a hobo's guide to the draft
 

i am a long time lurker and wanted to make the most of my first post... i had previously posted this on another board and wanted to see what kind of response everyone here would have if it went down like this... so here goes

In reading around on several boards there are esentially 3 schools of thought going into the draft as far as the saints go - and I intend on poking holes in all of them....

So for your viewing pleasure - in no particular order - "the theories" .....

A. The Saints will pick a corner (because our db's suck - true). I don't entirely disagree - our db's do suck as a collective unit and that sucking sound got even louder when our best corner Mckenzie went down - and folks you just don't get faster after A. age 30 or B. tearing your ACL and he has crossed both bridges.

My main objection to picking a CB at #10???? Which one are you going to pick??? Even the "Experts" can't agree which one is the "top cb".

So in no particular order you have the following:

Leodis McKelvin, Mike Jenkins, DRC, Aqib Talib, Brandon Flowers, Reggie Smith, Tracy Porter, Patrick Lee, Chevis Jackson, and Antoine Cason

My point is that more than one of these guys will be available in the 2nd round and none of them is guaranteed to be an all pro - in fact the "top 3 corners" as the experts call them (McKelvin, Jenkins, and DRC) all played against weaker competition than the other corners on that list faced weekly, and mostly earned their rep on good senior bowls and combine numbers.

At pick #10 you need an instant starter and their are no guarantees at CB.

B. We will draft Rivers at #10. Maybe but is he really THAT much better than Mayo? And the Saints have already picked up Vilma and Morgan at the LB position. We are much thinner at other areas at this point than LB.

C. We will get Ellis or Dorsey if they slide..... yeah and I will find 12 hot naked models playing in my pool when I get home tonight... just won't happen - if it does - go buy a lottery ticket.

D. We trade up to get Ellis or Dorsey - I just don't see how we could outside of trading picks with someone ahead of us and giving up at least a 3rd and that just would be too big of a loss since we have several holes to fill

so my own theory goes something like the following:

Also: Outside of Reggie Bush name all of Sean Peyton's draft picks that you nailed? Let me guess you figured we were picking up a WR last year...

Peyton in his two drafts so far have shown that he is willing to put needs aside to pick up the best player available and that player at pick number #10 will be..........


Rashard Mendenhall - how great did our offense work with that 1-2 punch two years ago


and not because I hate Bush (I love reggie) or Deuce (one of my favorite players ever), but because you can never have enough big time RB's to tote the rock (see last year)- and he is the safest choice at #10, a corner will still be available at #40 and we can pick up a DT or LB in the later rounds.

my alternative theory is much easier on the mind

Trade down picking up a late first and a second taking the following:

CB with first (jenkins may still be around)
DT with second (Laws)
LB with recieved second (Mayo)

just the opinion of a hobo

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

First welcome to the site... secondly there are quite of few folks that feel Mendenhall is the right pick for us. I prefer for us not to select a back so high because of the quality of depth in the draft... but I would understand why we wouldn't pass on a player of his talent.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

I firmly believe at the 10th spot we have LOTS of options... we simply can go anywhere. Trade the pick draft any number of players. I don't see us going CB though. I see us getting them help and thats by getting a pass rush going first and foremost. That deson't rule out going offense at all.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

Hey Hobo, the name is hilarious by the way. I was also lurker on this site for a while. I have another school of thought for you. It has actually upset a few posters ont this site (well mostly just one person). I suggested the idea of drafting Ryan Clady the OT from Boise State with at the 10 spot. My reasoning being that we only have Stinchcomb for one more year, and he hasn't been the best OT. This would also allow us to possibly trade Stinch for some extra draft picks. I think he would at best warrant a 4th rounder, which would be better than cutting ties with him when his contract expires after the year. I don't necessarily think this would be the best pick I just have suggested it as something I could see Payton doing. And if you are worried about drafting a guarantee, 1st round offensive linemen probably have some of the best track records.

Also Mayo is projected to be drafted in the middle of teh first round. I'm pretty sure that he won't be available in the 2nd. Xavier Adibi or Curtis Lofton will be. Dan Connor also has an oustside chance of falling.

