Why the low draft grades? (1 Viewer)

[SaintsBrah]

Seeing pretty much grades of “C” across the board on all the sites.

Main criticism is we gave up too much- but haven’t seen any real criticism of the actual picks.

Considering we got 3 key pieces - it feels like a huge success.

1) We now have 2 WRs with vertical speed to stretch the field (Olave, Harris) and will free up Thomas in the slant game. Winston will have a much easier time with this.

2) 2 mean mauling tackles with Ram and Pennington, protecting Winston

3) A solid S replacement after losing Marcus Williams.

Love the picks so far. I clearly remember prior drafts where we cut half our picks or more anyways…so I say 3 potential starters is a win

 

[tim martin]

We never get good grades because we always move up and end up with 4 players. But we get our guys.

 

[Epic Brownie]

Cause people keep clicking and talking about them. Like everything follow the money.

 

[guillermo]

As of now, I can’t give the team a mark higher than a C.

We had two goals for the upcoming draft:

To find the players to keep or make us more competitive.

To use rookie salaries in order to clean the cap.

Clearly we got two, maybe three players so far that fit the goals.

But at the same time, we committed way too many resources obtaining these players. For this and the next two drafts.

Second and third round picks may not be building blocks, but core players that can give us 3-4 years on cheap salaries. We have given those away.

We are already cap strained, and giving away those present and future picks restrain us to move around and be able to make decisions building a younger roster.

We achieved quality, but forgot about much needed quantity.

It’s too early to grade the off-season, but even now I can say that giving away resources will keep the grade down for me.

 

[SaintsBrah]

As of now, I can’t give the team a mark higher than a C.

We had two goals for the upcoming draft:

To find the players to keep or make us more competitive.

To use rookie salaries in order to clean the cap.

Clearly we got two, maybe three players so far that fit the goals.

But at the same time, we committed way too many resources obtaining these players. For this and the next two drafts.

Second and third round picks may not be building blocks, but core players that can give us 3-4 years on cheap salaries. We have given those away.

We are already cap strained, and giving away those present and future picks restrain us to move around and be able to make decisions building a younger roster.

We achieved quality, but forgot about much needed quantity.

It’s too early to grade the off-season, but even now I can say that giving away resources will keep the grade down for me.

2-3 good picks who start day 1 is better than 6 garbage picks who will sit on the practice squad / special teams / get cut

 

[SweetT]

As of now, I can’t give the team a mark higher than a C.

We had two goals for the upcoming draft:

To find the players to keep or make us more competitive.

To use rookie salaries in order to clean the cap.

Clearly we got two, maybe three players so far that fit the goals.

But at the same time, we committed way too many resources obtaining these players. For this and the next two drafts.

Second and third round picks may not be building blocks, but core players that can give us 3-4 years on cheap salaries. We have given those away.

We are already cap strained, and giving away those present and future picks restrain us to move around and be able to make decisions building a younger roster.

We achieved quality, but forgot about much needed quantity.

It’s too early to grade the off-season, but even now I can say that giving away resources will keep the grade down for me.

As of now, are we not slotted to get a comp pick for TA? Last I heard, the Dalton contract was a factor, but I didn’t think that contract (small contract) could void it out.

 

[DMaestro]

Looking at things with a dispassionate (i.e., non-Saints fan) eye, there wasn't anything particularly ingenious about how we conducted this draft. We got a couple players who we believe will help our team right away, but every other team feels the same about their picks. We spent a good bit of extra capital to acquire our guys, which isn't ideal, but it's acceptable. We didn't get eye-popping value with any of our picks, didn't pull off any major trade coups. Relative to every other team, we had a decent draft. It's fine. We did fine. Time will tell if we did better than "fine," but for now, a 'C' isn't a terrible grade.

 

[Epic Brownie]

As of now, I can’t give the team a mark higher than a C.

We had two goals for the upcoming draft:

To find the players to keep or make us more competitive.

To use rookie salaries in order to clean the cap.

Clearly we got two, maybe three players so far that fit the goals.

But at the same time, we committed way too many resources obtaining these players. For this and the next two drafts.

Second and third round picks may not be building blocks, but core players that can give us 3-4 years on cheap salaries. We have given those away.

We are already cap strained, and giving away those present and future picks restrain us to move around and be able to make decisions building a younger roster.

