With the NFL draft coming up, most people always wonder the same thing: who will my team draft with their 1st round pick? Sure, that has significant importance. Most of the time, though, that 1st round selection doesn’t live up to the hype. Instead, many of the drafted players picked behind that 1st rounder end up performing better, exceeding expectations. The draft is always looked at as building a foundation for a team. While the Saints’ current regime has definitely done that, I think they should be applauded most for their ability to help their team in a variety of ways. While they’ve been successful in the draft, they’ve also had some misses. What’s separated the Saints from other teams is there ability to find talent away from the top part of the NFL draft.
Consider the top picks of the Sean Payton era:
2006: Reggie Bush – He was the 2nd pick overall, and while he’s a good role player and a big name that everyone recognizes, I think it’s fair to say he never lived up to the hype. He’s still struggling to find the success at the pro level. There’s no question he’s dangerous and explosive, capable of making huge plays for his team, but he’s shown no consistency through his career. He’s also been injured a lot.
2007: Robert Meachem – He hardly played at all for two entire seasons. His third season was fantastic and he had a breakout year, but last year he reverted back to being a little disappointing. 4 years into his career, I think you can say he’s pretty good and he has promise, but he’s yet to put it all together.
2008: Sedrick Ellis – This guy is still improving, but I’d say he’s close to being a difference maker. I don’t know that he’ll reach superstar status, but he’s a very solid defensive tackle in the NFL. This was a solid pick.
2009: Malcolm Jenkins – He’s getting adjusted pretty quickly to a position switch. I think it’s fair to say he’ll be the full time free safety next year ahead of Darren Sharper. He made some huge plays in 2010 and I think he’s poised to possibly have a monster season in 2011.
2010: Patrick Robinson – The jury is still out on him. Looked promising at times, a little disappointing at others. A so-so rookie year but I think he’ll get better.
Of all the players I just listed, I think you can say that they are all contributors with the possible exception of Robinson. I think you can also say that none of them are superstars on the team. Jenkins and Ellis are close. Meachem is that way sometimes. Bush is that way sometimes.
But let’s look at some of the other difference makers on the team and how they were acquired:
Drew Brees – Free Agency
Pierre Thomas – Undrafted Rookie Free Agent
Chris Ivory – Undrafted Rookie Free Agent
Marques Colston – 7th Round Draft Choice
Jeremy Shockey – Trade
Jahri Evans – 4th Round Draft Choice
Lance Moore – Undrafted Rookie Free Agent
Carl Nicks – 5th Round Draft Choice
Will Smith – 1st Round Draft Choice from Haslett Era
Jonathan Vilma – Trade
Jabari Greer – Free Agency
Tracy Porter – 2nd Round Draft Choice
Darren Sharper – Free Agency
Roman Harper – 2nd Round Draft Choice
Aside from Reggie Bush, I would say that the 14 names listed above are the biggest names on the team, and the most prominent “superstars”. How many were drafted by the Saints in the first round? One. And guess what, he was drafted by Jim Haslett, not Payton. So of the remaining 13 “superstars”, 3 were undrafted rookie free agents, 3 were free agents, 3 were drafted in the 4th round or lower, 2 were 2nd round picks, and 2 were traded for. That’s a pretty wide variety of “how acquired” if you ask me. If you were to look at how the Patriots buillt their empire, it would look very much the same way. The point is, while there’s a tendency to put a lot of stock in who your team will pick in the 1st round – the next difference maker could just as easily be an undrafted rookie, or a free agent, or some guy we trade for. And here’s the good news: based on past history, the people currently in place in the Saints’ organization have perfected the ways of finding the right guys.
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