Can't Miss?
 

As I think about the upcoming draft, I keep remembering what one poster here said: "We can't really mess this draft up, can we?" Here are my opinions:

Not likely. The only way I see to mess up this draft is by taking Vince Young. He's a wild card, an unproven raw talent that will be determined how good he is in a few years, once he has been given the chance to progress. However, with the history of the busts that the Saints have drafted in whom we have expected lots of improvement and progression but never seem to come around, I don't really see why anybody should think that drafting a raw talent like Vince Young would turn out any differently? The guy can run, but he doesn't have world class speed. He can throw, but his arm is weaker than Leinart's and his accuracy is much worse. By drafting him, we would be saying, "I hope that our coaches can work with him in order to refine his mechanics and turn him into a top 10 QB." I just can't see that happening. Knowing the Saints, and just being a realist, it seems like I've seen that so many times before.

With Matt Leinart, who I personally believe we should take, I think you know what you're going to get. A real intelligent guy who has ridiculous accuracy and an average-good arm. The guy can make all of the reads, and hates to lose. But the thing I love about him is his ability to win. Plain and simple, he's a winner. He might not turn out to be the second-coming of Peyton Manning, but I can guarantee you'll never see Leinart on the sidelines laughing it up, dancing, and smacking his own ass right after he threw a game-blowing interception. I see him as a low risk/ medium-to-very high reward player. He'll obviously be an upgrade over AB, and I think he'll bring a winning mentality to this team that we have lacked for a long time. In comparison to VY, Leinart has pretty much put everything in his arsenal out on the table. We've seen him win 34 straight games, make nice deep touch passes, zip the ball into tight areas when he has too, and form to the typical pocket passer. However, with Vince Young, there is so much still left to be determined. We know the guy can run, but we don't know how effective his running game will be against NFL-defenses in which DLinemen are running 4.6s and better. We know he had a good passer efficiency rating, but will he be able to have such wide open receivers in the NFL as he did in college if he's not running the option to bring defenders up? Will he be able to show the intelligence needed to learn our playbook (unlike AMAC) in one offseason, or the intelligence to read NFL defenses? Will his mechanics prvent him from adding a good passing dimension to his running game, a la Michael Vick? I'm not really sure to any of these questions. But my stance is, our team is so far in a hole right now, that we can't afford to draft a guy with "all of the talent in the world" but never seems to pan out (kind of like AB, but using a 1st round pick on him). I think with Leinart, the guy is NFL-ready, and understands the pro-style offense. There's not a lot left to discover about Leinart except maybe how strong his arm really is, and other stats like that. In my opinion, we should take Leinart, but I'm sure most of you already know that.

Trading down is also another possibility that plenty of posters on this site support. For the most part, I would be very happy with a trade down (under the right circumstances). First of all, I think if we trade down, it should be for AJ Hawk, and nobody else. The guy is a playmaker at the LB position, something we haven't had in a long time. I think with getting Hawk, we need to get at least two extra picks. In my mind, drafting a QB like Omar Jacobs who should have stayed another year and is ten times as risky as VY is just plain dumb. If we are going to get these extra picks, then use them for defense, because you can still get REALLY good defensive players in the 2nd round (especially LBs), which doesn't always seem to be the case for offensive players. I believe that guys like Kyle Williams, Laron Landry, D'Qwell Jackson, Abdul Hodge, maybe Bobby Carpenter or Thomas Howard, Cromartie, and maybe even Broderick Bunkley will still be available (especially early in the 2nd round with our 34th pick). Building up a defense is very important, because as the cliche says, and is probably correct about, defenses win championships. But this doesn't mean we should forget about the offense. Getting a smart fundamental QB who doesn't turn the ball over can not only improve our offense, but could drastically help our defense by giving them more time to rest, better average starting field position, and less drives where a stop is ABSOLUTELY required.

Overall, I think taking Leinart, or trading down for Hawk and then a few extra picks for the defense would make this draft a huge success.

In my opinion, and this is just my opinion, taking VY or Omar Jacobs (or some other second-rate QB) would be a disaster. It would be an immediate disaster in the case of taking Jacobs, because then we would still be left without a starting QB besides AB, and perhaps a long-term debacle if VY never reached his potential.

Take Leinart, the safer bet, or trade down for Hawk. Thank you for your time. Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.

RE: Can
 

I can't agree more with you, TheDuece.

RE: Can
 

to me the 2nd rate qb is lienfart. his immature way has shown after vy, took apart usc. just a classless guy period. we all have seen the player that's not the best with his talent, but end up being the best because of his desire and leadership. vince young desire and leadership along with talent is tens of thousands of miles beyond lienfart. that's something that can't be taught, and something you don't pass up on. more talent, better leadership qualities, better desire the follow me type of leader.

RE: Can
 

So if Vince Young has

then he's the guy with more talent, and Leinart is actually the guy who has used his lesser talent and strong leadership skills and desire to lead his team to 34 straight games and 1 (or 2) national championships and become the success? Is that the point you were making?

RE: Can
 

If you take Jacobs or Young or any other QB, you have to bring in a veteran. Like Cleveland did with Dilfer. Leinart may not contribute right away either

RE: Can
 

Maybe not his first season, but he definitely wouldn't take more than one. Besides, if he HAD to play, he could do it, and do it a lot better than Alex Smith did.

