Leave it to the Falcons to nab him three picks ahead of us. So much for that. I think now it comes down to a few players:

ILB Mayo: a first-round prospect who projects to be a very good middle-linebacker. The question becomes, as I said in an earlier comment was if he could work as a weakside linebacker with Vilma filling in the middle.

TE USC's Fred Davis/Purdue's Dustin Keller: Both are very much alike in that they excel at pass-catching but need to develop blocking skills to become great tight ends. Nevertheless, Sean Payton learned from Parcells that a TE is vital and can change an entire offense. Imagine Brees being able to slice and dice through the middle with a TE that can go over the top.

OLB Shawn Crable: Crable is an intriguing player who has great size at 6-5, 250. He has a lot of upside and could easily turn out to be a good starting linebacker. The issues with him are his questionable work-ethic and fact that he only had 2 years starting at Michigan.

DT Pat Sims: with Balmer going off the board, Sims can fill a huge need at DT. He has a lot of potential, but has some "pretty big character issues." The opposite, in terms of character is Trevor Laws, a DT from Notre Dame. Laws may not have the upside, but he has great intangibles and a strong motor.

In the end, I think the Saints are going to have to go defensive in rounds one and two. I think that this particular draft, and how it has worked out, would leave the Saints in an interesting predicament in terms of the fact that there is really no great defensive player that fills a major hole with balmer being off the board. Then it is a possibility that the Saints could nab a tight end, which I believe Payton wants.