First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

One thing I know is this: we haven't even stepped on the field. For everyone who has written the season off, I think you're missing the idea of "any given Sunday" - a true Football mantra. Yes, somedays it is harder to feel good about our boys in Black and Gold than others, but I don't see any reason to not even play this year.

First Round:
Jammal Brown - arguably the best lineman in the draft. Carolina wanted him, so did we. We got him, they didn't. The right side of our OLine is going to be tough for any team to handle. Bentley (pro-bowler), Mayberry (pro-bowler), and Brown (future pro-bowler according to national, not merely local, sources). Good pick. I wanted DJ, but this is fine with me.

Second Round:
As usual, a head scratcher here.
Josh Bullocks - a heady, disciplined, playmaker. Ok, I don't understand this at all, but it gives us two rangy, ballhawks at Safety, or a solid special teamer. Great speed, ball skills, we could have done much worse. On the other hand, we could have done much better! Burnett was there. WTF? I'm not going to feel good about this until Bullocks gets a pick and takes some WR's head off. We'll see.

Third Round:
Nice.
Alfred Fincher. I've never heard of him, but Kiper loved the kid. His analysis and skills look ready for MLB. We need a MLB; we got one ON THE FIRST DAY. The reports say that his upside isn't that high, but he's already got pretty solid skills. I'll let Danno rave about him, but what do you expect in the third but a solid role player - this kid is that. I'm not upset with this pick. Time will tell if Blackstock would have been a better pick, but I feel that either is a gamble, I like our guy.

What will Sunday bring? Who knows. Hopefully a DT (Hawthorne is still available ;) ), a QB, another LB? a CB? At this point, other than a DT, we've hit all our areas of need - OT, LB, and S. Sure, I might cavil over who we picked and when, but we got what we were looking for (except a QB for those who thought that was a key need).

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

As usual, JKool intervenes as the voice of reason ;)

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

Thanks Duece.

I\'m not sure how reasonable my view is yet. I\'m still so darned confused by the Bullocks pick. Does anyone get that yet?

I am hopeful. This Fincher kid is pretty darned interesting, I think. If Danno\'s reports are acurate, and I have every reason to believe they are, I like his attitude and his skills. He\'ll allow us to move Watson to an OLB spot (I like him at WLB). Bockwoldt will contribute.

I\'d still like to see a Howard trade for a real playmaker at LB. However, a playmaker at DT might be just as good now. In fact, if we can renegotiate Howard\'s contract, I\'m not entirely opposed to keeping him. I\'ll wait until the end of tomorrow to make a final judgement about that too.

What do you make of this Deuce?

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

... since the Saints are not trading for anyone that we know, we need to ask ourselves the following question: out of the 3 picks today, who can actually help stop the run? Certainly not Brown, he plays offense... The FS?

..so that leaves us with Fincher, from that Big East powerhouse.. honestly, I have never seen this kid play, so he gets the benefit of the doubt, however, just going by what Mel Kiper says and the 5 highlights they showed...

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

i\'m still reeling myself. i like brown a lot. if he can step in and start the o-line will be much better. but the one player that more folks around here wanted than any other in the1st was passed over.

bullocks was the 2nd rated FS but so what? after passing on dj then pass on burnett or thurman?? could have got dj at #16 then khalif barnes, adam terry, or marcus johnson at #40. three straight years of 2nd round non-starters? is there some outsmart the rest of league plan here? haz sez smith not to cb but bellamy is old. we are moving bullocks to SS? why not shazor then? he is still out there.

fincher looks like a lot of the past lb\'s that have been selected- some talent, potential, might grow into a starter. not a bad pick for the spot but getting an immediate starter/higher impact player would have more people here happy.

nothing with howard is disappointing as well. newswire reported that the eagles offered #31 and they said no. that could have been ruud. with that trade we could have theoretically gotten dj, ruud, and burnett- instead come away with a young orlando ruff.

pleeze, no more 8-8. if there is no magic this year i sure hope there can be some housecleaning in the front office.

this was very tiring.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

I was upset about the draft for a few reasons.

Howard wasn\'t moved, and that would\'ve allowed us to get an elite player in any position.

SS didn\'t seem to be as pressing as getting an LB in the second. Was he the best SS on the board, anyway?

This LB looks good on paper, but what level of competition did he amass his stats against?

I\'m fine with Brown, but I don\'t see how the D players we picked will help contain Vick, and the Falcons running game. Also, every other team in our div is looking to improve the run.
I\'m hoping these moves are part of some grand plan. Maybe Haz & Loomis have trade moves in the works, as a testimony to their true genius.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

I kinda like the #2 pick. lots of options (smith at CB being one). And plus, we did\'nt have no depth at FS. (MM is a big SS type, and if D Smith went down who would replace him S Gleason, he might be listed as a FS but i\'ve never seen him play as one)

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

My thoughts: I believe that our needs on defense FAR outweighed out need for a tackle. Even though I have worried that Mayberry has not played tackle in a long time - he could have been plugged in there. We have enough competitive guards that we would have been adequate.

Here\'s what Pat Kirwan (from NFL.com) said about our first:
I believe that\'s a polite way of saying: Hunh?
http://www.nfl.com/draft/analyzer

They (on NFL.com) had no comment at all on Bullocks - other than his bio information. My own opinion on Bullocks is that this is our worst pick this year. With our needs - why select a safety? I\'ll venture a guess: BECAUSE 8-8 IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE FANS. I\'m sick of this.

