New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com (https://blackandgold.com/community/)

- Saints (https://blackandgold.com/saints/)

- - Saints interested in LB Chris Draft (https://blackandgold.com/saints/8372-saints-interested-lb-chris-draft.html)

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

-- Draft Drawing Interest --
Sat Apr 2, 2005 --from FFMastermind.com

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the Bengals and Saints are among teams known to be interested six-year NFL veteran and former Atlanta Falcons LB Chris Draft. Draft is a former special teams standout who was drafted in the sixth round by the Bears in 1998.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Boy, they sure are trying to upgrade. It\'s good to see them interested and going after the big dogs.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Well, he did have pretty good numbers in 2003. I don\'t know what happened last year....looks like he didn\'t play much. If he can put up stats like 2003, he would be a nice pick-up. And thats a big IF.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Draft did have over 100-tackles in 2003. That\'s also the year the Falcons\' defense finished last in the NFL. Or close to it, anyway.

You know, stats can be very misleading for a linebacker. If he was tackling the runningback 5-yards past the line of scrimmage, then that\'s not really a good thing.

Last year I believe Draft was taken out on 3rd down because he runs something like a 4.75/40. Which isn\'t much faster than Orlando Ruff.

You never know about the guy and it might not be such a bad thing to sign him, but it really wouldn\'t excite me.

[Edited on 2/4/2005 by GumboBC]

[Edited on 2/4/2005 by GumboBC]

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

At least we are looking at a LB!!!!!! I guess we aren\'t satisfied with \"our\" guys.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Blah.

If Watson can\'t play MLB (which I don\'t think is the case), then what good is draft going to do us? Ruff is better.

Draft
29 years old (not getting any better really), 232 lbs, 5\'11\", 41 tackles last year, drafted in the 6th round. Why not just put Colby at MLB and get it over with?

Short Scouting Report:
Assets: Very smart and productive. Runs well and makes lots of plays. Smart, instinctive and unafraid to hit.
Flaws: Plays at around 230 pounds and may lack the bulk to play inside full time. Not a pass rusher or a natural in coverage.
Career potentia:l Decent starter.

Don\'t we already have Ruff?

Let\'s get Sharper if we\'re not done looking at LBs in FA.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

I agree with you all. This is a sign that our FO is not happy at LB, so why don\'t we go after someone who has been a proven player and stop tring to find a diamond on the waiver wire.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

maybe its for depth or special teams or both. what would we sign the guy for

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Welcome aboard Daniel. We\'ll look forward to hearing more from you.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Quote:

At least we are looking at a LB!!!!!! I guess we aren\'t satisfied with \"our\" guys.

the interesting thing is they are looking at MLB...

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Glad to be here JKOOL. Very nice site. Great info.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

All valid points JKOOL.....doesn\'t excite u at all that we are looking at a LB?

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

I think the idea that we haven\'t been looking at LBs is over hyped. We picked up Fisher recently, and Simmons came for a visit. Now we\'re considering Draft.

I guess it is nice to know that they are considering LBs, but it seems to me that they\'ve been considering it since the first day of FA when they failed to get Peirce.

My view is that we ought to get Sharper in here for a visit. He\'s good for another couple of years, and he is a proven vetran.

So, I guess, yes, FV, I am excited about looking at LB\'s, just not Draft.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Look, Daniel...I don\'t like you. I never have. I never will. LOL...Just kidding of course. Welcome to Black and Gold. The first post I read of yours and it\'s brilliant. I live here in Northern California and aside from being a Saints fan I\'m also a Stanford fan. Yeah, I know, I\'ve made my life as a sports fan relatively tough! Anyway I like Chris Draft as much as the next guy but frankly, if the Bengals are interested in him, that\'s reason enough to pass. Didn\'t they let a guy named Spikes get away?

To play at Stanford you have to carry a 3.0 GPA year round. While Draft is clearly no dummy I\'m not sure he would fit in dealing with a coaching staff full of them. Let\'s face it, Haslett and Venturi are not the most brilliant men in football, you know what I mean? The problem with this bunch is they tend to think they know more than everybody so they end up doing a lot of reaching for players: Tebucky Jones, Johnathon Sullivan, etc. I think the only way you sign a Chris Draft is if you get him for league minimum.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Quote:

I think the idea that we haven\'t been looking at LBs is over hyped. We picked up Fisher recently, and Simmons came for a visit. Now we\'re considering Draft.

