In light of all the recent news surrounding Brian Cushing's four game suspension for a positive drug test in September and inspired by this tweet from Larry Holder...
For any of those who thought the #Saints missed out on #Texans LB Brian Cushing, now what you thinking?
...I thought it would be interesting to see how everyone now feels about the Saints 2009 first round draft pick, one year later.
With the fourteenth pick last year, the Saints selected Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins as expected and to the delight of most fans. Still on the board, however, was the player I chose in our community mock draft: USC linebacker and eventual Rookie of the Year, Brian Cushing.
From a production standpoint, I think it would be safe to say that Cushing has proved more valuable than Jenkins when comparing rookie seasons. With linebacker still a position of need for the Saints and cornerback locked down by Tracy Porter and Jabari Greer, the team might currently be more well-rounded had they taken Cushing last year. Some of you may have even been thinking the Saints made a mistake after seeing the season Cushing put together last year. But is all the drama that he now finds himself in and a four game suspension on the horizon worth having his talent?
Also on the board at the time was now Dolphins cornerback Vontae Davis, who put together a pretty nice rookie season himself with forty-seven tackles, four interceptions and eleven pass deflections. Davis was the other popular mock draft choice and in the month or so leading up to the draft, most draft "experts" who didn't have the Saints taking Jenkins predicted Davis would be the pick. In retrospect, would you rather have seen the Saints take Vontae Davis to help their secondary?
Perhaps none of this matters and you feel that Malcolm Jenkins, whether as a cornerback or a safety, will eventually prove to be the smartest pick of the three over the course of each of their careers. Or maybe you wish the Saints had gone in a completely different direction altogether.
It's time to play the old "Second Guess" game. Further discussion and elaboration can be had in the comment section below. This should be interesting.