Mel Kiper Re-Grades Saints 2012 NFL Draft

Last April following the 2012 NFL Draft, Mel Kiper offered his initial draft grades for all 32 teams in the league, as he does every year. He gave the Saints a C-.

Related: Mel Kipers's NFL Draft Grade for the Saints

A week ago, Mel Kiper took the time to re-grade the entire 2012 NFL Draft now that the rookies have a complete season under their belt. It's still too early to truly assess the class but it's at least a little more reasonable.

A year later and, unfortunately for the Saints, their 2012 draft class has only proven to be worse than their initial C- grade. Kiper has dropped their grade to a D. Here's what he says:

Summary: There really weren't any expectations for this draft. The Saints didn't have a first-round pick because of a trade, and the NFL stripped them of a pick in Round 2. By the time they picked at No. 90 overall, it was at the point where fans start to become impressed we have good footage on some of the players taken. That certainly qualified when they took defensive tackle Akiem Hicks, who had been playing his college ball in Canada. Hicks isn't a classic sleeper, given he could have been playing at LSU if things had worked out, and towards the end of the season we saw flashes of that talent. But he's no lock to become a starter. Corey White saw some time in the secondary, but that's really the entirety of the first-year contributions out of this draft.

New grade: D

Can't say I really disagree with anything here. Kiper makes some valid points. None of the players drafted by the Saints have proven much. Hopefully Nick Toon stays healthy and picks up the complicated offense. And if Hicks doesn't work out like many of us hope, then this class could wind up being pretty pathetic. Quite possibly, even, the worst in recent years. Thanks, Bountygate!

Am I wrong?

Saints 2012 NFL Draft Class