Reach is generally a negative term, but it doesn't always need to be. In the Saints case, a few guys were taken earlier than expected per published scouting reports and draft projections. With the Saints having very specific area's that needed to be addressed, some slight reaches were expected. This always going to be an issue when a team has to draft for need instead of best player available, which is where the Saints are at right now.

Is there evidence right now that he couldn't produce on day one? Being how strong of a blocker he is, that's a useful trait we could have used immediately. His size alone makes him a red zone threat. Just because he was the 7th TE drafted, that doesn't mean he can't make an impact right away. Rashid Shaheed went undrafted and make an impact last season. 32 teams passed on him. Talent, opportunity, and will power have a lot to with that.

That's a very flawed argument.

Not to mention Washington had a RAS of 9.88.
As far as 7 TE being taken before him…that’s not uncommon for great players to slip though the cracks. There were four RB taken before Kamara until he got drafted in the third round…I guess teams thought he was a project as well…

I guess this is why I've never gotten into the whole pre-draft hype. We as fans have no idea what the teams have in mind for their needs and direction. It's quite possible that the Saints, and several other teams, never saw Washington as a fit at all and was he never even a consideration. It is impossible as a fan that has fallen for draft prospects to come away from any draft without disappointments. But, fortunately, we do not make the final decisions.

To be honest, I had never heard of Washington until after the draft. I'm not a college fan and didn't really notice him in the championship game that I did watch. That's the only Georgia game I saw all season. I don't remember hearing anything about him pre-draft when the top TE prospects were discussed some.

So out of curiosity….if you dont follow college or pre draft hype, then why inject your opinions with people on this forum that do? Obviously it’s an open discussion for all but it doesn’t make sense to object to peoples opinions when you have little knowledge or desire on the subject.

I understand that we as fans have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, but we have visions and desires of what we’d like to see and ways we’d like to improve our team as fans. We want to enjoy a good fun discussion about it without a Debbie downer coming let us know that we know nothing. Yes we might be a little disappointed if the outcome doesn’t go our way, but we get that’s how it is. This part of football is as fun for me as the actual season.

So out of curiosity….if you dont follow college or pre draft hype, then why inject your opinions with people on this forum that do? Obviously it’s an open discussion for all but it doesn’t make sense to object to peoples opinions when you have little knowledge or desire on the subject.

Oh, I have plenty of desire and quite a bit of knowledge, it's just that the knowledge comes after the fact. I'm giving my opinions from a Saints aspect. I look at all the players we drafted to learn as much as I can about them and discuss them with some insight. I also hear about players that others wanted to be drafted and look into them, many for the first time, in depth. In many cases I can see why they might have been a fit and can understand the point. But in others, like Darnell Washington, after doing some research, I couldn't see what made him more desirable than any of the players we took prior to his going off the board. I couldn't see the fit so I asked for input on what others saw in him that they felt was so compelling that it basically downgraded our draft in their minds. I don't see that as being a Debbie Downer at all. Quite the contrary, one could say that those wishing we would have taken some player other than the ones we did were the ones being Debbie Downers.

Regardless, it's all opinion and open discussion. I just haven't been convinced that my opinion that the player wasn't a good fit for the Saints was wrong. Apparently the Saints, and 30 other teams, had similar opinions in as far as his value at any point before he was finally selected toward the end of the third round. Who knows, maybe he'll blossom in the NFL and be more than the self-described "sixth offensive lineman."

So, out of curiosity, Riaton, where do you think we should have selected Mr. Washington had we had interest as a team? #29? #40? #71? Keep in mind he went #93, I believe.

Nah, I was right in my assessment of what a Debbie downer is.

Where I think we should’ve drafted him has no relevance to me on my opinion of Washington. I honestly don’t care where he was drafted nor do I care where we should’ve or would’ve. I’m not even mad that we didn’t draft him, I like others here believe he has potential to be a good player and would’ve liked to see him in the black and gold wherever he would’ve been drafted.

At any rate I’m not here to debate anything with you, as I know it’s a waste of my time, just curious about your contradicting behavior, that is all