TheDeuce

Super Bowl title and another trip to the NFC Championship game with those players... nuff said.

strato

You trying to steal my thunder?...lol...i agree....thats my logic. the draft is a crapshoot and im rolliin 7s

FinSaint

I think overall those are some solid 1st rounders, because the odds are that a team can't strike oil with all of their 1st round picks. While I agree that the first two on your list were on the weak side - some of the more recent ones have been quite good if you compare them to other draft picks in the same year and position (since it seems that the Saints tend to draft based on a need).

And I disagree that the Saints might have been able to trade down and get Robinson, for example, in the 2nd round, because he was by far the best CB in that year's draft - which is a position that the Saints desperately needed to strengthen.

While there's a huge gamble involved with the 1st round picks - largely because of the hype, expectations, and money involved - it wouldn't be smart for the Saints to start trading away their high picks for double the lower ones simply because a team like the Patriots have been somewhat successful with that philosophy (they have busts too). 1st round picks get the fans excited for the new season, sell merchandise, and tickets - and most importantly - provide the ammunition for threads like these where fans can debate the success rate of their team's scouting.

Talking about the Saints' scouting... it would be interesting to know who is responsible for the success they have had with the UDFAs, especially from the small schools like Tiffan, because that to me is more impressive than picking out who performs the best in the combines. Is the person responsible for that Ryan Pace, Rick Reiprish, or someone else on the scouting staff? Or is that something that was signaled as a desired direction of evolution from the upstairs? IDK, but I for one would be interested in finding out.

"I'm not bashing people, I'm bashing their opinions because in my opinion their opinion is wrong" - Danno

Boutte

Pat Robinson is going to be a Probowl level CB. You can see the talent that made him a 1st rounder. CB is one of the hardest positions in the league and the kid looks good to me. Good pick

Cam Jordan will be a very good player for us in the years to come. He's not great but he I think it was a good pick. We still need a big time pass rusher and he ain't it. Still, good pick.

Ingram continues to improve and I think he'll become another tool in SP bag of tricks but I don't know if he'll live up to the price we paid for him. It's too early to say though.

Jenkins is a good safety. He's already upper tier but his inability to catch will keep him from ever being an All Pro caliber player. Definitely a good pick.

Sed Ellis is a good DL. It's kind of borderline but I'd still say it was a good pick. The good thing is that DTs seem to get better as they mature so I'm hoping this grade will improve.

Robert Meachem? Meh. Not a bust but not a good 1st round pick.

I'm not even going to get into the Bush pick.

Overall good, not excellent or great.

Papa Voodoo

I think the Miami game was where we set the tone to win the SB. Bush had one of the most amazing TDs in history in that game.

Belair57

2011 Pick 28 Mark Ingram, Jr., RB Alabama

"When you consider the premium on draft picks after the changes in the CBA, and the cache given to New England to get him; the low YPC and failed conversions on short yardage situations, he's disappointing and underwhelming; nothing like what Saints Nation was sold on...Jury asks to be excused as their Grandma is sick; you were supposed to be the Rookie Offensive Player of the Year, not the guy from Auburn..."

our O line SUCKS CAAACK. blame it on them.

Danno

A 2nd rounder is now a cache of picks? Wow.

He's averaging 3.5 yards per carry on short yardage, and only failed on one 4th down conversion so far (stuffed behind the LOS vs Green Bay).

His YPC needs to improve, and I think it will, but the rest is quite dubious.

He hasn't looked great yet, but he certainly hasn't looked bad either.

TheDeuce

I actually agree with your last comment. A lot of a running back's success is dependent on the play of the offensive line, and to be frank, ours has been underwhelming this season. They are not getting a good push, and that makes it hard for any back to find space. I think Ingram runs hard and has made some good plays... but he's sharing carries with two other guys, plays in a pass happy offense, and is running behind an underachieving OL.

Also, remember that these Saints teams have been, for the most part, drafting in the later part of the first round because we've been a good team. Rookies often don't step into winning teams and start... or at least it's less common. The fact that these young cats got drafted into a playoff team one-year removed from a Super Bowl win, and are contributing, is impressive. It's a little different than going to the Jaguars or Seahawks and contributing.

saintfan

I agree 1000%. There ARE exceptions of course. Barry Sanders would have been (and was) good almost in spite of the O-Line at times, but generally speaking, a back will go as the line goes. We have some damn good RBs and an underachieving O-Line.

homerj07

Hmm - we hjave not had a great history of 1st round picks. I can bring up Wicky WIlliams & Vaughn DUnbar (eck)