NFL Draft 2010: New Orleans Saints Draft Grades

but in my grade i gave em a B- because the picks were value/depth picks…good players…but just not the positions we needed em in.

Pride of a lot of people has been hurt since Thursday… Get on with it

Looks like they went BPA or bust this year. Didnt get an OLB so they must know something we dont. I personally really liked what i saw from Casillas at the end of the year when he started getting some real play time. Wouldnt mind seeing him starting, he’s raw but you can see the potential to be a good starter. Would love to see this new TE in action. Al Woods should be able to atleast contribute to the DT rotation.

 Robinson im kinda pumped about. Wasnt what anyone was expecting but i like the pick. We have a huge dropoff in corner talent after greer and porter. Robinson should step in as the nickel from day 1. From what the FSU blogger guy said i feel he’s comparable to porter his rookie season. both came out raw and athletic but with great man coverage and press skills. This allows us to make Jenkins a safety as well, which we all believe he can be great in that spot.

Overall im pleased. Ill give them the benefit of the doubt on trading up for woods. If he can contribute this season im fairly certain we’ll all forget about the 6th rounder that could’ve been. I dont feel like they made any huge reaches coughcoughjagscoughcough which is always good. All of these picks seem like they will be able to contribute at a level appropriate to thieir draft position, and all of them have the upside to be much better. Good draft

We got good value, but did we address needs? There was one position that I think at least 80% of us were hoping to improve in this draft, and Payloo gave us a big “F you” as far as getting an outside linebacker. Loomis says they don’t need an OLB, than then goes out and signs half a dozen OLBs as undrafted free agents? What is that about? So we actually do need one, but we aren’t going to attempt to get one of the better OLBs out there?

No offense Dave, but you should know that the Saints never intended for the draft to be the only way they address team “needs”.

The other thing I think is that we have to very careful how we define this team’s “needs” from our own limited outside-looking-in perspective. Mickey Loomis even said himself, in his pre-draft press conference, that the front office is viewing their linebacking corps (despite the loss of Scott Fujita in free agency) as a strength due to the current youth and talent already on the roster.

The trick now is just to bring in enough hungry competition to make sure those rostered guys stay on their toes all the way through training camp while working toward fielding them 53 man roster for the new season. That is something easily accomplished through the bringing in of undrafted free agents as competition for those limited roster spots.

Here is the most recent list to surface for the Saints signings of rookie free agents:

Brandon Carter – Texas Tech (OG)
Jason Beauchamp – UNLV (LB)
Junior Galette – Stillman (LB)
Clint Gresham – TCU (LS)
Ekom Udofia – Stanford (NT)
Harry Coleman – LSU (S)
Marcell Young – Jacksonville St. (CB)
Jay Ross – ECU (NT)

You might take notice of the signings of two additional NT’s to compete with drafted rookie NT Al Woods from day one as well as two more LB’s to add to our current stable of youth at that position which already includes Casillas, Dunbar, Mitchell, Waters and Arnoux.

Also, per the scouting reports of “lack of commitment” and “questionable mental involvement in the game” for CB Patrick Robinson, bring in one more undrafted FA CB to compete along with the already rostered Leigh Torrence, Reggie Jones, Greg Fassitt and Glenn Sharpe and the kid will have no choice but decide if he’s all in or not real fast.

By my rough calculation of your individual grades handed out here, it looks like you gave them a high C+ overall, huh Dave?

I graded the Saints draft picks on their own merit as a solid B and I agree with a lot of the points put forth by fruly.

slow ass SB Nation servers = F

my current emotional state, which at the current moment is mildly confused and heavily inebriated.

ATTABOY!

based on potential. These guys will all have a chance to sit back and learn from proven players without being forced into action immediately. Everyone picked this year has a chance and potential to be a starter in 2-3 years.

He got penalized just three times (3) in more than 1800 offensive snaps over the last two years. Not bad…

Pretty good value throughout. Seemed to attack need in reverse order. Not addressing OLB and RB had a trickle down effect on the grades there. Despite the feel good vibe surrounding the home state Woods pick, there was truly no reason to trade away a pick to move up seven slots, especially when there were four DTs ranked higher available. I’ve included what amounts to a wasted pick demerit (Round 6), which could have been used to take one of the two aforementioned unaddressed needs. No real problems with most of the picks. There are just a few things I would’ve handled a little differently in hindsight. Unlike a fantasy football draft, there’s no serpentine order to balance things out. Drafting at 32, you’re behind the eight ball on every single pick. Considering what they had to work with, I think Loomis did a pretty good job going after the BPA. Argue position priority all you want. The fact remains that in this particular order, there were only 15 players who graded out higher pre-draft, that were bypassed based on individual preference.

1st Round – Patrick Robinson, CB Florida State.
Player Rating – 9.4. Rated 18.73 of 20.00.
Slot Value – 7.9. Rated 2nd-3rd round pick.
Compensation – N/A. No additional compensation.
Position Value – 9.4. Ranked 4th of 62 CBs.
Position Availability Value – 10.0. Highest ranked available CB.
Position Need – 3.8. Ranked 6th of 8 needs.
Overall Grade – 8.1.
Repick? – Yes. Sergio Kindle, OLB Texas.

2nd Round – Charles Brown, OT USC.
Player Rating – 9.6. Rated 19.13 of 20.00.
Slot Value – 10.0. Rated late 1st-early 2nd round pick.
Compensation – N/A. No additional compensation.
Position Value – 8.9. Ranked 6th of 55 OTs.
Position Availability Value – 9.8. 2nd ranked available OT.
Position Need – 5.7. Ranked 4th of 7 needs.
Overall Grade – 8.8.
Repick? – No.

