New Orleans Saints NFL Draft History

The Washington Post made a great graphic article on each of the 32 NFL team's draft history. To see the full article on the New Orleans Saints, click here.

The Washington Post has the Saints with a slightly above-average draft history since 1996, ranking 12 out of 32 teams. Coming in first are the Pittsburgh Steelers, and (no surprise here:) the Cleveland Browns are picking up the rear at #32. Of the Saints's NFC South rivals, only the Carolina Panthers rank ahead of the Saints (at #6), with the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming in at 19 and 20 respectively.

The Saints average draft position since 1996 is 16, and the Saints have obviously had some hits and misses along the years. The Washington Post breaks down players into six categories: Useless, Poor, Average, Good, Great, and Legendary. The Saints have had plenty of "Useless" players drafted, like G Andrew Tiller, CB David Jones, and FB Moran Norris to name a few. Coming in at "Great," the Saints have RB Deuce McAllister, offensive lineman Zack Strief and Carl Nicks, former Saint WR Marques Colston, and the late Will Smith, DE. The Saints only have one "Legendary" player the Saints drafted according to the Post, and that would be recently-released lineman Jahri Evans.

Evans was ranked the best single selection in Saints draft history, with DT Jonathan Sullivan coming in as the biggest draft bust. With Evans, Strief, and Colston all coming in the 2006 NFL Draft, it's easy to see how that draft class was ranked the Saints best class since 1996.

Overall, the article is a very fun read, and even if you don't agree with every point on every player, it's definitely worth checking out.