Our third pick:
Finally a LB - but I challenge that he won\'t even start for us this year. Special teams contribution is all good - but can anyone feel good that it appears we will be going into this season with the same LB corp we ended with last year? Despite the euphoria of our 4-0 finished (I remind you that we were playing against Atlanta\'s practice squad), I am not sold on Allen/Watson/Bockwoldt.

What may even be more pathetic; our LB corp is so weak that it is possible this REACH-at-3rd COULD actually start for us before the year is over. Not on any other NFL team, but maybe for us considering how talent-poor we are at that position. Heck, we have a 7th rounder (from last year) penciled in as a starter. Our LBs are attrocious and everyone knows it except the people running our team.

This draft has been extremely disappointing thus far.

Last year, we were in this situation at CB. We had Thomas and Ambrose as our starters going into the season. I was livid that of our starting pair; our number one CB was a nickel corner on most NFL teams. It wasn\'t until we got lit up like a christmas tree that our FO seemed to recognize the problem. I suspect it will take another horrific start to this season before they realize our LBs are weak.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

B+

I was angry about Bullocks. \"A FS? WTF is that? We already have one\". Until I actually did some homework and discovered that he is supposed to replace Bellamy. There\'s realy not a huge difference in our system\'s FS and SS. So OK, I can live with that. Still think we passed over some better players but not as bad as I originally over-reacted to.

Brown? Nothing wrong with getting a guy who\'ll start for the next 10 years and flirt with multiple pro-bowls. But this pick gets an A-minus for having to give up a 3rd for the leapfrog.

Fincher? I didn\'t know what to think because I never heard of him. But after doing some more homework he looks like a solid prospect who\'s gonna fit our team well.
A Courtney Watson with better skills in the phone booth. I keep hearing folks say he\'s like a bigger Zach Thomas.

We probably could have done a bit better, but we certainly could done a lot worse, as we have in the past.


2ND day-
I look for a developmental QB, One that needs a couple years of coaching. Maybe the Harvard kid.

DT-maybe a run stuffing fat boy like Anthony Bryant who needs a few years of conditioning to blossom.

DE-Yes a developmental DE. I still think we\'re gonna trade Howard so we better get some young depth there.

LB-One big enough to develop into a SAM.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

Should have got Crowder. He will be the best linebacker in the draft.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

Kool is right. Everyone was freaking out yesterday. Like we have absolutely no chance of success this season. It\'s understandable, but you can\'t base the entire season on who the Saints draft. Besides, the Saints arent going to draft the person the fans want, they are going to draft the guy THEY believe to be the best for the team. I am a little upset that we didn\'t get DJ when he was there, but obviously management didn\'t want him for some reason. I really don\'t think the Saints would draft a bunch of guys they don\'t need or not take a player available to them because they want to suck this year. Its hard for some of us, but we have to either trust the decisions they made/make or deal with them. I think the Saints will be alright.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

This seems like a typical Saints draft to me.

Round 1:
Move up to get a player who looks to be good and a starter immediately. But then, there were other players at positions of need (LB, LT, etc.) available - so did we really need to move up?

Round 2:
Draft a guy who was on no one\'s list, at a position where we just signed an all-pro in the offseason. We\'ll try and play him elsewhere though. At least he\'s on the right side of the ball, but typical of the Saints. A head-scratcher in the second.

Round 3:
The Saints draft another guy no one\'s heard about. He plays the right position, which is great. But then, is he a player who can do anything for the team? Seems like the Saints trying to outsmart us all again. People will read his scouting report and get all hyped up, but really, I\'m not so sure. When was the last time that the Saints actually did outsmart us all? Horn?

I have a hard time rating this draft above a C+ or B- so far. Brown will help immediately but as usual we reached. Our second seems like a give away, and our third may or may not be great. History suggests not.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

[musing]

...the object of playing a season of football is to win a Superbowl, not to put players in the Pro-Bowl...

doctor: \" your leg is broken... \"
patient: \" never mind the leg, Doc... please remove the unsightly wart on my left pinky...\"

[/musing]


..at least they got one LB...

[Edited on 24/4/2005 by Tobias-Reiper]

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

Well, I haven\'t looked at the picks for today yet, since I am afraid. However, I think a C+/B- is quite a fair grade for this.

1. Instant starter, future pro-bowler by impartial accounts.
2. Speed, ball instincts, BUT WTF A Safety!
3. Solid but relatively unknown, may start, but only because we are so damn weak at the position.

We\'re on track. We needed vetran leadership at LB anyway, the draft is not a place to get that. We didn\'t mess up the draft so much as we did the Howard trade - get a VETRAN LB or DT, and we\'re right where we need to be talent wise.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

JKool, I\'m still anticipating some kind of trade before the season starts. I think that Howard still has some value, especially to a team like the Eagels (Simon?). Anyways, overall this draft could have been better, but I guess I\'m not as pissed off about it as I was yesterday right after our picks. I think the thing about this draft is that it has been just like our drafts in the past few years; we make a surprising move to get our first player and then fill the rest of our picks with interesting picks. We always seem to be content with solid role players and never seem to go after the seemingly exceptional players. O well, I\'m still overall not too angry about this draft and I will be expecting some kind of movement from our FO after the draft.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

Kool, I agree with that. If Howard does bring a solid defensive starter in a trade, my grade for this draft will be higher. As of right now, I am in B- range, and that was raised by getting McPherson.

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

I just said that I like the Brown pick, but don\'t just listen to me, listen to Deuce:

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/...ints2001.shtml

First Day - Frustration, Success, Who Knows
 

Good find TheDuece! Good article.