We invested a lot of high picks on this offensive line. If they stay healthy and gel into that potential then the analysts are right. I'm hoping they do.

Trevor Penning, LT, R1 | 19
Andrus Peat, LG, R1 | 13
Erik McCoy C, R2 | 48
Cesar Ruiz RG, R1 | 24
Ryan Ramcyzk, R1 | 32

The fact that Peat was a 1st round pick a long time ago means absolutely nothing today. We might as well call up Janikowski and throw him in at center so we can say our entire oline is 1st round picks. If anything its a problem that our oline has no scrappy underdogs who were mid round picks or later and worked their way up, only more entitled players who were drafted in the 1st or early 2nd round. It would be better to at least have a mix, and if Peat gets beat out we will somewhat. Our Super Bowl roster had zero 1st round picks on oline and the oline was much better. We won a ring off of being able to take mid round picks on oline and mold them into pro bowlers. I will never understand why for some reason we stopped using mid round picks on oline (except that figure skater from oxford a few years back who did not make the team) and made it rain for the pillsbury dough boy.

Gotta say I don’t think the Saints “stopped” doing anything Bako. Here is a list of our last 15 years of Oline drafts :

2023 4th Round OL
2022 1st Round OL
2021 6th Round OL
2020 1st Round OL
2019 1st Round OL
2018 4th and 7th Round OL
2017 1st Round OL
2016 No OL drafted
2015 1st Round OL
2014 6th Round OL
2013 3rd Round OL
2012 6th and 7th Round OL
2011 No OL drafted
2010 2nd and 5th Round OL
2009 No OL drafted

And this does not include undrafted free agent signings. As you can see, it is a mix of high round picks, as well as intermediate and late round picks. Landon Young, a player who is expected to be part of our Oline rotation this year was a sixth round draft pick.

Lets continue:

2008 5th Round OL
2007 3rd and 4th Round OL
2006 4th and 7th Round OL

Only the 3rd rounder is a bust. All three 4th/5ths start in the Super Bowl, and Strief the 7th is our top backup and eventual starter. Those picks, going oline 4 times in rounds 3-5 in a 3 year period, are as much as anything what wins us a ring.

Then we go oline in the 3rd-5th only 4 times in the next 15 years. Five if you count TQS. One of those mid round picks hit on all pro Terron Armstead.

Oline is 5 starting spots, about 20% of starters if you go 11+11+k+p+kr. So on average a team should pick 3 oline in rounds 3-5 every 5 years. We have hit bigger and more on those picks than any team. And since 2009 we have made less of those picks than any team. It just doesnt make sense. We paid major draft value to trade in a lunchpail oline that won it all for a primadonna oline that cant stay healthy and all we have to show for it are a lot of stanford college sweaters covered in little debbie snack crumbs.

Point is you say they stopped doing it when they did it this past draft. Are you saying you want every year to draft Oline with picks 3-6 despite team needs? Or are you just looking for your typical baseless reason to bash the front office?

If you’re gonna complain about drafting on the line, you’ve got much more ammunition on the Dline when they’ve had just as many if not more high rounds miss.

I don’t get whats so hard to understand. When we were most successful drafting oline we used 4 midround picks on the position in 3 years. Recently we only use one mid rounder on oline every 5 years: 4th in 23, 4th in 18, 3rd in 13. Its like when people complain we aren’t running the ball, its ridiculous to reply that they are wrong bc we had one rushing attempt in the last quarter, obviously their complaintvis that we are doing it at well below league average rates. For some reason we are great at finding oline in the mid rounds but insist on using the picks there at a far below league average rate, so when we have oline injuries the backup is not a young 4 th rounder with upside they are a journeyman or udfa we can scapegoat losses on.

I hear what you're saying. Maybe we just don't draft linemen very well. It's been quite some time since we nailed a first round lineman on offense of defense.

I don’t get whats so hard to understand. When we were most successful drafting oline we used 4 midround picks on the position in 3 years. Recently we only use one mid rounder on oline every 5 years: 4th in 23, 4th in 18, 3rd in 13. Its like when people complain we aren’t running the ball, its ridiculous to reply that they are wrong bc we had one rushing attempt in the last quarter, obviously their complaintvis that we are doing it at well below league average rates. For some reason we are great at finding oline in the mid rounds but insist on using the picks there at a far below league average rate, so when we have oline injuries the backup is not a young 4 th rounder with upside they are a journeyman or udfa we can scapegoat losses on.

That still doesn’t make sense. So, rather than draft say, Ram, you would have waited and drafted a different o lineman in the 4th round instead? Whether it be making moves like trading Graham for a pick and Unger or NOT signing Armstead to the big contract you hate to spending high draft capital on the position the team has regularly done what has needed to maintain a top 10 offensive line in the league. Even a guy like Peat. I like to hack on him as much or more than the next guy but he is by far not the worst first round draft pick we’ve made. He’s even been to a few pro bowls.

Last year was a massive injury fest on the line. That really hurt us. But as pointed out by others practically every team has line questions. Over the past 20 seasons, the Saints have handled it better than most in the league. Sorry, I just don’t buy into the premise that the key to getting a good line is drafting guys in round 3, 4, and five frequently rather than draft them in round 1 or 2. We lose out on guys like Kamara that way.

The fact that Peat was a 1st round pick a long time ago means absolutely nothing today.