As far as Laws goes, I think that would be a huge mistake. For one I feel there will be better DTs available than Laws who I am not very high on. Also Laws is a smaller style DT and I feel our need is more for a run stopper to replace Hollis who is not getting any younger.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

well, i said this in another thread.. for us to pick up a second round pick without giving up anything else besides our first we would have to trade down to about 18-20... that being said..

IF that were to happen, we would probably still have a choice of one of the corners, Keith Rivers will likely be gone, and im almost certian that mendenhal will be gone, but i would rather see us try and trade down again, maybe to a team picking at the top of the 2nd and see us pick up a first rounder next year... this draft is pretty top heavy and after the elite players, the rest are all graded out about the same till about the top of the 2nd... there will be alot of good players left at the end of the first and im betting that there will be quite a few teams looking to move up...

one other thing... i doubt mayo lasts till the 2nd.. his stock is rising fast due to the lack of solid LBs and some team will be gambling that he will be as good as his workout #s.. im guessing he will go somewhere around 24-30...

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

I agree with you hobo on corners. Alot of times corners don't start right away and we need to take a player who will start right away. Also cajunasian61 that was a great point about o-lineman. O-lineman are probably the safest picks in any draft. They're usually able to come in and start right away and they usually have longer careers. I've thought some about Clady and it would make sense. He would be a solid value pick and I think he would be an upgrade over Stinch. Clady and Brown could form the best tackle tandem in football for years. But in the end I feel like we have more pressing needs on D.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

Even though I want the Saints to go defense, drafting Mendenhall may be a very sound decision. My personal take is to roll with the guys already on the roster, but I do realize the lack of running game killed the Saints last season. The chances of Deuce making a full comeback really look bad, the Saints will need that every down guy. The great thing about all of this is we only have about another month to wait.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

The idea of drafting Clady is getting to be more and more sensible to me. Like thesaintsfan said, the thought of Clady, Brown, Evans, and a guy who I think is very underrated, Goodwin, would plow a hole for any NFL running back. That way, even if Deuce doesn't make it back 100%, we'll still have a good running game.
Our OL was/is overrated if you ask me. The sack stat is disguised by the fact that Brees was getting rid of the ball way too soon to keep from getting sacked. Our running game was really horrible last year as well. Notice though, the games when money man Faine was injured, we had noticeably better rushing attacks.
All this said, at 10, there really isn't a horrible pick, unless we spent it on a QB, WR, or TE, as long as the player we pick is the best available.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

Defense defense defense we draft defense in the first 3 rounds forget about Clady and Cedric Benson I mean Mendenhall. I dont get we had IMO one of the worst defenses in NFL history and everybody wants to draft offense.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

Clady is a bit of a mystery pick right now. The senior bowl, combine and pro days have not answered a lot of questions about him. Would I be upset seeing him at LT? No. Brown back to RT is what I have been preaching. But Clady does come with some reservation about him. Now Oath at RT is a safer pick but does not seem to fit the bill. He is a mauler. Maybe Brown and/or Stinch could be traded? Remember Boba said the saints are happy with OTs we have drafted.

RB? What the heck but again alot of questions here

WLB needs to be addressed. Rivers at 10? he is probably the least athletic LB to be rated #1 in the past few years. He is solid but nothing fantastic.

CB is much the same. As is WR.

I am hoping for a move with Chicago seeing CB, WR and OL is of big need.
Philli would be nice. Litto and pick 19 for 10. OL, WR and well CB also.

Heck I would not mind trading down to the bottom of the first from there and getting additional picks, 2nd or 3rd. That is how unthrilled I am with this group in round 1 of the draft.

Reggie Smith or Antoine Carson or Dan Conners and additional picks in 2 and 3 sit a lot better with me

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

Welcome HOBO - I've been firm in thinking Mike Jenkins will be a Saint, but after all of the offseason moves it looks like the front office has set itself up to pick the BPA. And I'm fine with us filling almost any position in the first. I just hope our front seven gets better this year.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

Hobo... I came to the realization that Payton couldn't resist furthering his own offensive coaching genius status with the replacement of the offenses biggest dilema this year, Duece. (The reason for my avatar.)

