Stat of the Week

You think it's tough to pick a quarterback out of college football who will succeed in the NFL? I say it's harder to pick a pass-rusher. And when I talk to coaches and personnel people around the league, it's maddening to them to try to figure out if Derrick Morgan or Jason Pierre-Paul -- or maybe Sergio Kindle, if he goes to a 4-3 team and plays end -- will be productive rushing the quarterback.

A look at the nine defensive ends picked in the first two rounds of the 2009 draft shows that only one rushed the passer at a big-league level as a rookie. That was Brian Orakpo, the 13th overall pick, by Washington. He had 11 sacks and was getting some double-teams by the end of the season. Here are the other eight college defensive ends (one exception -- Connor Barwin was a jack-of-all-trades at Cincinnati) and how they fared rushing the passer as rookies:

Defensive Proficiency For 2009 Draft Picks
Player Team '09 Overall Pick Games Sacks
*Tyson Jackson Chiefs 3 16 0
Aaron Maybin Bills 11 16 0
Larry English Chargers 16 16 2
Robert Ayers Broncos 18 15 0
Everette Brown Panthers 43 15 2.5
Connor Barwin Texans 46 16 4.5
Paul Kruger Ravens 57 9 0
**Cody Brown Cardinals -- -- --
-- -- -- Total: 103 9

guess we should heed the warnings if you guys think we are goin to get a "stud" pass rusher in the first round

we have a solid pass rush with the players we have.....we desperately need someone to eat up blockers

Which is why I found this interesting as it pertains to the Saints looking at multiple veteran DE's during free agency.

We now have 4 DE's and 5 DT's on the roster. Brown, McCray and Smith could all be starters. But behind Sedrick and Hargrove, we really don't have another impact DT. (Leslie, Pressley, Heyman).

Boy, that Mt. Cody suuuure could look good next to Ellis and rotating w Hargrove

we have a solid pass rush with the players we have.....we desperately need someone to eat up blockers