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http://www.thetowntalk.com/html/3929...A3F8F80F.shtml



Bob Tompkins / Staff Reporter/Columnist
Posted on May 14, 2003
The New Orleans Saints' draft has had a few weeks to settle in, but it isn't settling so easily.

The Saints went into the draft like a guy who heads to a seafood restaurant but changes his mind on the way, lured by an advertisement for steaks. Or like the kid who goes to the store to get bread and milk for his family and comes home with doughnuts and coffee.

Before the draft, the Saints identified middle linebacker, safety and cornerback as the positions where they had their top needs. Yet, on draft day, they selected two defensive linemen, two offensive linemen one outside linebacker and two wide receivers.

Naturally, the Saints claim to be tickled with their selections and have convinced some analysts they accomplished their "primary goal" by trading into the No. 6 spot in the first round to get tackle Johnathan Sullivan of Georgia, the No. 2-rated defensive lineman on their board.

This isn't to downgrade Sullivan at all, but what happened to the top need at middle linebacker or defensive back?

Oh, there will be others who help at those positions, we understand. The addition of Sullivan gives the Saints one of the more athletic defensive lines in the NFL with ends Charles Grant and Darren Howard. And, provisionally, Grady Jackson at the other tackle, if he trims down, gets in better shape and improves his attitude.

That reminds us that just last October the Saints were singing praises for their "Heavy Lunch Bunch" defensive line with Jackson (340 pounds), Norman Hand (330) and Martin Chase (320). Those guys, at the time, gave the Saints unrelenting pass pressure and a formidable wall to defend against the run.

Yet, that Lunch Bunch gave the Saints relenting pass pressure and a Wailing Wall to defend against the run during the second consecutive late-season fold for the team.

OK, so the temptation to grab an available prize at defensive line might've been too much to pass up.

Yet, what about middle linebacker? The Saints passed on a chance to select Bradie James of LSU at that position, apparently believing they were in decent shape there with Orlando Ruff, formerly of the San Diego Chargers. Ruff, picked up by the Saints in March, was beat out in San Diego last season by veteran Donnie Edwards.

With Charlie Clemons gone at middle linebacker and Sammy Knight gone at strong safety, the Saints needed some big-time players as replacements there to at least even the scales.

Now, they've got Ruff as the starting middle linebacker on the depth chart and second-year pro Mel Mitchell as the projected starter at strong safety. Mitchell is good and figures to become even better, but Knight was one of the premier strong safeties in the league. As such, he was too expensive for the Saints, too.

The Saints appear to be in fine shape at one cornerback with Dale Carter as the starter, but Ashley Ambrose as the other starter? It's a coin flip how that could develop.

The Saints did pick up free safety Tebucky Jones before the draft in a trade with New England, and Jones, formerly designated as a "franchise player" at New England, will help if he lives up to his billing.

Even after getting Jones, though, the Saints still considered cornerback one of their priority positions of need in the draft.

The Saints, by all accounts, drafted some talented players, but if the measure of success in a draft is filling one's needs, the Saints came up short.