A lot of action today and a bunch of articles from the people down at the Times-Pic today., so lets jump into it!
First, a summary of all of the top prospects at the safety position in this years draft. Check it out for yourself.
As a supplement to that article was a story on Safety Kenny Phillips from the University of Miami. Basically, he is having to shoulder the burden of being picked in the first round, or ruining Miami's streak of 13 straight years with a player drafted in the first round.
It looks like it's up to Phillips or defensive end Calais Campbell to keep the streak alive. Both of them are projected to be on the first-round bubble.
"I don't want to be the one who messes up the tradition. Nobody wants to be the one who messes it up," Phillips said at the NFL combine in February, though he added that he and Campbell "really don't worry about it too much. We know we're going to go out there and do our best, and whatever happens happens."
The Times-Pic will be doing a live Mock Draft at Noon tomorrow, April 22nd. You will be allowed to comment and ask questions as well. Info here.
They also did a review of the top 10 teams and their possible selections. Here is the article. This is what they had to say about the top ten...
As usual, there's not exactly a line around the block of teams waiting to trade into the top 10. The cost of doing so is just so prohibitive. Only the Dallas Cowboys would appear to have the ammunition or inclination necessary to make such a move. So if you're waiting for a blockbuster deal involving some team moving up to nab a particular player, you may end up waiting a long time. It's probably not going to happen.
What is much likelier is some jockeying occurring among the teams already in the top 10. So while you may not expect to see the Cardinals trade up to get a shot at Darren McFadden, you may see the Bengals, for instance, moving up to get Sedrick Ellis.
And this is what they had to say about the Saints pick at #10.
- New Orleans Saints - If New Orleans wants any particular defender, the Saints better move ahead of the Bengals at the very least. It's hard to tell how serious the team might be about moving up to No. 2, but if that were to occur you'd almost certainly see Glenn Dorsey in a Saints uniform very quickly. More likely, the Saints stand pat and select from among the trio of Rivers, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie or Leodis McKelvin, but don't discount the possibility of a trade down either (especially if the team moves to acquire Jeremy Shockey or Lito Shepherd).
Even more draft news, this time from the Hattiesburg American. They had an article on what the Saints should do with their first pick in the draft this year. And what is that you ask?
With the 10th pick, they may not get Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, the Tennessee State star who is supposedly the best DB in the draft. But they'll still have a shot at Mike Jenkins from South Florida or Leodis McKelvin from Troy, who are just as good.
One of those three should be the Saints' first pick on Saturday.
This article was actually pretty funny and to the point. Here is my favorite part...
If, for some inexplicable reason, the powers that be in New Orleans don't grab some defensive help right off the bat then the whole front office should be tossed into Lake Pontchartrain.
Sounds good to me!
Now this one is intersting. It comes from Peter King over at Sports Illustrated. I read SI every week and I used to watch Inside the NFL every week (Until they canceled it. I have no idea why. That was the greatest football show ever. Even my fiance liked to watch it). I respect both as good sources, and I think they are credible, so this article piqued my interest.
The Saints and Jeremy Shockey's rookie-year offensive coordinator, Sean Payton, are still hot for the tight end. It won't get done if the Giants insist on receiving in-his-prime, 25-year-old safety Roman Harper (a 2006 second-round pick), plus the 40th pick in the draft. Harper's the best player in New Orleans' secondary, and to trade him and a second-round pick for an injury-plagued tight end who will be 28 on opening day is not an equitable deal. If the Giants want, say, Harper and a sixth-round pick for Shockey, or a second- and sixth-rounder for him, then I could see the trade getting done.
Well said. I agree 100% there.
This one really surprises me, and at first I didn't think it was true, but New Orleans is serious about trading into the top four -- preferably for LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey but not only for Dorsey. Wish I could tell you the other apple of their eye, but I don't know who he is.
Veeeeeeeewy intewesting. When Peter King talks, I listen. I am a bit surprised that the Saints are really considering moving up that high, but I guess its still a possibility. Though when he does his Mock Draft he sticks us with Mike Jenkins.
- New Orleans. CB Mike Jenkins, South Florida. The Saints are working hard to stack the first-round corners in the right order, which leads me to believe they'll pick one of them ... if they don't trade up, and if the really good defensive linemen are gone.
And Finally, some more trade rumors from ESPN. They seem to think, along with everyone else, that the Saints will be trading up this year. Check out the article.
The New Orleans Saints, owners of the No. 10 pick, might do it. They are interested in trading with the Rams to get the No. 2 pick and take defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey. The Rams haven't gotten back to the Saints to indicate whether they would consider a trade.
If the Saints can't get Dorsey, they would target USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, whom they could get by jumping ahead of the Bengals at No. 9. Defensive tackles are one of the hardest positions to hit big on in the first round. In 2003, the Saints used the No. 6 pick to get Johnathan Sullivan, who was a bust and is no longer in the league.
A lot going on today. Is everyone getting excited? With all the rumors and possibilities floating around, this is becoming one of the most exciting drafts in Saints history. Only time will tell what the Saints will do.