C\'mon Kool - I dunno why you stick with this party line. There comes a time when the ADEQUACY of the players sought is so poor that it becomes tantamount to inaction.

For example: Your house is on fire. I\'m standing in front of it. I don\'t call 911. There\'s a fire hose already hooked up to a hydrant and ready to throw about 100 gallons of water a minute onto the blaze and save a good portion of your house. I don\'t use that b/c afterall, it\'s not sure to work, and the costs could be great. I dunno how to use those things and they\'re pretty powerful. I could get hurt. Your neighbor has a garden hose hooked to his faucet and it\'s laying at my feet... but then I might get wet. Instead, I throw the 20 oz bottled water I\'m holding on the blaze, which, not surprisingly, does very little. Your home burns to the ground, and when you return you ask, \"Dat, why didn\'t you do anything to put out the fire?!?\" I respond, \"I did. I threw my water bottle on it.\" Satisfied? Or did my action essentially constitute total inaction?

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Loomis: \"We don\'t need no water, let the m*f*\'er burn!\"

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

I\'m gonna have to agree with WhoDat on this one.

Well, sorta ...

In the past- there\'s liitle doubt in my mind that the Saints\' haven\'t placed a high priority on getting top-notch linebackers.

We can go down the list with guys like Orlando Ruff and Derrick Rodgers.

The highest profile guy we\'ve gotten has been Courtney Watson who wasn\'t picked until the second round. Nothing against Watson but I don\'t think many wanted Watson before the draft.

However, the coaching staff has expressed more of an interest this year in trying to get good proven linebackers. They were interested in Antonio Pierce and Dat Nygen.

I still believe Darren Howard will bring us a pretty good LB. Whether that be through the draft or from another team.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Quote:

hope so-because missing out on hartwell is going to hurt us I think .

Quote:

Mike Detillier\'s Football World
Falcons get another top defensive player

On more than one occasion during the 2004 NFL season (in this same space), I pointed out that one of the players the New Orleans Saints should pay plenty of attention to was Baltimore Ravens free-agent inside linebacker Edgerton Hartwell.

One front-office executive with the team felt Hartwell would be a perfect fit for the Saints because of his great leadership skills, his tremendous work ethic, and because he was also a very good football player.

Hartwell was either the leading tackler or second leading tackler on BaltimoreÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢s stout defense each of the past three seasons.

Many of his teammates marveled at his work ethic and preparation for opponents. Hartwell averaged 157 tackles (solo and assisted) each of the last three seasons.

One player that teamed with Hartwell for the past couple of seasons said Hartwell spends loads of time in the film room.

\"Ed Hartwell is an outstanding player,\" the Ravens player said. \"I am telling you that no one spends as much time as Hartwell preparing for a game. He didnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢t get the publicity he deserved because he was playing alongside Ray Lewis, but if you are a player or a coach in this league you know just how good this guy is. For a team like New Orleans, who has no real leader on defense, or on a good young defensive team like Atlanta, he will turn out to be a great player. I just wish we (the Ravens) could have found a way to keep him, but I have been in this league long enough to know who can play and who canÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢t, and the Falcons got a Pro-Bowl performer in Ed Hartwell. I know I might sound like one of those guys that spout off on these different Internet chat rooms, but the Saints just donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢t seem to know what they want at linebacker, and now they have to play against this guy twice a season.\"

Despite having a glaring need for a veteran to take charge of their middle linebacker position, the Saints passed on getting in on the Hartwell sweepstakes due to his high price tag.

After being pursued by the Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, and Minnesota Vikings, Hartwell, earlier this week, decided to sign a multi-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons.

Hartwell signed a six-year, $26.5 million contract with an $8 million signing bonus to join Jim MoraÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢s defensive unit in Atlanta.

Immediately after signing with the Falcons, Hartwell lived up to his name as a worker.

He was already setting up a schedule for meetings and film room time for his fellow Falcons linebackers.