RE: Can
 

In the end, I believe that Lienart is the better bet over Young. I'm not saying that Young will not be a great QB, but look at the facts. How many "running quarterbacks" helped their respective teams to the playoffs this year? How many pocket passers? How many "running QB's" have won a Super Bowl? How many pocket passers?
Vince Young is essentially a "run first/throw later" QB. It would take a few years to turn him into a productive pocket passer, and as we've seen with Vick, that transition is not always a smooth one, nor is the results gauranteed. I'm not saying that Lienart is a "sure thing", but he is already molded into what has been proven time and again in the NFL to be a "more" successful QB.

RE: Can
 

me, i don't know what in the world possess you to keep referring to young as being anything like vick. young is not a run first qb, and for you to say something like that tells me you haven't watched the guy play very much. vick played 21 games at virgina tech before going pro, was never a successful passer. young is one of if not the best passer in college football this year. young didn't beat usc by running, he beat them by running and passing.

RE: Can
 

Who is Youngs mentor? Steve Mcnair

RE: Can
 

exactly, mcnair when healthy is the best qb in the nfl.

RE: Can
 

Mcnair is good, but I'd take Brady over any

RE: Can
 

Are we back to this boring topic AGAIN? What possible new information could you have to be even discussing this yet again? Was there a public workout? Has there been a coach hired? Have we cut AB?

This thread is like trying to masterbate in a sensory deprivation tank.

RE: Can
 

HAHA :airguitar:

RE: Can
 

I didn't bring it up. I only replied. I think Duece is Leinarts agent

RE: Can
 

Vince Young... wildcard... that is exactly what we need. He is a leader, leads by example, had less talent around him than Leinart and Vince lead them to a victory in one of the biggest games in college football. accuracy, you might want to check the records...

RE: Can
 

Damn Deuce, do we have a convert in our midst? That's what I'm talkin about, HAWK that is!

Leinart won't be able to contribute next year and next year maybe all we have to prove we are an NFL city or as Mayor Nagin put it, "the choclate milk city".

RE: Can
 

Actually, this thread started out exploring a wide variety of possibilities that this draft offers this franchise, but some people *cough* *cough* wanted to go right back to the same old things.

I have always liked Hawk. I think the guy is amazing, he always seems to be around the ball. However, I still think improving our 30th ranked offense will help more than improving our 14th ranked defense. Hawk is still a stud tho.

RE: Can
 

Hey Deuce, when it comes to this years draft and what the saints need to do you are right on! I'm with you, draft Leinart then a lb in the 2nd round

RE: Can
 

Well the LivnaLie, you are now a part of the smarter minority!

RE: Can
 

There ya go again Deuce thinkin your opinion is fact!

:bang:

RE: Can
 

can i be a member of the Smarter Minority Club? can i? can i? can i? please! haha

there is no such thing as a can't miss in the draft but leinart and hawk are about as close as you can get.

RE: Can
 

Hey guys we are the saints nothing is for sure

RE: Can
 

Thinking? haha cher, I know it's fact :banana:

RE: Can
 

I think there are alot more people than me not taking their meds as often as they are directed!

I posted this earlier but here it is again . . .

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/rankings/qb.html

RE: Can
 

About as far from the truth as any statement I've ever heard.

First of all we see what happens to these run first QB,s i.e. Vick (broken leg) Mcnabb ( constant rib injuries/hernia) Donte (just terrible) Mcnair( the guy can't practice half the time due to some injury). These guys are always a injury waiting to happen. Saints fans can't afford to get our hopes up at the begining of the season thinking we have found the next great thing. We need a stable QB. Leinart is as stable as the come. Calm cool and collected. Not to mention accurate and smart something Brooks lacks. Yes Young is good. But he is just not ready for a team that needs so many other patches.

As far as trading down, yeah, we could do that to build up the defense, but if the defense is good we still need to put points on the board. If we don't get a first rate QB i.e Lienart/Young then we are stuck with AB or someother backup up. That's also not what we need, either a has been QB or someone a team put some time in but didn't work out like Philip Rivers (if we trade for him it will be a terrible mistake) or a rookie that needs time to develop. We saw an "improved" defense last year but we couldn't put points up. So althought I think that the defense can use a lot of help. I think we can draft a great LB in the second round.

Leinart is the best pick because he is an NFL style QB with the patience that AB never had. He is a safe pick that can make an impact in his first season if we need him too!

RE: Can
 

OK, new to the posting hear, but have been reading these comments for years and weather its AB or AMAC Leinart or Young, the opinions just seem to be the same. If everyone has been watching the playoffs the past two years (I'll keep it to recent memory) it seems that it is the defensive side of the ball that is putting the teams in position to win games. All the high powered offensive lead by the top flight Quarterbacks have fallen to the defensive play of the winning teams. Therefore, with a palatable front four and two impact linebackers added in the draft (I happen to feel the secondary is above average, but can use depth or an upgrade at corner) this team could contend for at least a playoff birth quickly. So why miss out on the opportunity to trade down and draft two or impact players for a Quarterback with a water pistol for an arm (I am from Jersey and he reminds me of Pennington who was never strong armed to begin with) or another project QB (young is intriguing though). When with a left tackle and a right guard the offense could as it stands (Minus turnovers which are more mental than physical) be good enough to complement a formidable defense.

So long and short Draft some linebackers early and make an impact.