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

[FGE413]

I had a glimmer of hope. Deep down, I knew both players likely didn't have the tools to succeed in the NFL. But there was a small part of me who was saying "You know, Sam Mills went undrafted and bounced to the USFL b/c he was too small, so maybe..."

But, no there was not a lot of euphoria. Wuerffel was a better youth minister than NFL QB (seriously, the guy was admirably active in the Desire Housing Projects while he was here).

 

[pcww]

Was he the guy that Ditka took on a bet?

 

[Hey BAY BAY!!!]

Ricky Williams for the entire draft was Awesome.....?

 

[woohoosaint]

Wuerffel didn't have the ability to climb the pocket, feel pocket pressure or the ability to move.
He was pretty much an easy target for opposing defenses.
I really didn't think that he'd be a good fit for us when we drafted him.

 

[SaintJ]

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.

Gino Toretta.

 

[SaintJ]

Ditka was a hideous GM. His only saving grace was that he wanted to build the lines, but even there he was mediocre at identifying the talent.

 

[NatureBoy]

Was he the guy that Ditka took on a bet?

Not exactly.

Ditka liked Danny but no one else really did. Not as a top 100 pick at least. During an interview Ditka was asked about Danny and he forecasted his pick. By saying Danny would be a top 100 pick, he was pretty much telling them he would select him at 99 If he was there, and that’s exactly how it played out.

Danny was easy to like as a human. Ditka was influenced by his character. This seemed to be a common theme with Mike. He thought putting this team of high character over achievers together, would prove more effective than taking more talented players. I remember him saying he wanted a team of “Grabowski’s”....meaning (I think) high character / mentally tough team players. If it wasn’t the commitment to character and ethic, then Mike was just a horrible talent evaluator.

 

[faceman]

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.

I felt the same. I remember then GM Floyd Reese of the Titans being a guest on one of the pre draft shows. He said Wuerffel wasn't
on his draft board. He said Wuerffel could not throw a 15 yd out against a pro level secondary. That play is a staple of any teams
offense. If Wuerffel attempted one, it would be a TD in the opposite direction.

I was meh on Davis as well. He was too small to be a power runner in the NFL. Small Rb's can make it,but they need a skill set like
a Darren Sproles. Davis obviously didn't have that.

 

[DomePatrol5657]

Didn’t Troy Davis rush for 2000 yards back to back in college? I seem to remember him rushing for a crazy amount of yards but the teams he did it against were garbage teams. I remember the days of Weurffel and Davis. Oh boy dark days. I remember one of the criticisms of Weurffel was his lack of arm strength and not able to make some of the throws you need to make at the NFL level. Overall, I remember a lot of opinions being: meh or let’s wait and see. There wasn’t much excitement.

 

[wnelson]

that was Ditka's "I only draft winners" draft

 

[mr.t]

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.

I was excited about Troy Davis more than Wuerffel. I don't think that either panned out to well.

 

[gboudx]

The Ditka era was easily one of the worst times in Saints history. But thanks for bringing up such a painful subject. While you're at it, why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?

But at least we got this forum(ironera) out of it.

 

[ThibodauxSaint]

I was only 16 at the time but I was just old enough to be coming out of that phase as a fan where I got excited because of a "name" and I was starting to understand the game enough to know that college success doesn't automatically translate to NFL success. A few years before this I would have been through the roof excited but by 1997 I was at the point where I was coming to the realization that the Saints organization might not know what they are doing.

 

[Complex Kid]

I remember being pretty meh on Weuffuel but optimistic about Troy Davis.

Just looked back at that draft. Weurfell ended up having the second most career passing yards of anyone in that draft (behind Jake Plummer) so probably didn't miss out on much there at the QB position.

Troy Davis on the other hand was taken 9 spots ahead of Duce Staley. Ouch.

 

[gavinj]

I think that may have also been the year we drafted Chris Naeole while Tony Gonzalez was on top of everybody’s draft boards at the time.