Drew Brees is “The Boss”, but it’s Time: Saints Should Look Hard at Kyle Lauletta

Our favorite quarterback, Drew Brees is possibly a free agent on 3-14-18. It is highly unlikely the Saints and Drew don’t avoid this scenario before then. Both the Saints and Mr. Brees have expressed the desire to work out an new contract before then and it would be very costly for the organization not to do so. If Drew hits the open market, not only will they have to compete with other teams for his services, but 18 mil will immediately convert into a cap hit. Drew appears to have a lot of bargaining power in the negotiations, but he also must realize this team is the most complete team he has had to surround him in recent years. Regardless of how the new contract plays out, we can reasonably expect our star to play for about 2 years.

This is definitely the year the Saints should look ahead for the next “Boss”. I give you Kyle Lauletta as a great, reasonable, option. Of all the big names ahead on him on the draft radar, it was Kyle’s play in the Senior Bowl who won the MVP award. Before the Senior Bowl, most had Lauletta as a 5th or later round pick. Walter Football has even moved him up to a potential 2nd round candidate. Kyle stands at 6’3, 217 lbs and his biggest claimed weakness which I believed he answer resoundingly at the Senior Bowl, was arm strength weakness.

Kyle Lauletta, QB, Richmond

Kyle Lauletta was named MVP of the Senior Bowl, but didn’t have the best start. He threw behind running back Rashaad Penny and then was strip-sacked, but was lucky that a teammate recovered. After that, however, Lauletta sliced and diced the North team’s helpless defense.

Lauletta’s first great pass was a 74-yard touchdown bomb to LSU receiver D.J. Chark. On the next drive, he hit a tight end down the seam despite throwing from his own end zone. The completion went for 41 yards. Lauletta then avoided two sacks somehow on a play that had the crowd oohing and ahhing. He actually looked like Eli Manning on the Helmet Catch play in Super Bowl XLII, but without the actual helmet catch throw. ,br> At any rate, Lauletta followed all of this up with a beautiful fade pass to Central Florida receiver Tre’Quan Smith for a 42-yard gain. This set up a sequence in the red zone when Lauletta moved in the pocket and fired a touchdown in a small window to his second read.

Lauletta wasn’t done. He had nice pocket movement on a play in which he found Chark for a 13-yard completion. He then fired a strike to Oklahoma State receiver Marcell Ateman for his third score. The pass was impressive, as Lauletta fit the ball into a tiny window on a slant.

Lauletta finished 8-of-12 for 198 yards and three touchdowns. The Richmond product has average size (6-2) and arm strength, but he’s accurate and smart. He was seen as a mid-round prospect before the Senior Bowl, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a team desperate for a quarterback took him in the second round.

2018 NFL Draft Projection: 2nd-4th Round

From NFL Draft Profiles:

STRENGTHS

Heralded by scouts as team leader and elected team captain twice. Production saw major spike over the last two seasons. Uses eyes to move linebackers out of his passing lanes on slants and curls. Won’t automatically dump throws down to backs. Willing to let route combinations progress while climbing and sliding away from heat. Has experience from shotgun, pistol and under center. Footwork is smooth in play-action and setup. Comfortable throwing on the move. Gets it out early on timing throws. Spins a tight spiral. Able to throw accurately to intermediate targets on the move.

The 75 yard bomb seems to put to bed the weak arm hypothesis. In his “Draft Profile it’s claimed he uses his mechanics to over come this. Hmm, sounds like another Midget QB I know. Believe me when I say I watched him make this throw and many others and saw no sign of a lack of arm strength. His touch, and pocket abilities were evident as well. Every thing I’ve seen and read about this QB prospect virtually screams Drew Brees.

Let’s face it, unless the Saints are willing to make some major present and future draft trades they aren’t in the position to trade up for one of the consensus 1st round prospects. We don’t have a 2nd round pick at the moment so we don’t have to worry about the team stretching that far. I’d consider making that call in the 3rd round. Rotoworld in fact thinks the Patriots will take him in the 3rd. We pick ahead of New England in the 3rd round and while the Patriots have an extra late second round pick they could use for Kyle, it’s far from certain they’ll even take him. If Lauletta is the BPA at our pick I wouldn’t have a problem making that decision. It’s also entirely possible he could fall into the 4th round. This is one of the key positions I’ll be watching during combine week. Kyle Lauletta’s stock is currently on the rise and he could very well improve his standings during the combine.

Here’s an interesting link showing the full 2018 draft order from Tankathon. I like it because it not only shows each teams placement in each round, it also shows which trades were given from each team to another.

Of course I’m sure many will disagrees with my thought processes so feel free to make your own opinions known, as well as call me out.