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When safety Vinnie Sunseri was waived Monday after two injury-marred seasons, it was another blow to the New Orleans Saints 2014 draft class.

Receiver Brandin Cooks is all that remains of the six players selected in 2014. Linebackers Khairi Fortt and Ronald Powell and offensive lineman Tavon Rooks are all out of football or looking for jobs as free agents.

Cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste signed with the Seattle Seahawks practice squad late last year and will try to make the team in training camp this summer.

The Class of 2015 has, so far at least, fared better. All nine draft picks are still in the Saints organization, although several will face tough battles to win a roster spot in training camp this year.

Of the 31 players drafted by the Saints over the last five years, 15 are still in the organization, six are on other NFL rosters and 10 are currently out of football.

Take away 2015, of course, and those numbers look more dismal. But all six of the pre-2015 draftees still on the roster have been solid contributors.



Here's the full tally of recent draft picks:

Saints draft picks, 2011-2015
Year Rnd # Name Pos. School Left Saints? Now
2015 1 13 Andrus Peat T Stanford On Roster SAINTS
2015 1 31 Stephone Anthony ILB Clemson On Roster SAINTS
2015 2 44 Hau'oli Kikaha OLB Washington On Roster SAINTS
2015 3 75 Garrett Grayson QB Colorado St. On Roster SAINTS
2015 3 78 P.J. Williams CB Florida St. On Roster SAINTS
2015 5 148 Davis Tull OLB Tenn-Chattanooga On Roster SAINTS
2015 5 154 Tyeler Davison DT Fresno St. On Roster SAINTS
2015 5 167 Damian Swann CB Georgia On Roster SAINTS
2015 7 230 Marcus Murphy RB Missouri On Roster SAINTS
2014 1 20 Brandin Cooks WR Oregon St. On Roster SAINTS
2014 2 58 Stanley Jean-Baptiste DB Nebraska Seahawks Seahawks
2014 4 126 Khairi Fortt LB California Waived 10/6/14 none
2014 5 167 Vinnie Sunseri DB Alabama Waived 4/25/16 none
2014 5 169 Ronald Powell LB Florida Waived 9/6/15 none
2014 6 202 Tavon Rooks OL Kansas St. Not re-signed after '14 none
2013 1 15 Kenny Vaccaro DB Texas On Roster SAINTS
2013 3 75 Terron Armstead T Ark-Pine Bluff On Roster SAINTS
2013 3 82 John Jenkins DT Georgia On Roster SAINTS
2013 5 144 Kenny Stills WR Oklahoma Traded 3/12/15 Dolphins
2013 6 183 Rufus Johnson DE Tarleton St. Waived 8/26/14 Patriots
2012 3 89 Akiem Hicks DE Regina Traded 9/30/15 Bears
2012 4 122 Nick Toon WR Wisconsin Waived 9/8/15 none
2012 5 162 Corey White DB Samford Waived 3/13/15 Bills
2012 6 179 Andrew Tiller G Syracuse Waived 8/31/13 49ers
2012 7 234 Marcel Jones OL Nebraska Waived 8/30/14 none
2011 1 24 Cameron Jordan DE California On roster SAINTS
2011 1 28 Mark Ingram RB Alabama On roster SAINTS
2011 3 72 Martez Wilson LB Illinois Waived 10/22/13 none
2011 3 88 Johnny Patrick DB Louisville Waived 2/19/13 none
2011 7 226 Greg Romeus DL Pittsburgh Waived 5/23/13 none
2011 7 243 Nate Bussey LB Illinois Waived 8/10/12 none

link back

SmashMouth

Forgot Rufus was with the Patriots now. Is he the next Ninkovich?

hagan714

Reports are the Pats love this kid

K Major

I'm circling back to defense for a minute. This is a very deep defensive class & I'm very confident Ireland has done his homework.

Back in 2005 while with the Cowgirls, Ireland was in his first year as V.P. of college/Pro Scouting. That year was arguably their best class in some time. See their picks below from that draft:

1. Marcus Spears
2. Kevin Burnett
4. Marion Barber
4. Chris Canty
6. Justin Beriault
6. Rob Pettiti
7. Jay Ratliff
8. Demarcus Ware

He hit on just about every pick. I think he brings the draft magic back on tomorrow.

Trust and believe .

