Why the low draft grades? (1 Viewer)

[trend02setter]

There is a difference in opinion on how we fans and members of the media see this team.

According to them , we are a pathetic team now that Drew and Sean are gone.

To them , they expect us to be " rebuilding " , when we are reloading.

We feel we were a couple players and a healthy season away from making a deep run.

Only time will tell.

This is it right here.

If you think the Saints aren't good then this is a bad draft to you.

I think all of the questions around this team are about coaching staff. Talent wise I don't think they lost anything to dramatically reduce the level of the roster where it is not competitive in every game. No team in the NFC is significantly more talented than the Saints currently, from what I can see. The defense may be a little worse than last year on average, but the offense should be much better with a healthy QB and WRs.

 

[bobad]

I don't know how in heck someone can judge a draft before the season starts.

 

[Hedon James]

Because we spent a 1st, 2nd, two 3rds, 4th, 7th on Chris Olave and the media didn’t have Alonte Taylor rated as high as we picked him.

^ Greg is right. I LOVE the players we drafted in the 1st. I question the 2nd, but trust Ireland knows more than we do; and I'm willing to bet our new WR coach (from Tenn) provided valuable info on the player. Our 5th rounder is intriguing....never heard of him before the draft, but on paper, he looks better than a 5th rounder. The 6th rounder is a head-scratching WTH(?!) for me, but again, I'll defer to Ireland. Not every pick Ireland makes is a grand slam, but when you look at his history, dude has a knack for picking players (especially defenders, IMO!). I don't mind a huge miss from a huge swing, when it occurs in the 5-7 rounds. JMO...

As Saints fans, we look at the players and the holes filled, and we're thinking we did well. I agree. But when you consider the draft assets we STARTED with, in the context of what we ended with, we "waste" a lot of opportunities for mid/late round greatness. For instance, the Baltimore Ravens had SIX 4th round picks this year. Let that sink in. They had more picks in 1 round than we had in the entire draft. I hear the argument "but 4th rounders aren't as valuable/likely to start as 1,2 & 3 rounders." True, but the Ravens are pretty good at drafting, and when you have SIX, statistically you're going to get another starter, possibly 2, from those 4th rounders. The Saints are pretty good at drafting too, especially since Ireland arrived. CJGJ was a 4th rounder; Jahri Evans was a 4th rounder; Carl Nicks was a 5th rounder. There are others, but you get the picture. Wouldn't it be better to maximize that ability to find later round gems with MORE picks, than fewer? The draft is a crapshoot, with very few "sure things." From that perspective, it's better to hedge your bets with multiple picks (quantity) over targeted picks (quality). If you're wrong about a player, it hurts less when you picked quantity; when a targeted/quality player doesn't succeed, you typically wasted multiple picks on a bust, rather than 1.

Let's put this in a context that every Saints fan can relate to. I think every Saints would agree that, top to bottom, the 2017 draft was the best draft ever (so far?!)...the gold standard. Here's what that draft looked like:

1.11 - Lattimore
1.32 - Ramczyk
2.42 - Williams
3.67 - Kamara
3.76 - Anzalone
3.103 - Hendrickson
6.196 - Muhammad

That's 7 hits from 7 picks, as all are still in the league, and still productive, although only Muhammad never really contributed to the Saints. While Anzalone was productive when healthy, we ultimately let him walk, because he was injured more often than he played. And even though we wanted to keep them, we were forced to let Hendrickson and Williams go, because we couldn't afford to retain them after having paid Lattimore, Ramczyk and Kamara "cornerstone/franchise player" money. A problem, for sure, but a good problem, IMO. By any metric you want to set forth, THIS is the draft we hope to duplicate, year after year. It's not realistic to succeed every year, but this should be the goal where the effort is directed toward, IMO.

Keeping in mind, I really like the players we took; especially the first 2 rounds. Here's what we got in 2022:

1.11 - Olave
1.19 - Penning
2.49 - Taylor
5.161 - Jackson
6.194 - Jackson

And now that I've said all that, here's the problem I have with THIS 2022 draft. With all the picks we traded (to the Eagles) to get a 2nd 1st round pick, and even more picks we traded on draft night (to the Commanders) to move up to pick #11, we essentially forfeited any opportunity we had to draft our next Kamara, Anzalone, and Hendrickson players. There's no guarantee we would have, but the OPPORTUNITY existed, and I like our chances with Ireland. But packaging those picks to move up guaranteed that we DID NOT draft our next Kamara, Anzalone, nor Hendrickson.

I like Olave, and I'm glad we have him. I think he's going to be a great player. But for what we gave up for him, he better be All-Pro his entire career. I'm a numbers guy, and statistically speaking, I would've preferred to stay at 16 and pick Jahan Dotson; which the Commanders did. As a PSU fan, I've watched MANY games where Dotson single-handedly put up production for PSU. He's a different style player, but his potential is equal to Olave's, but at a much lesser cost in draft capital. And we keep our 3rd & 4ths for the OPPORTUNITY to draft the next Kamara, Anzalone, and Hendrickson. No one has played a down yet, but we NEED both #1s to start, and play at a high level. And we NEED Taylor and 1 of the Jacksons to start, or take SIGNIFICANT snaps.

Who among us expects, nay....BELIEVES....that the 2022 5th and 6th rounders are likely to be as good as the 3rd and 4th rounders we could've had? So with that being said, I still believe draft grades are BS, especially so soon. But for the grades being given, it isn't just about the players you took, it's also where you took them. And lastly, where the Saints are getting dinged in the grading process, it's about "opportunity cost"....what you gave up to get what you got. The Saints gave up a LOT this year, and we're gonna pay the price again in the next 2 years, with no 2023 1st rounder, and no 2024 2nd rounder. OUCH!!!!

I'd like to see what one of the best drafting teams in the past 5-7 years can do with MORE picks, not fewer. Call me curious...

 

[WhoDatNationQC]

Draft grades are worth just as much as mock drafts, meaning they’re pretty much irrelevant.

The same experts who are grading our picks also had us taking a QB in the 1st round, so yeah. They also had Willis going in the top #20 and he fell in the 3rd freaking round lol.

I’ll just let that sink in for a little while and everyone should feel pretty relieved after that.

 

[sfidc3]

Did everyone just give up on Ireland and Loomis? I think I'll go with their opinion for now instead of some talking heads looking for clickbait.

Naw, I just think you have some fans that put way too much faith in the mighty sports media “experts”…..I think the Saints personnel and coaching staff feel the Saints roster is much, much better than the media (and some fans) think it is…..

Meaning they want to pick up a few players who they think are closest to sure things for their scheme….rather than keep draft picks that likely won’t make the team or at least contribute much….

I won’t sit here and say the Saints draft philosophy is the end all be all but I feel more confident in their ability to know the strength of their roster….we will see if it pans out….

 

[SystemShock]

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

But if that is the case, wouldn't you use the picks to trade for a known quantity?