hagan714

solid B. the CB is the only thing keeping me from a B+ or A. still do not like the trade. Espically after baltimores trade. but i am sure the picks are in the position they want them.

BlueDevil1978

B-
I didn't like the trade either - there still had some top 50 talent still on the board, including Buster Davis and McCauley.
They could have used a young DT . . . Tank comes to mind.
Usama at CB may have been a reach - could have gotten him on day 2 (probably not on any other team's boards)
Alleman - the guy can bench 465 pounds. You gotta like that.

ScottF

I agree with the 'B'---can't play "what if?" all day

Young instead of McCauley and Davis is a head-scratcher, but he does look like a character-guy, and we won't need much more than special teams and dime out of him this year


Plus, our FA grade is a solid A, so we can afford to work on depth

ScottyRo

I feel good about it and excited. Excited because of last year's draft. They seem to be going after special types of players. How that's going to work out is anyone's guess, but I'll trust the FO this year.

I'll give it a C+ for now because the draft didn't address team needs so much even though each pick may likely help as much as any that would have been picked at a position of need.

o1higuy

This draft has definitely not been predictable. I would give it a C with B potential. Not sure who the CB is but it sounds like a decent pick from what I have read. For now I trust Payton until he proves otherwise. It was hard to get pumped for this draft simply due to the overwhelming mediocrity across the board. Other than the first 8 or 10 players, it's not very deep. Some of the guys that are rated and taken so high would have gone even later in past drafts. I think the real value is going to be tomorrow.

O1higuy

tractorsrus82

C- not picking Buster over Usama was a huge mistake. In my opinion, Buster was the best linebacker in the draft. we'll be hearing his name alot next year I promise. (Buster Davis aka headhunter)

NarwhalHunter

I'm going to give it a nice B+. At first, I didn't like the Meachem pick, but the more I thought about it the more I dug it. He seems to have the best balance of hands, size, speed, and intangibles this side of Calvin Johnson. I seriously thought he would have been long gone at 27, and while I still would have rather seen us take Puz, he was really the BPA and we know how the front office doesn't deviate from their board. Thinking of those three receiver sets with Meachem, Colston and Henderson, with Reggie and Deuce in the backfield has got to absolutely terrify defenses. You almost always have to line up in a dime package to defend against that, which means a quick audible to Deuce up the gut or a slant to the poor sap that has to cover Reggie in the slot or flat if there isn't anything else open. Payton's probably drawing up plays as we speak. Good pick.

I think the trade down was still good value, because they probably had Young targeted from the get-go and knew they could get him and take the Lions for an extra pick. He was a sleeper I was keeping an eye on, and lo and behold, we got him. He combines all the measurables you could want along with being a four year starter... can't get much better than that, and since David is now in the mix, this lets him sit back in the nickel or dime role and learn, eventually taking over. Great pick.

Didn't know much about Alleman until I read up on him, but he seems to be a great, strong athlete with raw technique. We needed some youth on the interior of the o-line, and he'll have time to sit back and learn with the intention of taking over for Nesbit in a year or two. Looks like we have another young hoss. Solid pick.

We can get a fat boy DT to clog the run lanes at a later point in the draft, so I'm not terribly worried about that. Next round I hope they go after a project linebacker like DeOssie or Sartz who has all the physical tools and can just sit and learn, play some special teams and get thrown in the rotation next year ready to eat glass and spit nails. Those two fourths and two fifths should go a long way for building depth if the draft goes anything like it did last year. WHO DAT!

nola_swammi

I give it a grade of C however with the job they did last year I have to give them a benefit of a doubt B-. I hate that Houston will be lining up against Meachem. I don't know about what you'll think of that highlight but Houston man handled Meachem. I like that corner Young, might be a reach but looking at how players were leaving the board its hard to say. Marcus McCauley might be taller but Young is smarter faster & a vertical that is higher than anyone in the draft (43)

FrenzyFan

After the outcome of last years draft (before the season, I graded that one very average), how can I doubt?

Overall, I grade it a B. Everything negative I read about these picks are very coachable things. The upside on all three of them seems very high. Since I happen to thing that Coach P is an excellent teacher, I can only believe these first day picks will blossom for us.

AjunCajun

I have done an exhaustive computer program inputting every scouting report from every site I could find and after weighing all the 116 reports, I came up with my top 264 players in the draft. Meacham's overall ranking was 19, which made him the second highest reciever in the draft. His highest ranking was by a scouting service was 14, his lowest was 31. His mean ranking was 19.74. When the Saints picked, he was the highest rated player on the board. He was a +7.26 value at his selection point at 27. That is so good.

Usama Young was the fastest moving player on the board for the last several weeks. He started at being ranked 200th, but by draft day, had moved to the a mean of 52.45. He was ranked as high as 42 and as low as 200. The 200, however was a ranking that never changed rankings after it made changes from the combines. NFL network proclaimed this pick as the steal of the third round. His pick at 66 is a +13.55, the third highest in the draft after the Quinn Pick, which was a +15.78 and the Houston Pick, which was +14.28.

Andy Alleman has been a consistent proformer, neither raising or failing on most of the services. His ranking has been been between 56 and 72 and was considered a 2-3 guy by every service. His mean was 68.14. His pick at 88 makes his a +9.86. He was the fourth highest rated guard in the draft on 72.43% of the services I surveyed. By the way, he was one of the workout freaks on NFL network.

Without much fanfare, the Saints compiled a +31.40, with there first three picks with an extra pick in the fifth round, that to me is a very good draft. While I don't think wr was their most pressing need. I can't disagree with the best player available senario. Was Reggie Bush a need when we had Deuce? Was Deuce a need when we had Ricky Williams? N0! I personally see the wisdom of their first pick. Marcus has not proven he can maintain his production and it helped him early when Joe took most of the attention. Now, Marcus will have all the attention. Let's face it, we have to maintain our offensive production.

In value the Saints got a mid first round pick in the late first round, a mid second round pick in the early third round and a late second round pick in the late third round. That is value in anyone's book.