3rd Round – Jimmy Graham, TE Miami.
Player Rating – 9.0. Rated 17.91 of 20.00.
Slot Value – 10.0. Rated 2nd-3rd round pick.
Compensation – N/A. No additional compensation.
Position Value – 8.1. Ranked 10th of 52 TEs.
Position Availability Value – 8.7. 7th ranked available CB.
Position Need – 3.3. Ranked 5th of 6 needs.
Overall Grade – 7.8.
Repick? – No.

4th Round – Al Woods, DT LSU.
Player Rating – 8.7. Rated 17.49 of 20.00.
Slot Value – 10.0. Rated late 3rd-4th round pick.
Compensation – minus 1.8. Picks 130 and 201.
Position Value – 6.2. Ranked 19th of 50 DTs.
Position Availability Value – 9.0. 5th ranked available DT.
Position Need – 3.8. Ranked 2nd of 5 needs.
Overall Grade – 7.2.
Repick? – Yes. Cam Thomas, DT North Carolina.

5th Round – Matt Tennant, C Boston College.
Player Rating – 9.0. Rated 17.90 of 20.00.
Slot Value – 10.0. Rated 2nd-3rd round pick.
Compensation – minus 2.3. 4th round pick (2011).
Position Value – 9.0. Ranked 3rd of 30 Cs.
Position Availability Value – 10.0. Highest ranked available C.
Position Need – 5.0. Ranked 3rd of 4 needs.
Overall Grade – 8.1.
Repick? – No. Ok with trading next year’s 4th, since we had no 5th.

6th Round, no selection.
Player Rating – 0.0.
Slot Value – 0.0.
Compensation – N/A. Included in 4th round compensation.
Position Value – 0.0.
Position Availability Value – 0.0.
Position Need – 0.0.
Overall Grade – 0.0.
Repick? – Yes. 4th round trade up unnecessary. LeGarrette Blount, RB Oregon.

7th Round – Sean Canfield, QB Oregon State.
Player Rating – 8.3. Rated 16.51 of 20.00.
Slot Value – 10.0. Rated 6th-7th round pick.
Compensation – N/A. No additional compensation.
Position Value – 6.6. Ranked 15th of 44 QBs.
Position Availability Value – 8.9. 5th ranked available CB.
Position Need – 3.3. Ranked 3rd of 3 needs.
Overall Grade – 7.4.
Repick? – Yes. A.J. Jefferson, CB Fresno State.

Overall Draft
Avg Player Rating – 7.7
Avg Slot Value – 8.3
Avg Compensation – minus 0.6
Avg Position Value – 6.9
Avg Position Availability Value – 8.1
Avg Position Need – 3.6
Overall Grade – 6.8

Ugh, forgot to change it again. Graham = 7th ranked available TE, not CB.

I don’t know, we needed too much elsewhere and didn’t really need this. I like that he is athletic, had BB experience, and is very tall. But, …well we shall see.

against the # penalties an All-Pro LT gets called for vs. All-Pro pass rushers and who is pass-blocking for an offensive team that passes a huge amount and also has a QB worth tens of millions that needs to be protected at all costs. Just apples to oranges.

in that we should have drafted to bolster LB and DL positions. I was one of the few that was ok with our Linebackers, but felt our depth at LB was questionable and with Fujita gone, I am really concerned. Lots of people are saying Arnoux will step up and hopefully he will, but he is a rookie as far as playing time and is coming off an inury. That’s two big question marks. And, although replacing Grants was a good move, we did not replave him with an elite DE, so we are pretty questionable at multiple defensive posotions. And, although I like Shanle and he played well in the playoffs, he won’t last forever and he is not really an All-Pro level LB- he is steady and reliable but a little slow and far from exceptional. So, why we picked for CB, OT and TE and QB mystifies me- unless is what all about saving $$ which I think is the best explanantion. All or most of these picks should sign pretty cheap.

“All or most of these picks should sign pretty cheap.”

I agree with that, though I’m not sure how that plays into what position was addressed when. Pretty much anyone we selected at 32, 64, etc., would have been making bottom of the barrel when compared to most other rookies.

I remember everyone giving the Chiefs an “A” for drafting Glenn Dorsey

As stated from others before, grading now is difficult to do – but comments are always good.

My favorite pick – Brown OT
Least favorite – Canfield QB

I like that the Saints picked up Brown to have more depth on the line. I believe that games are won and lost on the line and teams without depth are 1 injury away from a make/break season.

I think we could have taken a risk on another position in the 7th round though. Even if Canfield blows us all away and shows signs of the next HOF QB – ya think he is going to get on the field? Even if Brees got hurt – Canfield would have to play like Brees/Manning/Brady combined to take Drew’s job. Just think we could have taken a risk on a different position, DE or S perhaps.

I did not know much about the CB Robinson prior to the draft, still don’t. From what I hear is that he is inconsistant, but has the best raw talent at his position in the draft. Sounds like he needs some work, which they all do, but not what I expected for our 1st rounder. I was screaming for S. Kindle (LB) when the Saints were up, but they passed. Hopefully they are right and I am wrong (about Kindle).

As for Graham, Woods, and Tennant: These are solid picks and what you would expect from those rounds. High upside, minimum risks. Graham “could be the next A. Gates”, maybe because he plays B-Ball….I dunno.

Overall, I think the Saints did well. I cannot argue with picking the best player available especially when you are picking last due to winning the SB. Heck, can’t really argue with SB winning coaches and GM’s.

I think we get 2 starters, hopefully Woods and Robinson – cause thats where we need the most help.