We achieved quality, but forgot about much needed quantity.

It’s too early to grade the off-season, but even now I can say that giving away resources will keep the grade down for me.

I hear you but the context is different when you a deep roster ready to compete for it all.

 

[Saint Spud]

Seeing pretty much grades of “C” across the board on all the sites.

Main criticism is we gave up too much- but haven’t seen any real criticism of the actual picks.

Considering we got 3 key pieces - it feels like a huge success.

1) We now have 2 WRs with vertical speed to stretch the field (Olave, Harris) and will free up Thomas in the slant game. Winston will have a much easier time with this.

2) 2 mean mauling tackles with Ram and Pennington, protecting Winston

3) A solid S replacement after losing Marcus Williams.

Love the picks so far. I clearly remember prior drafts where we cut half our picks or more anyways…so I say 3 potential starters is a win

Just like with how we work the cap, we do things in a non-traditional way. It runs contrary to common belief, so people judge us through that prism.

And Yet we still churn out good to great rosters every single season.

It’s why I stopped caring about grades and media criticism a long time ago. They just don’t get how we work and ignore the consistent on-field success that results from it.

 

[guillermo]

2-3 good picks who start day 1 is better than 6 garbage picks who will sit on the practice squad / special teams / get cut

Why do you think middle round picks are garbage?

We got Alvin Kamara, Trey Hendrickson, Paulson Adebo, in the third round. Not too shabby.

Look at the Colts draft this year, without a first round puck they are doing an incredible job.

Middle round picks are the best way to rejuvenate the roster and clean the cap.

 

[Igordão]

2-3 good picks who start day 1 is better than 6 garbage picks who will sit on the practice squad / special teams / get cut

But how do you know the saints picks were good and if they did not trade it would be garbage?

 

[guillermo]

I hear you but the context is different when you a deep roster ready to compete for it all.

I like the players, not the resources given away.

And frankly, I think we could compete and not giving away as many future resources.

There are many decisions to be made in the near future, and we are limiting our choices by giving so many resources away.

Certainly, I am more conservative than Mickey.

 

[Cajun Mike]

Who cares the media. Is just a bunch of talking parrots. They had us taking a QB. Which we knew wasn’t going to happen.

 

[NEBaghead]

Jacksonville probably got an A.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

My views are largely those of Guillermo's. We both have been critical of the organization's penchant, if not obsession, to trade away draft picks in the current or a future draft to move up in the draft or obtain more picks in the draft taking place. But my stated views seemingly go a level beyond my friend's.

Regarding the actual players we drafted, I give us a B. We desperately needed a wide receiver; however, when we traded up to 11, I thought the target was Penning or Williams, not Olave. I liked--indeed, was relieved by--the selection of Penning at 18. I do not know much about our second-round pick, so I cannot comment on his selection and will hope for the best.

But beyond the actual selections, I am critical of the approach this organization continues to take. It arguably made sense when Sean was the coach, Brees was the quarterback, and the Super Bowl window was open, though closing a bit each year. Our Super Bowl window is now closed. Our over-under win number is Las Vegas is at best nine. We are essentially a 9-8 team. Yes, we will be competitive. Yes, we could be in the playoff race. Yes, if we stay healthy and get breaks, we might even play in a playoff game. But we are not close to being a legitimate Super Bowl contender. And in our striving so hard to stay competitive or relevant--that is, to stay at a high mediocre level--we continue to hurt our chances of becoming a legitimate Super Bowl contender. We are like a family that has a nice lifestyle, but famously lives beyond its means and has to borrow money each year at increasingly high interest rates to maintain its lifestyle.

The original sin was the trade with Philadelphia several weeks ago. Without that trade, we could have Penning, our second-round selection, three middle-round picks this year in a deep draft that we traded away, our first-round-round pick in 2023, and our second-round pick in 2024. We paid an absurdly steep price to pick Olave.

Judge this draft in four years. But to be fair, judge in four years our cumulative draft efforts in 2022 and 2023 when we won't have a first-round pick. If our draft seems relatively unproductive in 2023, a reason will be that we traded away our 2023 first-round pick to Philadephia. But then next year we will probably trade away our second-round pick, our 2024 first-round pick and other picks to get a 2023 first-round pick.