Every year, as the new season dawns, there is always excitement over the potential of the rookie class to make a significant positive impact on the Saints' projected success.
Over the Pay-loo years (2006-2012) the New Orleans Saints brain trust has had their share of whiffs at the top of the draft, as well as the unearthing of rare gems in the mid-to-late rounds and the ranks of the undrafted free agent rookie pools.
But just what does 2013 hold for us as far as "Rookie Sudden Impact" goes? I know that some may argue that this is a pointless exercise as...
past performance has no bearing on future results, and that rookie returns and principal value may fluctuate so that your rookies, when redeemed during their rookie years, may be worth more or less than their original cost...
But I still I thought it might be interesting to consider this by looking at exactly how much rookies had a "Sudden Impact" of games played in their rookie years.
Come with me as we fire up the Who Dat Way-Back Machine and see how it broke down, year by year. Enjoy the bittersweet taste of nostalgia as you recall these whiffs and gems and which ones you (or others) thought would be which...
2006 (Pay-loo Year One)
Round |
Player - Position |
Games Played/Started |
1 |
Reggie Bush - RB |
16/8 |
2 |
Roman Harper - S |
5/5 |
4 |
Jahri Evans - G |
16/16 |
5 |
Rob Ninkovich- DE |
3/0 |
6 |
Mike Hass - WR |
|
6 |
Josh Lay - CB |
|
7 |
Zach Strief - T |
9/1 |
7 |
Marques Colston - WR |
14/12 |
UDFA |
Jamaal Branch - RB |
1/0 |
UDFA |
Keith Joseph - RB |
1/0 |
UDFA |
Lance Moore - WR |
4/0 |
UDFA |
Steve Weatherford - P |
16/16 |
2007 (Pay-loo Year Two)
Round |
Player - Position |
Games Played/Started |
1 |
Robert Meachem - WR |
|
3 |
Usama Young - CB |
14/0 |
3 |
Andy Alleman - G |
|
4 |
Antonio Pittman - RB |
|
4 |
Jermon Bushrod - T |
1/0 |
5 |
David Jones - CB |
|
7 |
Marvin Mitchell - LB |
10/0 |
UDFA |
Chris Barclay - RB |
1/0 |
UDFA |
McKinley Boykin - DT |
3/0 |
UDFA |
Ronnie Ghent - TE |
8/0 |
UDFA |
Chris Reis - DB |
14/0 |
UDFA |
Pierre Thomas - RB |
12/1 |
2008 (Pay-loo Year Three)
Round |
Player - Position |
Games Played/Started |
1 |
Sedrick Ellis - DT |
13/13 |
2 |
Tracy Porter - CB |
5/5 |
5 |
DeMario Pressley - DT |
3/0 |
5 |
Carl Nicks - G |
16/13 |
6 |
Taylor Mehlhaff - K |
3/0 |
7 |
Adrian Arrington - WR |
|
UDFA |
Jo-Lonn Dunbar - LB |
15/2 |
UDFA |
Lynell Hamilton - PO |
1/0 |
UDFA |
Garrett Hartley - FPK |
8/8 |
UDFA |
Buck Ortega - TE |
11/1 |
UDFA |
Glenn Pakulak - P |
8/8 |
UDFA |
Olaniyi Sobomehin - RB |
1/0 |
2009 (Pay-loo Year Four)
Round |
Player - Position |
Games Played/Started |
1 |
Malcolm Jenkins - CB |
14/6 |
4 |
Chip Vaughn - S |
|
4 |
Stanley Arnoux - LB |
|
5 |
Thomas Morstead - P |
16/16 |
UDFA |
Jonathan Casillas - LB |
11/2 |
UDFA |
Greg Fassitt - DB |
1/0 |
UDFA |
Marcus Mailei - RB |
2/0 |
2010 (Pay-loo Year Five)
Round |
Player - Position |
Games Played/Started |
1 |
Patrick Robinson - CB |
11/4 |
2 |
Charles Brown - T |
3/0 |
3 |
Jimmy Graham - TE |
15/5 |
4 |
Al Woods - DT |
|
5 |
Matt Tennant - C |
16/0 |
7 |
Sean Canfield - QB |
|
UDFA |
Justin Drescher - LS |
6/0 |
UDFA |
Junior Galette - DE |
4/0 |
UDFA |
Chris Ivory - RB |
12/4 |
2011 (Pay-loo Year Six)
Round |
Player - Position |
Games Played/Started |
1 |
Cameron Jordan - DE |
16/15 |
1 |
Mark Ingram - RB |
10/4 |
3 |
Martez Wilson - LB |
13/1 |
3 |
Johnny Patrick - CB |
9/0 |
7 |
Greg Romeus - DE |
|
7 |
Nate Bussey - LB |
|
UDFA |
Isa Abdul-Quddus - S |
16/1 |
UDFA |
Jed Collins - FB |
16/11 |
UDFA |
Michael Higgins - TE |
2/0 |
UDFA |
Tom Johnson - DT |
13/0 |
2012 (Pay*-loo Year Seven*)
Round |
Player - Position |
Games Played/Started |
3 |
Akiem Hicks - DT |
14/0 |
4 |
Nick Toon - WR |
|
5 |
Corey White - CB |
10/4 |
6 |
Andrew Tiller - G |
|
7 |
Marcel Jones - T |
|
UDFA |
Travaris Cadet - RB |
13/0 |
UDFA |
A.J. Davis - CB |
1/0 |
UDFA |
Bryce Harris - T |
2/1 |
UDFA |
Jerico Nelson - S |
3/0 |
2013 (Pay-loo Year Eight)
Round |
Player - Position |
Games Played/Started |
1 |
Kenny Vaccaro - S |
? |
3 |
Terron Armstead - T |
? |
3 |
John Jenkins - DT |
? |
5 |
Kenny Stills - WR |
? |
6 |
Rufus Johnson - LB |
PS - ? |
UDFA |
Glenn Foster - DE |
? |
UDFA |
Josh Hill - TE |
? |
UDFA |
Tim Lelito - G |
? |
UDFA |
Kevin Reddick - LB |
? |
UDFA |
Rod Sweeting - CB |
? |
UDFA |
Ryan Griffin - QB |
PS - ? |
UDFA |
Jumal Rolle - CB |
PS - ? |
* This year has plenty of rationale for exclusion on the grounds of it not being a true "Pay-loo Year" due to numerous circumstances, but I wanted the info to be there, just for s***s and giggles, so you can choose to do with it what you will.
I will point out here that the "games played" data I found for this study (courtesy of pro-footballreference.com, jumping off from the Saints team encyclopedia page - CITATION) does not include rookies who spent their rookie year on the practice squad without playing in any actual games.
Now that you've seen it year by year and player by individual player, here are some aggregates:
Game Appearances By Rookies |
# Games Started by Rookies |
# Rookies Who Appeared in Games (UDFAs) |
# Drafted Rookies Who Did Not Play |
|
2006 |
85 |
38 |
10 (4) |
2 |
2007 |
63 |
1 |
8 (5) |
4 |
2008 |
87 |
52 |
11 (6) |
1 |
2009 |
44 |
24 |
5 (3) |
2 |
2010 |
57 |
13 |
7 (3) |
2 |
2011 |
95 |
32 |
8 (4) |
2 |
2012 |
43 |
5 |
6 (4) |
3 |
* * *
So, what trends do you see, if any? What can we generalize for 2013 from all this data? Are there any particular players you'd like to note, either in fame or infamy based on your hopes/dreams or someone else's? Talk it up, folks! I want to hear from YOU!