TBT - A question for some of the older Who Dats (1 Viewer)

[rsmith2783]

In 1997 the Saints drafted Danny Wuerffel & Troy Davis. Wuerffel of course won the Heisman while Davis was the runner up. I will say that it is odd for a team to draft both the winner and the runner up in the later rounds of the draft.

My question is what was the fan base reaction like around that time when Wuerffel & Davis were drafted?
Did everyone feel like we got a steal or did anyone feel like those two would be a bust?

I do find it interesting that both Jake Plummer and Orlando Pace were also runner ups for the Heisman as well, and both had better careers than Wuerffel & Davis.

 

[Day1]

My reaction was "huh?"

 

[UFCSaint]

In 1997 the Saints drafted Danny Wuerffel & Troy Davis. Wuerffel of course won the Heisman while Davis was the runner up. I will say that it is odd for a team to draft both the winner and the runner up in the later rounds of the draft.

My question is what was the fan base reaction like around that time when Wuerffel & Davis were drafted?
Did everyone feel like we got a steal or did anyone feel like those two would be a bust?

I do find it interesting that both Jake Plummer and Orlando Pace were also runner ups for the Heisman as well, and both had better careers than Wuerffel & Davis.

lol I felt like meh. Loved Wuerffel as a person but knew he wouldn't make it in the NFL with that arm. Typical Ditka draft...big on heart...small on talent. There was no 'Steal' in either of those picks and I think most people knew it.

 

[HouseCall]

I had pretty unrealistic expectations of Wuerffel based on his college career success and our desperate need for a QB of any note following the Heath Shuler disaster.

I remember realizing pretty quickly that he just didn’t have the physical tools to be an impactful NFL QB.

I don’t recall having any feelings one way or another about Troy Smith.

One thing about Wuerffel. Not a hall of fame QB but a first ballot hall of fame person.

 

[GTSaint]

Rightfully so, most people were not expecting much from Wuerffel. The general concession was that he was a good college QB that would not transfer well to the NFL.
I don’t recall my exact reaction to Davis, but I think we expected more from him.

 

[BELOWSEALEVEL]

But Danny made the cover on EA sports college football 98.....he had to be good. Lol

 

[rsmith2783]

Rightfully so, most people were not expecting much from Wuerffel. The general concession was that he was a good college QB that would not transfer well to the NFL.
I don’t recall my exact reaction to Davis, but I think we expected more from him.

I'm trying to think of a current QB that had great college success, but everyone knew that it wouldn't translate to the NFL. I can't name Manzel or Tebow, because they were drafted in the 1st round.

 

[where yat brah]

I would have loved to see what Shaun King would have done in a Sean Payton offense.

 

[football]

Well I was a young adult but still very nieve in the x's and o's of football. I figured if a player is good in college, he should be good in the NFL. With Wuerffel (I don't know why I keep thinking waffle) I really got excited that we drafted him. Watching him in college he was putting up historic numbers. Florida offense was just beyond amazing with him. It was just automatic touchdown with him under center. I figured he would do the same thing for us.

Also the combine and pre-draft weren't as dramatic as it is now, especially with social media and smart phone every where. I didn't know the difference between a NFL throw and a college throw. In college a quarterback just need to have one read or throw to the open receivers and that's it. In the NFL it is way more complex and certain type of throws need to be made in order to be successful. I didn't realize Wuerffel had a weak arm. I didn't expect that since he was slinging it like crazy in college. But seeing him trying to throw a NFL football made his hands and arms twice as small.

So my lack of knowledge of football got me to have a lot of false hopes. Heisman, or not, recording breaking numbers in college don't mean much.

 

[SammyDaLoon]

Honestly, MOST folks ridiculed the Saints for “over drafting” Danny & Troy....everyone from at the time new upstart draft guru Mike Detellier on Buddy D’s show!
Man guys...Buddy D was simply THE BEST!!!

Da Loon’s persona is kinda like a Buddy D sarcastic level analysis type.

 

[UFCSaint]

I do remember that Danny had the mental capacity to do it but just lacked the physical skills. Shuler had the physical skills...but just lacked the mental. If we could've put Danny's brain in Shuler's body we would've been set for years.

 

[NatureBoy]

I thought that Danny would look good with his helmet turned backwards.

On a serious note, didn’t Ditka guarantee that Danny would be a top 100 pick? If I’m not mistaken we drafted him with the 99th pick of the draft, proving Ditka right. Something like that.

 

[ndcc]

The thing that stands out to me (to this day) was the nickname some gave to Wuerffel:
"Danny Awful."

I honestly don't remember Davis at all.

 

[Grumpy Old Manatee]

As most have stated, Wuerffel was/is a solid human being , but he was just a bit undersized to be an NFL QB (yeah, I know, they said that about Drew too) and just took a beating back there during his tenure.

 

[Tony1Saintfan]

The thing that stands out to me (to this day) was the nickname some gave to Wuerffel:
"Danny Awful."

I honestly don't remember Davis at all.

I could’ve sworn his nickname was Danny Awfull.