Grade Our Draft!
 

Vote, then 'splain your response.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

I think we did a fantastic job, got need positions and some worthy projects. Color me happy!

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

B+

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

A
B+

WTF

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

1 - Brandin Cooks - Very explosive player and fills a need. Happy with this trade up and pick.
B+

2 - Stanley Jean-Baptiste - 6'2 cornerback with good athleticism, kinda raw. I hope he sticks to Champ Bailey like glue and learns everything he can from him, because SJB has legit upside.
A

4 - Khairi Fortt - Good speed and range, good in coverage. If not for injury and durability issues, he might have been picked a couple rounds higher than 4.
B

5 - Vinnie Sunseri - We have fantastic depth at FS, but we really don't at SS. Roman Harper was our safety when Vaccaro went down, and we let Harper go. This pick had to happen from a depth standpoint.
C

5 - Ronald Powell - Very high upside guy with injury issues. Could pay off big time in a couple years..
B

6 - Tavon Rooks - Don't know anything about him at all, but that doesn't mean it's a bad pick. I trust this staff completely, especially when it comes to drafting OL. Jermon Bushrod, Jahri Evans, Carl Nicks, and Zach Strief were all drafted in late rounds. Who knows, this kid could join that list.
C

Overall, a B from me. I'm happy with it.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Cooks is a dynamic playmaker that helps alleviate the loss of Moore/Sproles. SJP was a solid pick. You can do a lot worse than draft a corner that people continue to compare to Richard Sherman. Don't really know too much about Fortt or Rooks so I'll refrain from passing judgement. While Powell is an underachiever, I really like the upside he provides in the bottom of the 5th round. If we can develop his raw talent, he has star ability... big if though. Low risk high reward. Sunseri provides depth and should be rock solid on special teams.

Solid B.

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Don't know but if you give Cooks anything less than A+ you need to just become a soccer fan. :)

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

B-minus, C-plus

Started off awesome, then got progressively worse.

Looks like we went pure upside and special teams after the 2nd round

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Overall a C; I'm not feeling the 5th/6th round picks except the Ronald Powell one

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C

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C

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I don't think we drafted Cooks to give us the same kind of production of those two, we need more than that. Cooks should be a top ten receiver in the league that will make defenses have to account for Graham and Cooks.

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I love all of the C grades. Means it wasn't a fans popularity draft. Hehe.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Saintsations were active...

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Based on their ability to start and become quality starters - C

Based on what we drafted them to be and where they were selected... B+

Looks like we went pure upside and special teams after round 2. We did not draft based on these guys starting in 2014 or even 2015.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

I don't think you really understood what I said.

On that note, it's very rare that a rookie WR can come into this league and put up top 10 numbers. I think your initial expectations of him is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too generous especially given that we like to spread the ball around. You might be left disappointed.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

I loved it! It proves how much smarter they are than some of us dream to be. And this is why I NEVER make any kind of draft predictions nor question any pick. I feel I am self-aware enough to know that I have no capability of knowing anywhere near what these people that do this for a living know.

All giving a grade on a draft does is show how the people that actually know what they are doing aligns with the unaware's personal thoughts. Personally, I think you are grading yourself as opposed to them.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

I actually think Ronald Powell could see some playing time in the OLB rotation behind Galette. It'd be nice if Galette could take a breather every now and then to remain fresh.. And even though Powell can still get a ton better, he's got the talent to make some good things happen right now if you ask me.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Payton defending the Rooks pick - Great feet with growth potential.

Kept referencing his athleticism and "room to grow"

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Yup. Once again, they have spent tons of hours studying these players. We haven't.

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I would've grade a F but not ready to fire coach and gm, so I graded a D

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And even if we did we wouldn't have nearly as much insight as our worst scout.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Looks like we went from "small school sleepers" to "injury sleepers".

Three of these guys would have been drafted earlier if not for injuries.

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Day one......A
Day two......A
Day three....WTF?

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Perhaps they know a bit more than us about these players? Perhaps they even have put in more study on these players than others in the business.

I will honestly give my grade on the draft when it REALLY matters ... two or three years from now.

Once again, I repeat, grading now is only comparing what one of us thinks they know against someone who actually knows far more.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Only pick we missed on was no O-line depth. Or for that matter no Center. It would be nice to have brought one in for competition at least.

Overall B-, C++

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

To be fair, I grade the draft on what others that I respect and admire think of our picks.

If certain people I respect like our picks and give reasons, I'm on board, and conversely if they give a thumbs down with reasons, I listen.

