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Buried among the high-profile and marginal personnel decisions Coach Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints must make following Thursday night's preseason game at Tennessee are the team's draft picks, most of whom are locks to make the team.

But that doesn't mean getting drafted guarantees a spot, as quarterback Sean Canfield, a seventh-round pick, learned Tuesday.

There are five remaining 2010 draft picks on New Orleans' roster.
First-round pick Patrick Robinson appears to have found his footing after a shaky performance in the first preseason game at New England and subsequent public tongue lashings from defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

With starting cornerback Tracy Porter not practicing Tuesday, Robinson worked with the starters. On one play, he broke up a pass from quarterback Drew Brees to Marques Colston, the team's top wideout who has a half decade of experience and five inches on the newcomer from Florida State.
Robinson has even been thrust into the role of kick returner, proving Payton's maxim that players who aren't starting -- and even some who are -- must play on special teams.

On the other hand, there are clear signs Robinson is a rookie. At the end of practice Tuesday, a bunch of veterans cornered Robinson and escorted him to the far end of the indoor field, where they stripped him of his pads, doused him with a cooler of water and tied him to the goal post.
"You'd better go help your boy," a laughing Colston told second-round pick Charles Brown as he left the field.

Brown, at the time, was talking about how he has grown more comfortable with the Saints' offense. General Manager Mickey Loomis has more than once cited Brown, a 6-foot-5, 297-pound tackle from Southern California, as a player developing as the franchise had hoped.

Brown was projected as a first-round pick by many analysts before straining a hamstring during pre-draft workouts and dropping to the Saints, who snapped him up with the last pick of the second round.
"I don't want to give away all the techniques, but I've got a lot of things I'm working on, a lot of notes that coach sent me to watch out for," Brown said. "Just be fundamentally sound."

Brown was more relaxed Tuesday than he seemed earlier in camp when he acknowledged he was struggling to master New Orleans' blocking schemes, which he described as almost the opposite of those employed by the Trojans. After practice Tuesday, Brown and tackle Jermey Parnell stayed on the field, going through additional footwork drills with offensive line coach Aaron Kromer.

But while he feels more at home, Brown quickly disputed any notion he is comfortable.
"It's been good," he said of his brief professional experience. "It started off pretty shaky, but after that I started getting it a little bit. And then I started getting ahead of myself thinking I had it too well, and I started making mistakes again.

"So I'm going to be more fundamental this time. I loved it; I still love it; I just wasn't doing that good."
Also frustrated is third-round pick Jimmy Graham, the tight end out of Miami. Graham, who spent one year as a Hurricane playing football after four seasons of basketball, was considered one of the rawest players in the draft and one with perhaps the most upside.

He showed flashes of that early in training camp, but he was then sidelined by a high-ankle sprain against the Patriots. He returned to practice Monday, and on Tuesday he got open deep and gathered in a pass from Patrick Ramsey that would have been a touchdown.

Graham declined to speak after practice, citing a looming meeting. He remains a question mark heading into Thursday night's game, albeit one the coaching staff believes will eventually provide extremely satisfying answers.
The picture is somewhat cloudier for the two remaining draft picks, former LSU defensive tackle Al Woods, whom the Saints chose in the fourth round, and former Boston College center Matt Tennant, who was taken in Round 5.
Tennant isn't in danger of being cut. He also plays guard and has established himself as a valuable backup.

Woods is widely seen as a player on the bubble. Loomis testily dismissed questions on draft day about whether Woods had lived up to his potential at LSU, but he remains a player whose number is rarely called.
Still, while he feels confident he has performed well, he is under no illusion being a draft pick provides him more of a cushion than that enjoyed by several others among the 13 defensive linemen on New Orleans' roster. That constantly precarious position of unproven rookies in the NFL was underscored, Woods said, when the Saints went out and signed 11-year veteran Kendrick Clancy this week.

"Step it up and bring your A game," Woods said when asked what sort of message he was taking into the matchup against the Titans.

st thomas

just do it man.

DRsaints

Pretty nice read.

st thomas

it puts it in black and white. take care of your bussiness or go home.

breesfan27

I'm looking forward to seeing what the rookies can do in this final preseason game. This is their time to shine. Put up or shut up.

I also found it mildly humorous that they tied Robinson to the goalpost! Gotta love those rookie hazings!

Saint_LB

I don't find it humorous at all...I find it childish and irresponsible...and in some way and indication that someone's ego needs stroking. But here is the question.

If Robinson gets pneumonia and dies as a result of the hazing, do the parties involved get prosecuted for 2nd degree murder?

SmashMouth

second degree hazing maybe?

Saint_LB

I hate it that grown men feel the need to do these types of things. If something like this happened in the "real" world, someone would have to answer not only to his superiors but possibly even the law. Why do pro athletes get a pass...and why do they feel the need to do it? I never have been able to understand why they look the other way...but then when someone gets hurt...everybody is up in arms...and you know what I'm talking about. Wasn't it Cam Cleeland, or something like that, who got hit with a bag full of coins and there was a big stink about it? I just don't understand.

Whether you think you can or think you can't...you're right!

lynwood

It's called tradition and it was not physical other than being carried or escorted. I doubt that anything that could potentally cause injury would be allowed. Doused with cooler water and tied to a goal post...whooopie doo. Now if it was a beating or binge drinking or some type of extreme deal i'd say that would not in anyones interest. Other than that it's all fun and games.

saintsfan1976

I don't know man, someone should definitely be prosecuted for Tebow's haircut!