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Did Saints reach for Florida State's Rick Leonard? Agent: New Orleans outmaneuvered competition

BY JOEL A. ERICKSON | JERICKSON@THEADVOCATE.COM
APR 30, 2018 - 1:52 PM



The New Orleans Saints drew some criticism for drafting Florida State offensive tackle Rick Leonard in the fourth round on Saturday, primarily because several scouting services had tagged Leonard as a late-round prospect.

The NFL apparently disagreed with those rankings.

According to Brett Tessler, the agent who represents Leonard, the Saints' decision to draft Leonard at the end of the fourth round left a few teams at the top of the fifth taking his name off the board in frustration.

"The New Orleans Saints knew exactly what they were doing taking Rick Leonard... in the 4th round, because I spoke to a couple teams today who told me they definitely would have taken him in the 5th round if he was still there," Tessler wrote on his Twitter account on Monday.

Leonard, who opened his career at Florida State as a defensive end, has only played tackle for two seasons, and he started 19 games in that span.

New Orleans believes he can help right away.

AsylumGuido

I know this happens quite often. I occasionally visit other team's forums to find out what's going on with their teams and to touch base with friends I have made on those sites over the years. In almost every year on every forum there are complaints posted by fans over where in the draft their front office has actually drafted a player. This is always based upon what the posters have read from some scouting service or other less than reliable source.

You have to consider that each NFL team has a department of personnel individuals whose primary responsibility is addressing the needs for their franchise in the short and long terms. They can commit lengthy time into investigating individuals that they feel could help their team. This includes personal meetings and workouts. They visit with the prospective player's coaches, families and community members. They pour over tons of tape, both available to the general public and that which is provided by the player's schools.

On the other hand, the aforementioned scouting services, and such, may have anywhere from one individual to most likely less than a dozen that are responsible for researching ALL needs, short and long term, for ALL 32 NFL teams which includes players that may only appeal to a handful of franchises in need of that certain skill set. It is not surprising that many players fall through the cracks when being researched by these concerns. They simply do not have the same resources to research as thoroughly as do all of the NFL franchises.

They will undoubtedly have prospects that will appear to fall greatly based upon their rankings and they will also experience players chosen well before what their sometimes "wild assed guesses" have implied. It has always happened ever since they became available and will continue to happen and they really don't care as long as they keep selling their subscriptions with their print ads and getting their online clicks.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

TheDeuce

Shocked to hear an agent hyping his client.

AsylumGuido

That doesn't make the statement less true nor does it lend any further credence to the so-called scouting services or media outlets that too many trusting fans rely upon as gospel. Any good agency would definitely share that information as it can help in future negotiations and they would be the ones that would most likely be aware of that information.

Barry from MS

Here we go again. Saw him play. Numerous times. Unless he's highly motivated, gets stronger, gets balanced, and coached up he'll contribute as a back-up in 2-3 yrs. SP said basically the same thing about him. Too much talent that would contribute in areas of need sitting at the spot at the time.

And aren't agents like defense attorneys anyways? I'd take their word as gospel, too.

Euphoria

The whole point in drafting someone is so you pick a player you want and not risk them signing via FA to another team or fighting over a player in FA.

I seen a number of posts and articles about the reach for him but honestly if that is your guy you get him. You don't take a chance on someone else getting him. Just like the Brown snagging Baker at #1. Many say they could have got him with 4 but if he is your guy you take him. You don't take those chances.

Its hard to argue what Ireland has done the past couple of years. I really don't hate what they have done this year. Sitting back and getting a player at 27 they may not have felt would have come in and contribute as early as they would like so going after someone they feel could put them in a better position by all means do it. We aren't building a team at this point we are looking for pieces to get us to the next level.

E U P H O R I A

SaintFanInATLHELL

I feel the same way about future draft picks. While it may be a reach to give up a future picking spot to get a guy now, if the guy now can contribute now and fills a need now, why is it so critical to save future draft capital? Just look at what happened with Kamara last year. All that talent would have been somewhere else while the Saints sat on their #2 pick for this year.

If Davenport can be developed into a pro bowl DE, and can fill in for Okafor, or even better be a part of the Saints NASCAR package with Jordan, Rankins, and Okafor on obvious passing downs, then isn't that better than sitting on what is likely another bottom of the first round pick for next year?

SFIAH

Super Bowl Championships: New Orleans Saints:1, Carolina:0, Atlanta Chokers: STILL ZERO

Only Atlanta choked in an unchokable situation... Life is definitely good.

AsylumGuido

Jeff Ireland isn't stupid. He has enough irons in the fire to know when other team are showing interest in a player. He knows what teams worked Leonard out and he knows their needs. They took Leonard because they really liked him and they knew he wasn't going to be there past that pick.

As for Payton's view on Leonard, in his post draft interview he said about Leonard "right away I can see a jumbo role and I can see him compete as a gameday backup tackle". Get your facts straight.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

Beastmode

Likewise. I was expecting, "Just crazy man is all I can say. I'm totally splurging tonight. Taking him and my family out to the Golden Corral. Thought he might get picked up after a bunch of injuries."

jeanpierre

I've followed NFL drafts intensely (as compared to the general populace) for thirty years now...

True, I'm not an NFL employee nor do I have full access to security/background checks on players...

I have very close friends who are definitely in that community that share information in confidence, trust...

As much as I'd love to make a point, I often refrain as leaking the information would compromise my friends...

Only once have I shared information outside of that circle and it was with my late friend, Hagan, who I had tremendous trust...

But I do feel my knowledge gives me better insight than the casual fan sitting at the bar and that 30 years is not idly dismissed...

I am not always right, but I am more often right than wrong by a considerable margin on NFL prospects grades...

AG is absolutely correct, spot-on that we will have to let this play out over a couple of seasons for the optics to give a better picture...

But my 30 years of scouting, knowledge tells me that this pick, among others in this Saints draft was an absolute reach...

There were better, more talented, higher graded players with better team needs were still in the talent pool...

One thing that the Saints FO values more than scouting reports or Sparq scores is personal references...

By that, Saints in-house folks have personal relations with folks that have coached or played with the scouted player...

While I believe in references, I don't put as much stock in them as I did say twenty years ago...

But I do feel the Saints FO, particularly Sean Payton, tends to put too much value in those references rather than his heads-up display...

It's not that my way is the right way, I just make the right way my way...