Saints 2001 NFL Draft in Review

With the Super Bowl over and the possibility of no free agency, there is only one thing left to talk about this off-season: the draft!

After the jump you'll find each of the Saints picks in every round of the 2001 draft as well as the next few picks after the Saints. I have then listed the career stats of those players so that you can decide, in retrospect, if you would take a different player than the one the Saints actually drafted. Forget about needs of the time and just choose the player with the most talent.

Make the jump to see the Saints 2001 draft.

2001 NFL Draft

1st Round

23rd	New Orleans Saints	Deuce McAllister*	RB	Mississippi
24th	Denver Broncos	Willie Middlebrooks	DB	Minnesota
25th	Philadelphia Eagles	Freddie Mitchell	WR	UCLA
26th	Miami Dolphins	Jamar Fletcher	DB	Wisconsin
27th	Minnesota Vikings	Micheal Bennett*	RB	Wisconsin
28th	Oakland Raiders	Derrick Gibson	DB	Florida St.
29th	St. Louis Rams	Ryan Pickett	DT	Ohio State
30th	Indianapolis Colts	Reggie Wayne*	WR	Miami U

(* denotes Pro Bowl)

Deuce McAllister - 1,429 rushing attempts, 6,096 yards rushing, 49 rushing TD, 234 receptions, 1,720 receiving yards, reception TD, 20 fumbles, 13 lost. 9 seasons

Willie Middlebrooks - 62 tackles, 7 passes defended, 1 sack. 5 seasons

Freddie Mitchell - 90 receptions, 1,263 receiving yards, 5 TD, 1 fumble. 4 seasons

Jamar Fletcher - 193 tackles, 26 passes defended, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 7 INT. 9 seasons

Micheal Bennett - 842 rushing attempts, 3703 rushing yards, 13 rushing TD, 159 receptions, 1,294 receiving yards, 6 receiving TD, 15 fumbles, 9 lost. Currently 10th season.

Derrick Gibson - 194 tackles, 11 passes defended, 2 sacks, 3 INT, 1 forced fumble. 6 seasons.

Ryan Pickett - 454 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 24 passes defended, 1 forced fumble. Currently 10th season.

Reggie Wayne - 787 receptions, 10,748 reception yards, 69 receiving TD, 8 fumbles, 5 lost. Currently 10th season

3rd Round

70th	New Orleans Saints	Sedrick Hodge	OLB	UNC
71st	Green Bay Packers	Bhawoh Jue	FS	Penn State
72nd	Green Bay Packers	Torrance Marshall	ILB	Oklahoma
73rd	Jacksonville Jaguars	Westmoreland, Eric Eric Westmoreland	OLB	Tennessee
74th	Carolina Panthers	Smith, Steve Steve Smith*	WR	Utah
75th	Kansas City Chiefs	Eric Downing	DT	Syracuse
76th	Buffalo Bills	Ron Edwards	DT	Texas A&M
77th	Kansas City Chiefs	Marvin Minnis	WR	Florida State

81st	New Orleans Saints	Kenny Smith	DT	Alabama
82nd	Seattle Seahawks	Heath Evans	FB	Auburn
83rd	St. Louis Rams	Brian Allen	OLB	Florida St.
84th	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Smith, Dwight Dwight Smith	FS	Akron
85th	Miami Dolphins	Travis Minor	RB	Florida St.

Sedrick Hodge - 161 tackles, 1 sack, 10 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles. 5 seasons

Bhawoh Jue- 181 tackles, 1.5 sack, 19 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles. 7 seasons

Torrance Marshall- 76 tackles, 1 sack, 2 passes defended, 1 forced fumble. 4 seasons

Eric Westmoreland - 78 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 passes defended, 3 forced fumbles. 4 seasons

Steve Smith - 620 receptions, 8884 receiving yards, 52 receiving TD, 28 fumbles, 10 lost. Currently 10th season

Eric Downing - 44 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 passes defended. 4 seasons

Ron Edwards - 192 tackles, 15.5 sacks, 6 passes defended, 3 forced fumbles. Currently 10th season

Marvin Minnis - 34 receptions, 515 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD. 5 seasons

Kenny Smith - 71 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 2 passes defended. 7 seasons

Heath Evans - 164 rushing attempts, 579 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD, 57 receptions, 439 receiving yards, 4 receiving TD, 3 fumbles, 1 lost. Currently 10th season.

