top 10

In the last 10 yrs we have drafted 2 day 2 WRs Tre'quan and Stills. How'd that work out for us?

 

[DSnfla]

Can’t name any but MVS was a pretty good find. Bring him back along w/ Olave/Means/ and Shaheed and that’s a good 4. At worst you bring a late rounder to compete w/ Means at #4/5 but I don’t think you need to press for WR.

I’d def see if the Ravens are willing to trade Andrews

To me none of those guys except maybe Olave is the kind of WR that you know will get open and make the tough catch to get you a 1st when you have to have it. And how much can Olave be counted on? If he goes down, the 3 that are left are not going to win you very many games

 

[DSnfla]

Kenny Stills
Willie Snead
Lance Moore
Brandon Coleman comes to mind as well

Moore was a UDFA by Cleve and then signed with us

 

[saint_drago]

Counterpoint:

1-7. Kevin White
1-8. Vic Beasley
1-9. Ereck Flowers
1-10. Todd Gurley
1-11. Trae Waynes
1-12. Danny Shelton

Zero second contracts with the team that drafted them. A 6-10 Saints team would have drafted between 8-11.

1-13. Andrus Peat

Nine-year starter with the team that drafted him. Three-time Pro Bowler.

I thought this would have been the draft to end any “this team should lose for better position!” talk, but then I remember that a chunk of the fan base didn’t like or appreciate Andrus Peat either, so.

Counterpoint:

1-7. Kevin White
1-8. Vic Beasley
1-9. Ereck Flowers
1-10. Todd Gurley
1-11. Trae Waynes
1-12. Danny Shelton

Zero second contracts with the team that drafted them. A 6-10 Saints team would have drafted between 8-11.

1-13. Andrus Peat

Nine-year starter with the team that drafted him. Three-time Pro Bowler.

I thought this would have been the draft to end any “this team should lose for better position!” talk, but then I remember that a chunk of the fan base didn’t like or appreciate Andrus Peat either, so.

Okay that argument is pretty compelling for that specific draft. Hindsight is 50/50 and all. But in general, is it better to finish in the teens or inside the the top 10? Where do most of the blue chip prospects go?

 

[St. Geezy]

Okay that argument is pretty compelling for that specific draft. Hindsight is 50/50 and all. But in general, is it better to finish in the teens or inside the the top 10? Where do most of the blue chip prospects go?

I think gems could be found throughout the draft, but there is no question that the higher you pick, the better your odds of landing a grand slam homerun star…like a Marshon Lattimore. You’re generally in position when you pick that high to be able to land a guy that you have graded as the best at their position, top 2 at worst.

 

[webster]

I disagree, DL is way more of a need than OL and WR is more than TE. A McMillan or a Harris makes the O way better. Yes we need an upgrade @ OG but it's unlikely a rookie OG comes in and does that. But a mid-priced FA of or 2 would. We could also move Ruiz to be a back-up C since McCoy is having injuries issues lately

We’ve played for many seasons without a threat at tightend and it’s a serious problem. Look around the league almost every good team has a tightend threat, and the teams that try to play without a tightend are the sewer dwellers. We need help at tightend and oline, now. Backup qb is also a need.

 

[rlemieux]

Okay that argument is pretty compelling for that specific draft. Hindsight is 50/50 and all. But in general, is it better to finish in the teens or inside the the top 10? Where do most of the blue chip prospects go?

I can’t tell. Are you being sarcastic with the 50/50?

 

[SweetT]

I can’t tell. Are you being sarcasm with the 50/50?

Channeling his inner Cam Newton

 

[tyler735]

I like Harris, but I don't see him as a top 10 pick. I think he's likely going in the 2nd so we should be in a position to draft him with our high second round pick. But, things could change depending on how his combine and on campus workouts go.

I’ll honestly be a bit surprised if he makes it into the 2nd round when all is said and done. Assuming he plays well in the bowl game showing he’s healthy again, I expect him to have a lot of buzz going into draft season.