"We're a violent team & a tough team. We find ways to put ourselves in position to win. We just have to WIN". Alvin Kamara

hagan714

Lets really make them stand out

Saints draft picks, 2011-2015
Year Rnd # Name Pos. School Left Saints? Now
2015 1 13 Andrus Peat T Stanford On Roster SAINTS
2015 1 31 Stephone Anthony ILB Clemson On Roster SAINTS
2015 2 44 Hau'oli Kikaha OLB Washington On Roster SAINTS
2015 3 75 Garrett Grayson QB Colorado St. On Roster SAINTS
2015 3 78 P.J. Williams CB Florida St. On Roster SAINTS
2015 5 148 Davis Tull OLB Tenn-Chattanooga On Roster SAINTS
2015 5 154 Tyeler Davison DT Fresno St. On Roster SAINTS
2015 5 167 Damian Swann CB Georgia On Roster SAINTS
2015 7 230 Marcus Murphy RB Missouri On Roster SAINTS
2014 1 20 Brandin Cooks WR Oregon St. On Roster SAINTS

2014 2 58 Stanley Jean-Baptiste DB Nebraska Seahawks Seahawks
2014 4 126 Khairi Fortt LB California Waived 10/6/14 none
2014 5 167 Vinnie Sunseri DB Alabama Waived 4/25/16 none
2014 5 169 Ronald Powell LB Florida Waived 9/6/15 none
2014 6 202 Tavon Rooks OL Kansas St. Not re-signed after '14 none

2013 1 15 Kenny Vaccaro DB Texas On Roster SAINTS
2013 3 75 Terron Armstead T Ark-Pine Bluff On Roster SAINTS
2013 3 82 John Jenkins DT Georgia On Roster SAINTS

2013 5 144 Kenny Stills WR Oklahoma Traded 3/12/15 Dolphins
2013 6 183 Rufus Johnson DE Tarleton St. Waived 8/26/14 Patriots
2012 3 89 Akiem Hicks DE Regina Traded 9/30/15 Bears
2012 4 122 Nick Toon WR Wisconsin Waived 9/8/15 none
2012 5 162 Corey White DB Samford Waived 3/13/15 Bills
2012 6 179 Andrew Tiller G Syracuse Waived 8/31/13 49ers
2012 7 234 Marcel Jones OL Nebraska Waived 8/30/14 none

2011 1 24 Cameron Jordan DE California On roster SAINTS
2011 1 28 Mark Ingram RB Alabama On roster SAINTS

2011 3 72 Martez Wilson LB Illinois Waived 10/22/13 none
2011 3 88 Johnny Patrick DB Louisville Waived 2/19/13 none
2011 7 226 Greg Romeus DL Pittsburgh Waived 5/23/13 none
2011 7 243 Nate Bussey LB Illinois Waived 8/10/12 none

YEP I see a few I liked in bold form

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

dizzle88

It's unfortunate but I'm pretty sure we gave Rufus 2 years to get healthy and I can't remember him suiting up once!

SaintsBro

I always felt like the 2013 draft after the suspension year, that really felt to me like a "Sean Payton sits on the couch and watches college ball for a whole year" type of draft. There were not a lot of picks, but it was very heavily Texas-region-centric and featured a lot of guys who frankly would have been on regional TV there, if Payton was presumably hanging out watching TV on the couch, or going to games in person, and not traveling on the corporate jet or being able to have regular contact with the Saints scouts. I always felt like Vaccaro, Stills and Armstead were "his" type of guys, character-wise or whatnot. Again, not a lot of picks, because Goodell took them away from us, but Payton made every one of them count. And you can tell.

Then the 2014 draft, his second year back, I didn't get it AT ALL. Something happened there. Maybe Payton must have delegated to somebody, or trusted in the scouts, or been distracted, or maybe it was other people making the picks, or he just hit a bad run of luck and whiffed on a bunch of picks in a row -- I don't know what happened, but it was clearly a NOT VERY GOOD draft. And even at the time, a lot of people were mystified by the picks the Saints made. I remember being out at the Fairgrounds, at Jazz Fest, scratching my head over some of them.

We may never really know what happened internally inside the team with that lousy 2014 draft. But it definitely was a weak one. It really sticks out when you list them all like that. Hopefully Ireland was the fix we needed.

Rugby Saint II

The problem with our draft picks is Payton doesn't trust the board and wants to gamble on a player he's enamored with. Either that or we haven't identified "winning prospects" properly. Somewhere along the way we changed our draft focus to a players measurables rather than his production.

Last year there was more stability in the draft and better drafting on defense. Most Saints fans(I'm one) are thanking Jeff Ireland for his calming effect in the draft room and his defensive eye for talent. Let's hope we can replicate last year's production with our six draft picks.

halloween 65

The trouble with us drafting D players their trying to fit square pegs in round holes.

MatthewT

Lots and lots of wasted draft picks = root cause of 7-9 seasons.