I refuse to act like I'm some kind of college football expert like so many people on football forums do. If you were so damn good at evaluating college talent you'd be doing it for a living.

My praise/criticism is based on scouting reports I read and see from my favorite experts. I'm sure I'm no the only one.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

I've got a feeling a jonathan goodwin signing may be imminent

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

B+
Tough and Smart Haul

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Same here,but the Utah Centre is still unpicked so could be UDFA option to look at practise squad material

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

I give it a C-. C+ if either of the two LB's actually stays healthy and makes the team. B- to B+ if they both manage to stay healthy and make the team, variation depending on how much they contribute.

I really like picks 1 and 2. I was skeptical about cooks at first but I like it more all the time. Honestly am starting to feel like they nailed this one just like they did last year with vaccaro. Wanted jean baptiste all along, stoked that we got him and I think by next year he will be playing a lot and playing well in RR's scheme. For those of us who wanted asomugha to come play for the saints, we got him, and he's about 10 years younger.

I want to like our third pick, the durability issue does concern me. He's "the poor man's Ryan shazier" and I think danno was on the right track when he compared shazier to casillas in another thread. Love the potential, especially if he does move inside, just wanna see him actually play.

The last 3 picks were head scratchers to me. I didn't and still don't like anything about picking a safety. This safety class was said to be weak beyond the top 3-5 and we are currently loaded at the position. Say what you want about "it only takes one injury", that's the case at any position, and we have positions that are far thinner than safety.. and don't even start with the BPA speech, because that last pick blows the entire thing outta the water. Speaking of that guy......................who?.................. As for Powell, I would love it if he pans out but looking at his injury history I would say it's probably a 50/50 shot at best that he makes it through preseason without landing on IR. He looks the part of the dangerous edge rusher, but his game needs a lot of work. I watched some of his highlights (highlights, mind you) and he looks undisciplined. I wonder how the rest of the film looks. Maybe he's another Galette who just needs a few years to settle down and really learn how to play the game, I'm hoping so. Also hoping he's not the next Greg Romeus.

Time will tell, I was mostly disappointed today, but the first 2 days were great and I think we made impact picks. Can't wait for camp time to get a look at this class and this team. Anyway, I think I've thoroughly 'splained myself.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Definitely an athletic project, but that's what you expect with a 6th round pick.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

I give it a YAWN. no were does it appear have the saints made themselves an improved and different team in this draft. sorry we got taller at CB. at least he does not have an injury history to worry about and solid upside.. the kid from Bama is a risky move nut he has a great chance of bouncing back. the kid from west is a whirlpool candidate. the untapped potential for four years in college means one of two thing. bad coaching or lack of desire. i go with the later.

we subbed on piece for another on offense. defense got two nice picks, the others well we will wait and see if god intervenes and a lite goes on.

I can live with a boring unglamorous draft but this one left me completely empty of excitement. high risk picks on talent are well very risky

only area of improvement is cb depth and safety depth. cook replaces Darrin

see ya in camp and lets see

YAWN

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

If they nail the first two how is it only average?

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Come on... I know some of you may just missed football for your grades... It started off great. Then the Saintsations took over and who knows what the hell they were thinking.

Rooks pick is a flat out F- Anyone giving a grade on him of a D or highter should be suspended from the internet for a week.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

The draft is seven rounds now.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

A bit dissapointed and surprised at the later picks considering how thin we are on the o line.But people better than me are picking and its there job so we will see come december how we are

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

Because to my way of thinking 2 of the last 4 (sunseri and rooks) were flops, 1 of the remaining 2 is a high potential to flop (powell) and I'm unsure about fortt.

Now before you go scolding me for my own personal opinion, please understand that the purpose of this thread is for people to express their opinions. I've already seen what you had to say about how I'm "judging myself".. spare me. I know I could be totally wrong about these guys, I sincerely hope I am.. but this is how I feel about it right now.. Furthermore, the coaches, scouts and front office are just as human as the rest of us. There have been plenty of guys whom they were high on that never lived up to the hype, and some who flamed out entirely. I respect the fact that they spend the time and they do the research and blah blah blah. They're only slightly less likely to be wrong than me though.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

No, that is your most critical misconception friend. They are tremendously more likely to be right than you.

Re: Grade Our Draft!
 

And I assume you're enough of an expert on Tavon Rooks to say that?

Give me a break. Just because you haven't heard of him doesn't mean he can't be a good football player.