Originally Posted by gosaints1 (Post 899235)

No, not really. Michael Thomas isn’t and he’s been itching to return to the field since his injury. Armstead suffered a torn labrum in 2017 which required surgery and was supposed to be out for 6 months but he returned much earlier and started ten games that season, making the ProBowl in 2018 and 2019. He is getting on the older side of being an offensive lineman though, seven years is a fairly long time in that position. Peat broke his leg on the field in 2017, then made the ProBowl in 2018 and 2019 also. Lattimore isn’t really an injury bug infested player either. Ruiz, no.

As long as players have diagnosed injuries like “broken fibula” or “torn labrum” requiring surgery, I’m good with it, doubly so for linemen on both sides of the ball, they bc of the physicality of each and every play have a higher propensity for injury. As long as they’re eagerly trying to get back in the field, I’m understanding. Which brings this conversation to Two firsts Davenport. “Hurt elbow” and “Hurt toe” are tough injury pills to swallow. It does seem like he has injury bug’itis and it does seem like every time he flips a page in the playbook he gets a paper cut (yes AG, I know they use digital medium, lol, I’m stating it this way for illustrative purposes only), resulting in a staph infection and then unable to play. That being said:

1) I liked the idea of identifying a need you want in the draft and aggressively going after that player. But I’m biased in that as my personality leans more to the side of higher quality than higher quantity. I frequently say, when referring to friends and family: “I would rather have four quarters ($0.25) than a hundred pennies ($0.01). Better stated by the former George Burns: “The best thing in life is to have an extremely large family..., all residing several states away from you”. lol. Bottom line, I’ve never been a fan of draft pick “hoarding”.

&

2) Davenport hasn’t been “paid” as you intimate. A fair argument can be made that trade of two firsts was expensive. And it’s one that I believe has more truth than falseness. The man has to get on the field and play..., “hurt toe & elbow” are not cutting it.

Bottom line, I think the Saints have drafted well. Have they missed on some? Sure, but I don’t think the draft is a guessing game as you stated in an earlier post. It’s no guarantee, bc the future isn’t known for any of those very young men, but the resources that go into investigating future NFL players is on par with Fortune 500 companies who are looking at investing millions of dollars per year in salary to their employees also. Ultimately, you get burned a few times.

Linemen get beat up. Davenport..., well..., lol.

It’s hyperbole to think the Saints can’t draft, it’s also hyperbole to think the Saints are filled with SP picks that are highly paid for sitting on the injury bench all the time. That being said, hyperbole is your m.o., the “sky is falling”..., your wheelhouse.

Originally Posted by FinSaint (Post 899198)

I, for one, am pretty glad they picked Ruiz with all the injuries to the O-line.

McCoy, Ruiz and Ramczyk are studs to build a dominant line upon for years to come.

Originally Posted by papz (Post 899243)

To each their own. I've always had the opinion that impact interior lineman are a plenty in the mid rounds as they're often undervalued, under evaluated, and underdeveloped at the collegiate level. With such a shrinking window of opportunity of getting back to a Superbowl, we needed impact help on that second level.

With that said, I have no doubt Ruiz will be a good player.

Originally Posted by papz (Post 899243)

To each their own. I've always had the opinion that impact interior lineman are a plenty in the mid rounds as they're often undervalued, under evaluated, and underdeveloped at the collegiate level. With such a shrinking window of opportunity of getting back to a Superbowl, we needed impact help on that second level.



With that said, I have no doubt Ruiz will be a good player.

Originally Posted by saintfan (Post 899165)

I missed the game entirely...but I did get engaged...so there's that.

:banana:

I'll be back next week to offer my semi-educated opinion(s)...

Originally Posted by FinSaint (Post 899274)

I would imagine that TV deals won't be coming down in value as fans are forced to watch the games instead of attending them in person.

The revenue losses caused by the lack of attendance is probably the bigger source of budgetory issues.

Note that I'm talking from my behind without any actual facts.

Originally Posted by FinSaint (Post 899274)

I would imagine that TV deals won't be coming down in value as fans are forced to watch the games instead of attending them in person.

The revenue losses caused by the lack of attendance is probably the bigger source of budgetory issues.

Note that I'm talking from my behind without any actual facts.