Drafting Mendenhall makes a ton of sense for obvious reasons. I heard Payton on the radio last night and it seems that he may be leaning that way.

THINK ABOUT THIS FANS
Do we really don't have a TRUE RB right now on the roster that if you were coach Payton, you'd bet the season on or maybe your coaching carreer.

Deuce... No
Stecker... No
Bush... Not the best use of him
Thomas... Maybe

Ok so how's this not a problem again?
Look Deuce isn't going to be the same after 2 knee injuries. Too many of you are betting that Pierre Thomas is going to be the work horse back, but can he hold up? What happens if he gets injured? Do you want to see Stecker? This can happen in week 1 and ruin the season or in week 10 right in the middle of the playoff race.

PLEASE REALIZE THAT AFTER QB... RB IS THE NEXT MOST IMPORTANT POSITION ON THE TEAM. IT IS A TOUGH AND BRUTAL POSITION TO PLAY. YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH.

We have one of the leagues top rated offensed and by drafting Mendenhall, it secures the coaches legend.

So I agree with you. The only pick worthy of a #10 may be Mendenhall.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

we are just being realistic... you cant expect any rookie to just come in and turn your whole team around.. every once in a while, a team will get lucky and find a player who can just play with the big boys.. so to speak..

if you just focus on one aspect of the team (D), then you forget all about the other (O) and you might miss some really great players...

tell me this... say we take one of the corners or LB Keith Rivers and pass on Mendenhal.. then, deuce gets hurt again.. we will be back in the same predicament we were in last year... no true pound the ball RB and essentially 3 scat backs.. would u really want that?

ya know, there is a reason that there is no solid order of the corners in this draft.. they are all essentially about the same talent-wise... if we compared the corners in this years draft to previous years.. i think these corners would be late first round- early 2nd round prospects... but they are all getting pushed up in value b/c this is a weak year for TOP CB talent.. do i see any of these guys becoming superstar corners.. not really.. maybe DRC but only b/c he has the freakish numbers and is relatively unknown... all the others, i think will be decent players but nothing special... with a few guys probably moving to safety

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

Can anybody tell me what these two players have in common?

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/footbal...ayers/3591.jpg

http://images.sportsnetwork.com/foot...rge_eddie8.jpg

Sorry if I made Buddy D. roll over. RIP Buddy!

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

i believe our entire draft will be put in perspective as soon as the saints make a choice wether they will keep deuce.

if we let him go - no brainer we need a bruiser

if we keep him - he may just be trade bait, but it would cloud up the issue

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

We drafted Alex Molden over Eddie George way back when we thought we had a need at CB, when George was definitely the BPA, and he proved it. Molden on the other hand was an embarrassment. I always called him "Hands of Stone Molden." That guy couldn't catch a cold. He was funny to watch on other teams though. Thanks for reminding me.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

What was Jim Mora Sr thinking?
The reason we drafted Molden over George was to apease JL Mora and to make him look good/further his career.

Do you think Bum would have ever had done it?
And Bum was a defensive coach. Three yards in a pile of black rubber balls.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

They really went after some corner help that year, don't forget we came back and picked Je'Rod Cherry in the second! Alex Molden and Je'Rod Cherry back to back, WTF. That goes to show how risky it is picking CBs. For example, none of this year's CB prospects are as good of a prospect as Molden was but they would be hard pressed to suck as bad as he did.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

Wow, what a painful memory. Molden instead of George. I don't think it would have made much difference for Mora, but I think if Ditka had George he would have probably been the Saints coach for a good 8-10 years. George represented exactly the type of football Ditka loves, a guy who can pound it 30 times a game. That would have put a nice mask on the messy QB situation during that time. Gee, only if...

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

I actual will goes as far as saying Mora really did not care anymore. He had a mental break down.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

A man that needs no introduction.

Re: a hobo's guide to the draft
 

I am telling you he melted down. He has to be on meds now. LOL