Falcons All-Pro linebacker Keith Brooking said he is looking forward to playing with the run-stuffing middle linebacker from Western Illinois.

\"I did my own little look-see on Ed Hartwell when I heard we (Atlanta) might be pursuing him and everyone I spoke to talked volumes about his character and his ability to make plays out on the field,\" Brooking said. \"Ray Lewis says he picks up assignments like a sponge picks up water. What the average fan doesnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢t understand at times is that sometimes players fit in better in some schemes than others. And for what we run here, he is the perfect fit. ItÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢s rare in this league to get a quality player who has a great work ethic and that perfectly fits what you do scheme-wise, and Ed is just that sort of player. You can never have enough good players on a squad.\"

The Falcons are still not satisfied with the talent on their current defensive roster, and they are paying close attention to a couple of top defensive linemen on the West Coast.

Falcon defensive coordinator Ed Donatell spent a few days on the campus of USC to get to know Trojans defensive tackles Shaun Cody and Mike Patterson much better.

Also remember that Falcons general manager Rich McKay is a graduate of USC, and he has close ties to current Trojans football coach Pete Carroll.

As I wrote two weeks ago, the NFC South continues to get tougher for the Saints.

DAVIS SLOW COMING BACK
The Carolina Panthers are hoping that former All-Pro halfback Stephen Davis can return back to the form that made him one of the leagueÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢s top players in 2003.

But the news from Carolina is not that encouraging. The former Auburn standout runner is currently doing cardiovascular work in a pool on an everyday basis, but Panthers officials donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢t expect him to run on hard ground until early July.

Many people within the Panthers organization believe that Davis will start the 2005 NFL season on the physically unable to performer list.

CarolinaÃƒÂ¢Ã¢Â‚Â¬Ã¢Â„Â¢s former UCLA standout running back DeShaun Foster is back at 100 percent after breaking his collarbone early in the 2004 season.

The speedy runner is expected to be the workhorse runner for the Panthers in 2005.

the least we could do is trade howard to the chiefs for fujita and a pick...

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Draft is not an improvement either.

Look, I more or less agree with you guys, but I maintain there is a distinction between doing nothing and doing little. In WhoDat\'s analogy, at least he did something; it is not like he was throwing news papers and other flamable materials on the flames!

Also, they did try and get Peirce. This is like dialing 911 and getting an operator who falls asleep mid-call. It isn\'t like you weren\'t trying.

I agree that Howard could bring us the guy we need/want.

Doing something is not the same as doing nothing, no matter how much it is upsetting.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Quote:

In the past- there\'s liitle doubt in my mind that the Saints\' haven\'t placed a high priority on getting top-notch linebackers.

We can go down the list with guys like Orlando Ruff and Derrick Rodgers.

The highest profile guy we\'ve gotten has been Courtney Watson who wasn\'t picked until the second round. Nothing against Watson but I don\'t think many wanted Watson before the draft.

However, the coaching staff has expressed more of an interest this year in trying to get good proven linebackers. They were interested in Antonio Pierce and Dat Nygen.

I still believe Darren Howard will bring us a pretty good LB. Whether that be through the draft or from another team

I re-read this and have to disagree with something..I think that burnett and ruud could both help us as much as most of the LB\'s on the market right now....

It seems like the saints are hell bent on moving watson to weak side..and I don\'t know if I like that--for two reasons:
1. by drafting a MLB we would los experience in the middle...but Ruud and if healthy crowder are both smart players therefore increasing the football IQ of out corps.
so it\'s pick your poison.
2. Can watson play outside? does he have the athletism?

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Quote:

Doing something is not the same as doing nothing, no matter how much it is upsetting.

I don\'t know what is more upsetting:

The thought that the Saints aren\'t addressing LB b/c they don\'t think it\'s a problem

OR

The thought that the Saints do believe it to be an area of need, but believe that guys like Ruff, Rodgers, and Fisher will solve the problem.

