Saints need speed

Looking towards the draft and to the history of the last few years there is some trend that I noticed: speed! Some of the recent draft picks the Saints have made were speedy guys, and not just a bit speedy, but very very fast. With the arrival of Jeff Ireland that might change, though. However the speed guys drafted have been all on offense. That tells me Sean Payton loves speed, and with him saying they need to get faster to the ball we could assume he would like to get more speed on defense too.

Let’s take a look at a few of the Saints’ additions in the last years.

• 2011 – Joe Morgan, Undrafted: He was an under the radar guy with a 4.40 40 yard dash. A seriously speedy guy.
• 2013 – Terron Armstead: With 4.71 40yd the absolute fastest OLine man ever in the Combine.
• 2013 – Kenney Stills: With 4:38 40yd in the combine one of the fastest guys in the draft and a good find at round 5.
• 2014 – Brandin Cooks: 4:33 40yd in the Combine. Fastest WR of the 2014 class.

So what are some positions the Saints would like to draft guys and where do they need speed? Of course the skill positions; TE/WR could be drafted early. A very late round RB might be an option too. But next to that I expect the Saints to draft a speedy LB and maybe even a speedy CB. With the acquisition of Brandon Browner the Saints have a huge upgrade with a physical guy at that position, but what happens when you meet teams with speedy guys? Browner is not the youngest and might need to be swapped out a few times with a speedy talent guy. Slight disclaimer; The only data I have to go on is internet/combine information.

• RB: None! There is no RB that is very speedy. Only guy close to 4.42 in the combine Jeremy Langford Michigan St., but what I read on him is that he lacks speed. Go figure.
• TE: Mycole Pruitt, Southwestern Illinois. This guy could be an excellent replacement for Jimmy Graham. He is the fastest TE in the draft, he was a top performer in some other categories as well. He is projected to go late 2nd / 3rd. If he is there when the Saints pick in the 3rd round I think this guy could be someone Sean Payton is in love with.
• WR: Saints will definitely draft a WR. Possibly 2. One to replace Colston in the future and one to bring some speed. There are a lot of potential WRs out there. Saints gooing #13 overall is even a possibility. One guy to watch is J.J. Nelson, UAB. He is absolutely the fastest WR out there, projected to go in the 6th or 7th round.
• LB: Vic Beasley, Clemson. You have heard about this guy before. The fastest LB in the combine. If he is there at #13 you can welcome your newest Saint right there. As far as ILB is concerned; Stephone Anthony, also from Clemson is the fastest ILB in the combine. He is said to not have the real side-to-side speed and has difficulties disengaging blockers. That said, he has been projected to go as early as the end of round 1. If this guy is there when the Saints pick in round 2 I am looking for this guys name to be mentioned.
• CB: Well Trae Waynes, Michigan St. is the fastest guy in the combine, but I do not expect the Saints to go so high for a corner. There are a lot of fast guys at this position this year so it is hard to single out one guy that Payton would like. I think a 5th round pick would be a good position to draft a CB given the current roster. But a late 3rd could be also a possibility. Guys like Craig Mager, Texas St. or Josh Shaw, USC are projected to be there in the 5th, where a guy like Ronald Darby, Florida St. is possibly there in a 3rd round. A guy who I am paying attention to is D’Joun Smith, Florida Atlantic which would fit into the Saints history of drafting players from small colleges.