Saints select Andrew Tiller, G, in the 6th round
 

OVERVIEW
Tiller has NFL size for the guard position. He is a below-average athlete, which hurts his ability to contribute early at the next level. A strong, positional blocker who really excels in the run game, where he can overpower defenders. His footwork is his Achilles heel and the likely reason he will probably be delegated to the practice squad during his first few years.

ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS Tiller excels as a run blocker. Although not very explosive, if he is able to get his hands on defensive linemen he is generally able to move them out of the play. Size and strength are the shining attributes of his game.

WEAKNESSES Tiller is a non-explosive interior lineman who struggles in pass protection. It seems he hasn't honed in on a stance and pass-set that he feels comfortable with, as when gets too high at times and can be caught off balance by powerful pass rushers. He struggles in space to work upfield and get his hands on linebackers, and would really excel more in a zone blocking scheme.

NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Andrew Tiller

Terrible grades.

Hmmm, interesting pick. There were some higher thought of lineman out there. I wonder what they're seeing in him.....

Doug Marrone connection.

Another area of interest we needed to address. Mission accomplished.

435th rated player.

Sorry, I give this pick an F-plus.

179. Andrew Tiller, G, Syracuse: B- Grade
The Saints had no depth at guard. This is a bit early for Andrew Tiller, but that's not a major deal in Round 6.

Sounds like we could have got him undrafted

Agreed 100%. We had cats on the practice squad more impressive than this guy.

So far I'm not impressed with this draft. Previous drafts have knocked my socks off. This one seems as bad as the 2009 draft.

Conbine results-


bench-16 worst 4 oline
vertical-23 worst 4 oline
broad jump- 85 worst oline


Not a fan of this one

Just to play devil's advocate, vertical and broad jump are relatively meaningless for an OG.

I trust the info Maronne passed on to our front office resulting in this pick. It's the 6th round and these picks are hardly big gambles. One thing we know for sure because of the familiarity, we had to have gathered a good amount of information before making this selection.

Mauling offensive guard sounds good to me. Hardly expected to be a significant contributor so we have plenty of time to develop him.

Thats true, the 6th ans 7th round are for boom/bust projects or special teamers.

Our O-line coaches may view his weaknesses as very correctable, and they envision the finished product as an NFL starter, and if he doesn't develop then no big deal, he's only a 6th rounder.

broad and high jump measure explosiveness of the line. depth at guard is a need, but this guy is terrible

As a proponent of history repeating itself, 2009 was a terrible draft yet, we did win the Super Bowl. I'll take it.

(Although we have 2 starters out of 4 picks, I will take that in any year.)

I tend to trust the experience of those that do this for a living over those that base their opinions on the opinions of those who simply write about what they think of the prospects.

Actually only 1 starter (our 1st rounder which is expected), the other is a Punter, which we gave up two picks for. Punters aren't football players. :p

But then again, its all we have to go on.

Many experts thought the Jonathan Sullivan pick was horrible. Those that do this for a living selected Jonathan Sullivan.

Many who opine about the picks do so by researching experts who are either close to those that do this for a living or formner GM's and scouts that used to do this for a living.

Its all about who you trust and their credibility.

If Prisco or Florio analyze a prospect, I ignore it.
If Pat Kirwan or Gil Brandt analyzes a prospect, I listen.

I feel like we've reached on every pick so far. Not a huge fan of our draft. Hopefully the FO knows what they're doing.

Maybe we're out of cash (Gotta save it all for Drew y'know.) so we're shopping the bargain basement these last couple of rounds.

One man's "reach" is another's "don't let it get away".

I understand he needs help with fundamentals but he's physically weak. Right now, he'd get plowed over. I agree, we could have got him undrafted. Really scratching my head....like Danno said, except for the first pick, this draft is starting to smell like a bag of rotten crawfish heads. I hope they know what they are doing.

Positives:
Excellent size. Can create a surge in the run game and seeks to finish blocks. Functional short-area, slide pass protector — sets, shuffles and punches. Good anchor strength. Plays hard and competes.

Negatives:
Plays very upright and heavy-legged — mechanics get stressed the further he travels. Tends to bend at the waist and will overextend and fall off blocks. Inconsistent technique — footwork needs refinement. Struggled to unlock his hips and appeared very upright in drills at the Combine. Weight has fluctuated in the past and pushed 400 pounds upon his arrival in the program. Character needs to be evaluated.

Summary:
Big-bodied waist bender with the sheer size to cover up defenders in the run game and eventually compete for a starting job.

One has to wonder if this pick would not have better use than a trade for Osi? :)

Osi would have taken our 3rd, not 6th round pick...

Uhhmmmmm...............OK. Not really earth shattering.

We couldn't have got him undrafted if someone else offered him more. The only way to be assured at getting a player you want is to draft them.

Never know until an offer is made.

and a whole pile of money

Which we don't have.

I actually like the pick.

I think Ingram will do better with a better G in their who can run block better. Our OL does great pass blocking but we need to be able to run the ball better especially or short yardage.

Get some beefy guys to develop... I can live with it.

The thing about UDFA's is that they can go to any team they want to. If its your guy you go ahead and spend your late round picks on just to ensure you have first crack at them and see if they pan out.

I doubt he's better than Evans and Grubbs, who will likely be our OG's for the next decade.

not jumping up and down with this like the pick before but the saints seem to always find a OL to plug in as needed.

Morstead is both P and KO.

As with all draft picks, you have to wait and see how they do with the big boys. This guy's measurables aren't great, but as somebody pointed out earlier, that's not necessarily a huge deal for an OG. Also, this guy was a 1st team selection to his all-conference team, so he obviously does pretty well on the field.

Grubbs is supposed to be better run blocker than Nicks was, but not as good of a pass protector, so I think the Saints' running game will be fine with Grubbs and Evans as the guard pair.

The thing that worries me about him is what Mitch already alluded to, and that is that his weight was over 400 pounds at the start of his collegiate career, which might be a sign of a character problem.

But I do trust that the FO knows what they are doing, and their track record speaks for itself.

PFW video said he was projected "3rd to 4th round" and we picked him up in the 6th.

Team scouts obviously see something in him, probably raw size and ability to be coached.

Impossible to judge any draft talent until they make the team and perform at some level.