Danno

OK, when I think of weaknesses in a roster I think either a key position manned by a below average player, or a unit with just too many average players and no stand-out player.
Right now, I think the only weaknesses we have are at WR, CB and LB, and maybe the O-line if we can’t resign DLP. But even without DLP we have 4 solid players along that line.

Ranking the weaknesses I come up with…
1- CB Yeah, Lewis is a stud but the jury is still out on Robinson and White. The odds are one of them steps up, but we could certainly use some more young talent behind them. Vets are expensive so I’m certain we’ll see a high draft pick spent on one.

2- WR Colston is a standout but for how much longer? He started slow last year and we really can’t have that happen again. Stills looks like a great number 2 guy. Behind those two we have nothing. Morgan is injury prone, Meachem looks to be in decline, Toon was disappointing and the rest are basically nobody’s. It’s a deep draft for WR’s so I can certainly see a top prospect picked early.

3- LB We have some good player, but just don’t have any great ones. Galette is approaching that, but both Lofton and Hawthorne look simply average to slightly above average NFL linebackers. We need speed. Reddick looks like a thumper, but he’s not that sideline to sideline guy we need. Butler looks promising but we just don’t know yet.

Honorable mention –

DT, Bunkley slowed down a bit in 2013. Is it age or did he just have a slightly sub-par season? I think he still has a couple good seasons left, but I’d love to see a mid to late pick for depth. Since we rotate a lot we don’t need that everydown DT, just one with enough talent to take 20 snaps or so.

I know we always go BPA with a little need factored in, but I'd sure love to see a WR, LB, CB as BPA in the 1st 4 rounds.

Utah_Saint

Great list. I think you summed it up very well. In my opinion, I don't think the Saints have any unit that's a liability but the ones you mentioned could use some upgrade. I think those will be the main areas of focus during the draft. I'd like to see a little OL depth as well.

saintsfan1976

Great post. Wow, no O lineman??

TheOak

There are two categories of players; needs and wants.

Any position where our best player is at least serviceable is a want, a want to get better. If we have a position where our best isn't serviceable, that is a need.

All we have are wants except for C, seeing as how we don't know that we have one until someone says it's Lolito.

Jack Vegas

My take:

WR - Love Colston and Stills. But what's behind them? It seems like if they wanted to keep Meachem they would have done it by now. That leaves Morgan, Toon and Tanner. I like all 3 of them but they're unproven.

OL - Good with the 4 starters as of now. But there is no depth whatsoever, and if Lelito moves into the starting center job you have almost nothing in terms of backups. We probably need to draft another center/guard type for the roster, and then another to stash on the PS for emergencies.

CB - I probably like this group more than most, but we seem to have a lot of injuries at corner every year. Playing 3 safeties in nickel lessens the need for corner, but I'd still love to see us draft one by the 3rd round.

OLB - I don't see inside linebackers being a need at all, but OLB is another issue. We have not re-signed Haralson and we don't know what we have in Butler. Galette is a fine pass rusher, but is inconsistent from game to game. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that we don't always use two OLB's on the field and switch to a 4-man line most of the time on pass downs anyway.


All in all, our "weak" positions really aren't that weak. We are spoiled. A lot of teams, even good teams, have much bigger problems than we do. Even our problem areas are still above average.

listill

I think Lolito will surprise everyone at Center.We can definitely use an OLB and WR and some depth at all positions.

blackangold

CB- definitely need to improve this position in the draft. My hope is we take one of the two 6'3 CBs which should be available in the 2nd round.

WR- I don't feel in a need. We have solid depth. I would love to see Tanner finally get his shot. Stills is a stud in the making and i think Toon will bounce back after realizing those NFL lights are much brighter.

Bunkley gets a bad knock around here. Let's remember he was injured almost all of 2013 and never really healed until the playoff games where he played well. Getting Bunkley back healthy will be a boost for our run D, he was rated highly as a 34 NT in previous years. That being said I don't think he is worth a 6m cap hit.

papz

My only concern is our OL depth. Our scheme on both sides of the ball allows us to mask deficiencies we have elsewhere. As long as Drew is throwing the ball and we're able to generate pressure, our weaknesses aren't that pressing and can easily be remedied through the draft. Nothing is really glaring.

Talking draft, I'd like to see 1 receiver taken, 1 LB taken, 2 OL taken, 1 CB, and whatever floats everyone else's boat.

neugey

Like some of you say, OLB. It would be great to put a athletic power-rushing OLB to put on the other side of Galette, who is more of our finesse guy. I'm thinking of an Orakpo-type guy, maybe we can get one in the draft, even if he takes a year or so to adjust and dominate.

Rugby Saint II

The first thing Payton did when he came here is he started bringing in corners. He's had a couple of good ones. He might do that again but, I imagine we see either a corner back in the first round or Payton might just get some new toys for offense and go WR or possibly center.