Danno

I don't know what to say.
I'd give this draft a D+, so far, with little chance of improvement.
Wil lSmith, although I love the guy as a DE, Wilfork was there.
Why not Wilfork? We need him more than a DE. And I had him as more of an impact player than Smith.

2nd round.
OK, I can kinda justify the Smith pick after 4 beers, he was their BAP, FINE!. All my favorites were gone so I swallow that pill. Its OK, I'll just pick up the best LB or CB left. RIGHT?
We have a chance to snatch Donterrious Thomas, who I love, and we trade it away for a 5th, and select Devery Henderson?

Then we pick Watson? We have Ruff and Grant, supposedly the answer at MLB... and we draft Watson? I don't get it. I'm on my 7th beer at this point so maybe I'm a bit altered right now. Maybe I'll wake up sober and it'll all come into focus.

3rd Round...
We trade it for a 2005 2nd? OK, I'm at Hooters and I'm officially sloppy drunk now, but this makes absolutely no sense to me. Does Haz have some guarantee about coming back next year? My football world was just given the equivelant of a pointy boot kick in the nuts.

I'm going to bed and hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow with a different outlook. But even the most optimistic fan will have a hard time selling me this.

Will someone throw me a f'cking bone here? Is there a trade in the works I don't know about?

SaintsReporter

I\'m an optimist too Danno and I\'m at a loss on this draft. I think I could be optimistic, but when\'s the last time Haslett has done something to make you believe in him? Been a while!!

lumm0x

I thought the trading of the 3rd round pick for a switch up in the 5th and a 2nd next year was the best move they made all day. Not screwing up a pick and giving better position for the person who gets to run the draft next year.

Will Smith was great value, but you don\'t buy a 3rd car in a 2 person household. Henderson??? How many recievers do we need? Oh, he can return punts and kicks!! Did Lewis take the Budwiser job back? Watson was a nice selection, but today was Saturday. He was a mid-4th rounder. Big reach to fill a need there. I could have lived with this one if the first 2nd rounder was D. Thomas.

whowatches

I was really looking forward to this draft because I thought we had narrowed down our needs as a team and could make a move to fill those holes.

I\'m over the first round pick. Best available player? Okay, sure. No one wanted to trade with us? Really? Loomis said he wasn\'t offered value? Okay. I like Smith, so I can live with this one.

What kills me is the handling of round two. Why why why why could we not have taken D.Thomas!?!?!?!? If we\'d have stood pat, we could\'ve had him and maybe Henderson or Colbert (who is at least as talented as Devery). Or... for the love of Pete... we could\'ve used a pick on a CORNERBACK!! Oh... wait... we traded for Jason Craft. My bad. Oh and we picked up a late fourth round linebacker in the second. Cool. Middle linebacker, you say? Great. Guess that means we won\'t pick Rod Davis in the third. Oh wait... we don\'t have a third anymore. Maybe in the fourth? Oh yeah... it\'s almost ten am on Sunday, my hangover\'s wearing off, and I need another drink.

subguy

Danno.........I am still rolling on the floor clutching my privates after YOUR pointy toed kick in the nads. I know when BandB and I talked I was like ...Wilfork ......he was there no fuss no muss.........a good core line(not ends) can cut a lot of slack on a weaker LB corp. It seems we enjoy drafting WR after last years \"I think I will take a felon\" WR draft pick and this year obviously they feel there is a need. The deal with the Redskins is wacky also. I think the war room was the bong room. Put down the bong and dont spill the water on the carpet. Where is Horn going .......anywhere? Maybe because Stallworth has not been healthy? I hope Pathon is not on the block.....I think he is way underrated. Also, i cant see clearly through the bong smoke, but have we filled our on going need for DB\'s???? :casstet:

[Edited on 25/4/2004 by subguy]

Don't want em to get your goat don't show em where it's hid.

iceshack149

None of us knows how Craft will turn out. He may be the answer to the corner position. And Haslet also said that he would use Tebucky at corner with his speed and athleticism.
I may be the only one here that says this but so far, I\'m satisfied with this draft.

How will Smith be used? He\'s a physical specimen. I\'m sure that Pease had alot to do with this pick and and is licking his chops at the possibilities.

Henderson may have been a reach- but was he? He\'s extremely fast (Haslet\'s favorite attribute), has soft hands and at the rate that the receivers were going off the board I think that the Saints wanted to get one. The bonus is that he\'s a local boy.

All that I know about Watson is what I\'ve read since yesterday. Sounds alot like Cie Grant from last year. Somewhat under the radar and not considered on most mock draft boards. And like Cie, there seems to be alot of potential with this guy.

"...it's good to have friends, no matter where they are."--JOESAM2002

no_cloning

D+ so far.
When the question \"Who is the worst player the saints could pick?\" was asked here, I answered \"Will Smith\". Look who they took.
So I\'m not happy with that pick, no wait, I\'m pissed. And you can all point out how he may be used and that he was BAP, until I see him do something in a game I will not be happy with the pick.

However, what went wrong in the first round?
Some say \"We had a huge need at CB and they didn\'t address that\". Well, how could they? Atlanta threw us a mean curveball when they selected Hall. From then on it was rather unlikely Robinson would fall to us. So, do you now trade up to get him? Jacksonville and Houston both would have asked for more than one of our second round picks. Anything more would be overpaying for Robinson. Houston took him at #10, so that was that. Taking Gamble at #18 would have been a HUGE reach. Ask yourself if he is better than Thomas or Craft. I don\'t think so. He may be eventually, but not this season. I\'m glad we didn\'t take him. Or any other CB after Hall and Robinson (at least in the first round).
What about LBs? Vilma to the Jets was a gimme, Williams to the Broncos was possible, but with Wilfork still on the board they could have gone that way too. Should the Saints have tried to trade up to get Williams? In hindsight, the answer is yes. After those 2 were gone, no LB was worthy of the #18.
Now the Saints pick and surprisingly Udeze, Smith and Wilfork are still there. They cannot pick Udeze because apparently the shoulder injury is apparently more serious - but the Saints wouldn\'t know as they brought in NOONE for a medical examination so their plans wouldn\'t be too obvious (stupid, stupid, stupid, noone cares about your plans at #18). So you take Wilfork as a true 2 gap DT and leave Sullivan at the 3 technique spot together with Young. This would help out your crappy linebacker corps. But you don\'t do that when you are the New Orleans Saints.
Second pick.
It comes down to the evaluation of what you have. Haslett/Loomis: \"Our linebackers aren\'t that bad.\" Me: \"Oh yes, they are.\"
Henderson isn\'t a bad pick, especially if he can take over as the primary kick/punt returner. He\'s the + in D+.

Third pick.
Honestly, don\'t know much about the guy. Consensus seems to be that he is a reach. Doesn\'t bump up the grade any higher.

Trading the 3rd rounder.
The Saints got fair value, nothing more. Loomis said there was noone on the board they loved, so when Washington called they made the deal. Okay with me.

Biggest problem I have with this draft: How will it make us more competitive this year? Yes, it will make it less likely that we slip to 4-12 in 2005, but it just feels wrong. It feels like a team and FO that doesn\'t want to take any risks, picks up role players at a good price and is never really good or really bad.