Swamp_Donkey

I see a lot of people complaining about this draft and I might just be saying this for proof if Im lucky enough to be right. When looking at Will Smith, I see a Strong quick DE with experience at ILB. It is also rumored that the saints are looking hard into Jeremiah Trotter From the Redskins. So what if the Saints picked the best player in the draft with no intentions of playing him at DE? Lets see: if the saints take Derrick Rogers Jeremiah Trotter and Will Smith and implement them into the 4-3 I think this could be a fantastic bolstered defense(exception:dB's). Picking Devry Henderson is only a bad move if the front office knows nothing more than we do. But I think that is not the case. There is a reason there is a lot of hush hush about the draft with the saints. This has to be(hopefully) because they are expecting big changes. So I'm just thinking to myself that maybe I should hold judgement until I see what is behind the curtain. ;)

[Edited on 24/4/2004 by Swamp_Donkey]

no_cloning

I brought this up in the chat without believing in it myself. That might have been the idea (I compared him to Terrell Suggs, someone else did on this board too), but it won\'t work. You can
a) Play him as an OLB in obvious passing downs to rush the passer (the way Suggs is used). He would then be a luxury pick, something you shouldn\'t use with so many holes on defense.
b) Leave him at DE and have him as a backup of Howard. Even worse.
c) Play him at ILB, or rather MLB. A MLB REALLY needs experience at the position IMHO. Not a good fit.
d) Play him at OLB as an every down player. He simply does not have the speed to do that.

Maybe Haslett can shed some light on how he intends to use him (other than a negotiating tool). Right now I don\'t see how this will work out.

Boogro

Will Smith ran a 4.58 in the 40. I would say that is fast enough to play linebacker for us...Vilma and Williams ran a 4.55

BJD7642

1st off I dont think they handled the 1st day very well! I do think that we are gonna trade for a stud a CB now. I dont think Trotter is a issue any more or he would have been involved inthe trade with our 3rd, and I dont see why we would draft a MLB. Smith is about 2inches taller than D.J. Williams, about 18 lbs heavier, and about .08 seconds slower, so I do think he could play LB. But I think they are gonna trade Howard for Woodson. If they do that it would change the way I am thinking about this draft.

D_it_up

Does anyone else here see the Saints switching to a 3-4 this coming season? Please tell me I\'m not the only one.

SaintsReporter

I want to believe this draft is going to work. And, it may well work. IN THE FUTURE!!

But, it\'s always the future for our Saints. Unfortunatly we are in the PRESENT and presently we are WEAK at LINEBACKER. I do not believe Will Smith will play at linebacker. Even if he did, I have no faith that he\'s going to excel at a position he has no experience at, in a leage he has no experience in, with a coaching staff that has trouble getting players to play up to their potential.

Haslett says you can never have enough D-linemen. Well, apparently you can never have enough wide receivers either. Considering we were stacked in that area. Just like we were on the O-line last year.

And, apparantly, linebackers aren\'t really valued in the Saints defense. Oh, we bring in different ones every year, but the results stay the same.

I\'ll grade this years draft as a \'C\' with the potential to be an \'A\' in the FUTURE!!!!!!

Hopefully that future doesn\'t include me sitting through another draft with this bunch of clowns running the show!!



[Edited on 25/4/2004 by SaintsReporter]

blake6900

Will Smith ran a 4.58 in the 40. I would say that is fast enough to play linebacker for us...Vilma and Williams ran a 4.55

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner.

blake6900

But, it\'s always the future for our Saints. Unfortunatly we are in the PRESENT and presently we are WEAK at LINEBACKER.

So, SaintsReporter, which linebacker would you have drafted? Vilma and Williams were off the board. The next LB picked wasn\'t taken until the second round. Smith was a high value pick that fell into the Saints\' lap and I can\'t blame them for taking him. Although I suppose they could have drafted a second round linebacker at 18th overall. [/sarcasm off].

SaintsReporter

The Saints should and could have moved up in the draft. Or, taken Gamble at conerback. I\'m sure most of you are trying to make yourself feel better about the draft. I\'ve tried, it didn\'t work. Reality set in..........Once again.

Ya see..........I wouldn\'t have minded picking up the players we got. Hell, I even like \'em. Just one small problem though. We did not address KEY areans of NEED in free agency like linebacker and cornerback. Hold on though, it gets worse. We\'ve been hurthing at linebacker and corner for YEARS. Is moving up in the draft to fix a problem area that we\'ve had for years asking too much? Is being aggressive in free agency asking too much?

I want to be wrong. But, I ain\'t buying into it this year. NOPE. Not me!!

JKool

Billy,

I feel partly responsible for this pessimism that seems to have beset you, so I will say this: don\'t you smell a trade coming? We are stacked at DE and at WR; these are tradeable positions. We also now have an extra second rounder for next year (though I\'m still not sure why we didn\'t pick up Poole).

This draft is a C+ so far. We got an additional pick for next year, a stud DE (who may be converted to a LB, though I very much doubt it), a solid MLB, and a WR who, by all accounts, is pretty good. I think that M. Lewis is out, and given his performace last year, I say good riddance, so Henderson is in.

I think we\'re about to make a play for a good corner, bargaining either one of our proven DEs or WRs. Perhaps we can avoid serious cost by sending someone like Pathon and our additional 2nd round pick for a good corner?

"... I was beating them with my eyes the whole game..." - Aaron Brooks