gandhi1007

I began yelling in round two. Not because I didn't like Harper, but because I felt if he was the guy we wanted...we could have traded down again, picked up more picks, & still got the guy. Jahri Evans in the 4th through me for a loop. I think we could have snagged him later also. The Ninkovich pick...I'm still torn. I mean he's a solid 5th round pick, but did we really need another DE? Hello....LB? Rounds 6 & 7 were wonderful. They were all steals in the late rounds. I initially hated the Josh Lay pick, but then I found out three things about him. (1) He's a student of the game with tremendous work ethic. (2) He's progresses every year he's played CB. (3) And the kicker.....he's Ty Law's cousin. What better CB to learn from than Ty Law!!!

To sum it up, we came in the ring & got a 1st round knockdown. We took some punches in rounds 2-5, but we came back with a flurry in the late rounds. I give Payton & crew a B- to C+.

I like the guys we acquired in the trades. I only wonder how many years Hollis Thomas has left.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...gs/12-3006.jpg

______________________________
KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!
-G.I. Joe

FatiusJeebs

Ya know.....B+ seems to be the grade of choice. Did they fill everything? No. Did they acquire players that can make an impact on our team? I think they did. Bush......obvious. Harper....I'm not sure why....I guess we'll know once this whole Smith nonsense plays out. Hass?.....the guy sounds pretty resourceful to me. A couple of trades for picks....we got a center...(needed)....another DT (needed for the 3-4)....shhhh...I didn't say that...hee hee. Seriously though....it wasn't perfect....but I feel it was definitely helpful. Unfortunately....the ONLY thing nopt addressed.....a good LB. But I assume there is still plenty of time.

BINGO!!

BooBirdSaint

Oh I don't know... Reggie at number two was a total no brainer. I'd like to know who would have been our pick if Bush was not there? (I think it was gonna be either M. Williams or Hawk). I like Hass at 6 better then anyone else we picked before him... Defense is still gonna be slow in the LB's and weak in the middle against the run. C+ on the strength of Bush.

LKelley67

yup, to get the most exciting offensive player in a decade does equate to an average draft. LOL I can't help it, as some articles have said, Bush alone would be an A grade. Honestly, I could find things to nitpick on but I am giving Payton & Co. a free ticket into the season. I may not agree precisely with every personnel move made thusfar but I am enthused about the direction and stamp that he is putting on the team. I don't even have a giant W/L objective yet for the coming season. I just want to see good solid play. Turnaround from being the most penalized and turnover prone would be a giant step. I'd love to hear the commentators start referring to the team here as overachievers rather than underachievers too. Win, lose, or draw you can tell when a team is well coached and the organization is running cohesively and effectively. The proof is in the puddin' but I like how things are cooking up so far.

saintswhodi

I voted a C, although it's a C plus. Reading some glowing articles isn't gonna chnage my mind on that. Even if you grarde it a B, it's kinda disappointing to draft the best football player on the planet, then end up with a B grade. But I give it a C for who we passed on as much as who we did actually draft. I liked Haas late though. But outside of Reggie, if Harper doesn't work out, and we get an up front and close look at the reason Cleveland was willing to overspend for Bentley in order to dump Faine, this could easily fall to the D range, even with Reggie bush. I agree with most, that was the biggest no brainer of almost any draft, so it's hard for me to give credit for that. But brain cramping afterwards due to giddiness, ot not figuring Daniel Bullocks to be gone or whatever is inexcusable. Soi'll stay with a C, C plus for now.

TheDeuce

Whodi, what's your beef with Faine? I really doubt that you know all that much about the guy. Yes he was dumped by Cleveland, but that happened to be for LECHARLES BENTLEY. He was a former first-rounder, so the guy obviously has talent. Also, don't forget that he ripped his bicep muscle, so I'm sure that was just extra incentive for the Browns to favor Bentley over him and coin him expendable. Sure he might suck arse, but all I'm saying is that we should at least wait until the guy suits up in the black and gold before we label him as a bad player. Besides whodi, what was your alternative plan? What other center did you want to pick up? IMO, Faine was one of the best options for us. Also, we turned one pick into two players, so that's really a pretty good deal. I honestly don't know a lot about Faine besides the fact that he was a first-rounder and he is talented, but he just never put it all together in Cleveland, but what I'm saying is who did put it all together in Cleveland over the last few years, and let's just wait til we seem him with these Saints.

TheDeuce

From foxsports.com:

They liked it more than Mel Kiper did.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5559064

saintswhodi

What's my beef with Faine? Clevelend OVERSPENT for his replacement. How much more do you need to know? CLEVELAND. When the Brons feel like they can dump a player from THEIR O-line, I am gonna hitch my horse to the he can't be all that great wagon. I can buy the argument we may not have had a better option, but what is that saying? If we go from bad to below average, is that really great? I can;t get excited by a player CLEVELAND was eager to get rid of. And I trust head coach Romeo Crennel's opinion of a player a smuch as I do anyone in the league. Everyoen on the planet knows Bentley was a better guard than center, so do they get him and play him at guard and justify the money? Nope. They overpay him to replace their first roud pick. Somehow I can't dance a jig for that. He hasn't played a full season since he was drafted. And if the best argument is "he was a former first round pick," well so were Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, Tony Mandarich, and Lawrence Phillips. Doesn't make him good cause he went in the first round. And seriosuly, how much do YOU know about him? you paid that much attention to Cleveland before they got Bentley? Come on man, that's no argument at all.

LivnaLieTimay

I give us a B. We drafted the best prospect to enter the draft in years. I would have liked to of seen a lb chosen at some point and a cb earlier. We may have reached for a Harper but we had no 3rd and I think he'll be a solid player down the road, I do like the guy. Came on stong in the end with some oline and wr help. We also traded down and got 2 starters in Thomas at DT and Faine at C which I liked.

TheDeuce

Whodi, I told you I didn't know a lot about Faine. I'm just being honest. I could lie and say I know all about him, but all I know is scouting reports that I've read about the guy.

Yes they overspent because if they didn't, then Bentley would have come back here. This situation is no different than any other free agent signing: the new team in the picture usually has to spend more money than the encumbent team in order to get the guy away.

What is that saying? That says that we didn't have a better option! I mean it's really that simple whodi. We couldn't afford to pay Bentley that kind of money, anybody who thinks we could is nuts. Ideally would I have liked to get the best center in the league to replace LeCharles? Absolutely. Was it possible? Absolutely not. IMO, did we do the best possible thing to address the center position? Yes. Every team has to undergo players leaving, and a lot of times its not possible for a team to upgrade every single position. You win some you lose some. However, all I was trying to say is that it could have been a lot worse than getting Jeff Faine. I think in all of the REALISTIC possibilities that faced our team concerning the offensive center position, turning one pick into two players, one of them a three-year starter is pretty good. He might not be amazing, but let's just see what he does for the team first.