Brian Allen- None

Dwight Smith - 465 tackles, 2 sacks 40 passes defended, 22 INT, 10 forced fumbles. 8 seasons

Travis Minor - 307 rushing attempts, 1230 rushing yards, 8 rushing TD, 67 receptions, 474 receiving yards,1 TD, 1 fumble. 8 seasons.

4th Round

115th	New Orleans Saints	Moran Norris	FB	Kansas
116th	St. Louis Rams	Milton Wynn	WR	Washington State
117th	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	John Howell	SS	Colorado State
118th	Indianapolis Colts	Ryan Diem	OT	Northern Illinois
119th	New England Patriots	Jabari Holloway	TE	Notre Dame

Moran Norris - 28 rushing attempts, 67 yards, 1 rushing TD, 38 receptions, 198 receiving yards, 3 receiving TD, one fumble. Currently in 10th season.

Milton Wynn - 4 receptions, 69 yards. 4 games

John Howell - 100 tackles, 3 passes defended. 5 seasons.

Ryan Diem - 10 seasons as RT for Colts. Currently starting.

Jabari Holloway - 15 receptions, 157 receiving yards. 3 seasons

5th Round

153rd	New Orleans Saints	Ojo, Onome Onome Ojo	WR	California-Davis
154th	Washington Redskins	Darnerien McCants	WR	Delaware St.
155th	Philadelphia Eagles	Feeley, A.J. A. J. Feeley	QB	Oregon
156th	Miami Dolphins	Draper, Shawn Shawn Draper	TE	Alabama
157th	Minnesota Vikings	Patrick Chukwurah	OLB	Wyoming

Onome Ojo - None

Darnerien McCants - 58 receptions, 774 receiving yards, 8 receiving TD, 1 fumble lost. 5 seasons. Currently in CFL.

A.J. Feely - 372 completions, 665 attempts, 4070 passing yards, 27 TD, 29 INT, 34 sacks. Currently 10th season.

Shawn Draper - None

Patrick Chukwurah - 81 tackles, 9 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 3 passes defended. 7 seasons.

6th Round

185th	New Orleans Saints	Mitch White	OT	Oregon State
186th	Washington Redskins	Mario Monds	DT	Cincinnati
187th	Miami Dolphins	Otis Leverette	DE	UAB
188th	Miami Dolphins	Rick Crowell	LB	Colorado St.
189th	Minnesota Vikings	Carey Scott	CB	Kentucky St.

Mitch White - None

Mario Monds - 6 tackles. 3 seasons.

Otis Leverette - 31 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT. 4 seasons

Rick Crowell - None

Carey Scott - 2 tackle. 3 seasons.

7th Round

221st	New Orleans Saints	Ennis Davis	DT	USC
222nd	Seattle Seahawks	Dennis Norman	C	Princeton
223rd	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Than Merrill	SS	Yale
224th	San Francisco 49ers	Eric Johnson	TE	Yale
225th	Minnesota Vikings	Brian Crawford	OT	Western Oregon

Ennis Davis - None

Dennis Norman - Journeyman center. 9 seasons.

Than Merrill - 7 tackles. 2 seasons

Eric Johnson - 240 receptions, 2178 receiving yards, 9 receiving TD, 3 fumbles, 2 lost. 5 seasons.

Brian Crawford - None

My thoughts

Taking into consideration as to where the Saints drafted, they didn't do half bad. Most of the guys around them were either special teamers or back ups. The only real impact player that the Saints could of had was wide receiver Steve Smith. The Saints could have kept Smith out of the hands of Carolina and they would have had a veteran No. 1 receiver to go alongside Marques Colston right now. Otherwise, the draft was pretty meh.

What do you think? Could this draft have been improved? Any thoughts to add or change to mine?