He moves very well in his routes for a guy his size and I think he’s one of those guys that scouts will be higher on that draftniks come draft time, which seems to happen every year with some prospects. He was very productive in the SEC last year and was on his way to an excellent season this year until his injury.

There were some questions about his ability to win deep down the field coming into the season, but I think he was able to effectively show he can get in behind and make plays down field this season. He’s so well rounded as a prospect, I just don’t see him getting out of the first round. If we could trade back a little and still land him in the first round I’d be thrilled. If we took him at pick 10, I’d still be very excited about adding a stud WR prospect that provides so much needed size and consistent hands in our WR room.

 

[Saint KayBee]

Okay that argument is pretty compelling for that specific draft. Hindsight is 50/50 and all. But in general, is it better to finish in the teens or inside the the top 10? Where do most of the blue chip prospects go?

All over the GD draft. WHICH IS THE POINT! It’s the exact reason I don’t do draft speculation. The Rick Leonard pick was the moment I checked out of that gambit altogether.

Sometimes there’s not a Guy in an entire pick radius, but they have no trade partner, so they roll the dice on a prospect who at least makes sense (which in the Rick Leonard case it absolutely didn’t, then to add insult to insult they assigned him Jahri Evans’ #73). Each of those six teams who selected a player before Andrus Peat thought they were getting a Guy. Other than 3 years of Todd Gurley and 1 year of Vic Beasley, none of them did.

The team has to do better scouting - NOT better losing.

 

[St. Widge]

The D has other than DL gotten worse since DA left. Yeah partly because of Adebo going down and trading Latt, even though he would not have played until a wk a go. There's a reason why Joe Woods was fired in Cleve. he's awful.
Any judgement on Taylor on the outside is premature since for most of the yr he had embraced being a slot. He needs a full offseason on the edge.

I still think that CB including slot is one of our deepest position groups, so unless a DB has a head and shoulders way above grading over a WR or DL I'd pass on one in the 1st or 2nd

Currently our Slot is Amadi. I think he's a solid backup, but he shouldn't be starting for a good defense. And We don't know if Adebo will sign here or if he will be healthy enough to play next year. So, at a minimum we need to find a Slot CB. My preference is to find a better outside CB than Taylor because while I think Taylor can be fine on the outside, his skill set could make him a great Slot CB and playing outside gives him less opportunity to use his skills in run support and as a blitzer.

CB is far down the list of needs, but we really do need to be taking BPA with all our picks and we do need to find one more CB whether its a Slot or an outside CB. If Adebo comes back that may change.

 

[SweetT]

All over the GD draft. WHICH IS THE POINT! It’s the exact reason I don’t do draft speculation. The Rick Leonard pick was the moment I checked out of that gambit altogether.

Sometimes there’s not a Guy in an entire pick radius, but they have no trade partner, so they roll the dice on a prospect who at least makes sense (which in the Rick Leonard case it absolutely didn’t, then to add insult to insult they assigned him Jahri Evans’ #73). Each of those six teams who selected a player before Andrus Peat thought they were getting a Guy. Other than 3 years of Todd Gurley and 1 year of Vic Beasley, none of them did.

The team has to do better scouting - NOT better losing.

Yet another example of how i described our drafting as “drunk”. No one on planet Earth, not even SP could’ve made that pick make sense.

 

[Infoman]

Name a serious SB contender that doesn’t have a stud 1st round pick at QB, RB, WR or TE…. I’ll wait.

 

[Infoman]

I’m referring to this notion that we are supreme at finding WRs in later rounds. Other than Colston, I can’t think of any.

Don’t need Andrews. Need Warren from Penn State.
I’m about to go full @Infoman like he did with Bowers last year.
Warren is the guy we need. Dude lines up all over the field, including out of the shotgun. Plus the dude can block

He’s my guy if Jeanty and Tmac are gone when we pick…. If we trade down a few spots and take him…. Even better.

I thought Bowers was worth trading up for…. He was. He’s the best TE in football as a rookie. Not shocked.

Warren is a different type of player. But can be just as impactful because of his creativity, versatility, size and athleticism.