It’s been over 15 years since the Saints last drafted a linebacker that was of any worth whatsoever. Mark Fields was the last Saints linebacker to start and make a Pro Bowl. Since Fields in 1995, consider all the linebackers we’ve drafted:
Chris Bordano, 6th round, SMU
Sedrick Hodge, 3rd round, UNC (pictured)
James Allen, 3rd round, Oregon State
Cie Grant, 3rd round, Ohio State
Courtney Watson, 2nd round, Notre Dame
Colby Bockwoldt, 7th round, BYU
Alfred Fincher, 3rd round, UConn
Marvin Mitchell, 7th round, Tennessee
Stanley Arnoux, 4th round, Wake Forest
And now, most recently Martez Wilson in the 3rd round and Nate Bussey in the 7th round of this past draft, both out of Illinois.
Of the linebackers I’ve just listed, none of them are in the NFL anymore with the exception of Mitchell and Arnoux, who are both backups/role players hanging on by a thread. I’m hoping Wilson/Bussey can buck the recent trade of atrocious linebackers we keep getting our hands on. Granted the Jim Haslett era was mostly responsible for this (ironic in that Haslett was an NFL linebacker and known as a defensive guru), but the Sean Payton era hasn’t done much to change the culture of young linebackers we bring in.
Can Martez Wilson and/or Nate Bussey finally bring us back to the Dome Patrol era of performance? It would be nice to groom a linebacker, for once, that actually had worth.
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