Either way, I think that splitting hairs between total inaction and some totally inadequate action which will not affect the outcome in any fashion is little more than a stretch to try to give the FO some credit. ;)

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

right on whodat

the LB issue is like how the corner issue dragged on for years. everybody and their mother could see the need but look how long it took to address it sufficiently. if 3 or 4 of the first teams on the schedule run for over 200 yds again maybe they will take action and get a stuffer at the trade deadline. why not be proactive though? allen might be starting to get his head on straight, bockwoldt might be a legitimate surprise, watson might bulk up and handle the middle... but that is a lot of maybes to bet on upgrading the porous run d for a whole season. hodge is still here cuz no one else wanted him. derrick rogers is 34 coming off back surgery. levar fisher is similar to cie grant, talented, but knees so bad they may never see the field again. ruff is a defined role player at best. darrin smith still does pretty good for using a walker.

c\'mon, jamie sharper cannot be that washed up can he?

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Quote:

The foulcants cut LB Chris Draft loose a few weeks back after they signed Ravens LB Ed Hartwell. Anyway, for what it is worth, a guy I work with here in the ATL is a personal friend of Draft\'s from the West Coast (Draft played out there in college). He told me today Draft is talking to the Saints and likely will sign. He\'s ticked about the way the foulcants treated him (Mora was particulary gutless) and has something to prove. No shock here, but apparently the big issue is money and the Saints\', inability to part with it as readily as some other teams. We\'ll see. Might be an OK pickup. Draft is a bit small, but decently quick and a little better than what we\'ve got right now.

from another forum-take it for what it\'s worth.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

the saints certainly have done worse drafts

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Anybody have some real info on this guy? I\'ve heard everything from \"he\'s pretty good, quick, but kind small\" to \"he\'s a smaller slower Orlando Ruff\".
I don\'t know what to think about this guy. If he now hates Atlanta, that one in the plus column.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Quote:

In his first year as an NFL head coach, the Falcons\' Jim Mora frequently trumpeted his team\'s \"chemistry,\" which was undeniably solid. The ingredients, however, are leaking away in a significant way since the Falcons lost to the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game.

Advertisement

Several of the players who helped bond the team are gone. Since last season ended, Atlanta has cut DL Ed Jasper and Travis Hall, MLB Chris Draft and FS Cory Hall, among others, and lost SLB Matt Stewart and K Jay Feely, among others, in free agency.

They were all high-character players, and Mora admits as much.

cbs.sportsline...falcon\'s team page...

looking for more.

Quote:

Sat Apr 2 2005 - The Atlanta Falcons released LB Chris Draft today as expected. To think Draft was a surprise top LB only 2 years ago. He\'ll sign somewhere else. He\'s worth a late rd flyer as a reserve in deep leagues.

Fri Mar 25 2005 - Atlanta may be considering trading or releasing linebacker Chris Draft. With the signing of Ed Hartwell, Draft becomes somewhat expendable for the Falcons. Draft had a poor 2004 for Atlanta and no longer has any real fantasy value.

Mon Mar 21 2005 - Chris Draft will become a reserve linebacker for the Falcons this season. He\'ll back up Ed Hartwell at MLB. Draft is coming off a miserable \'04. Only one year removed from being a top ten IDP linebacker, he\'s not worth owning in the deepest of leagues.

was last year the beginin of the end-or just a fluke?

[Edited on 4/4/2005 by baronm]

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

I say stay away unless he\'s strictly in a back up role. Otherwise it\'s just another example of the Saints picking up someone else\'s leftovers, trying to get something for nothing.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Quote:

Bingo. If anything, he\'s another #4 guy who can challenge for the # 2 spot on our team :)

I know from hearing him on the radio in Atl that he seemed like a really likeable guy with a good head on his shoulders. I didn\'t realize he was as old as he is, though. On several occasions he was referred to as a good locker room guy by players and coaches.

I say take him and draft an LB in the 1st or 2nd and we\'re just a bit better than last year, assuming the young guys get better. There\'s not much out there other than sharper.

If he plays out of his mind against Atl, then thats enough for me. Maybe we take him and he shatters Vick\'s clavicle. If he does that, I\'ll buy his jersey. :nutkick:

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

Danno, I posted a short scouting report and his available measurables near the begining of this thread.

Who, I hear ya buddy.

Saints interested in LB Chris Draft

JUst like everyone else, I am just glad that the words Saint\'s and linebacker are being mentioned in the same sentence and not just by us.