While I disagree with the notion, there’s been plenty of talk this year that Drew Brees has finally hit the dreaded decline that forces the Saints to contemplate the future. During the season, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network dropped this bomb suggesting the Saints are planning to draft a quarterback “high” in the 2015 draft. And when you consider the examples that the article gives like Brock Osweiler being drafted by the Broncos or Ryan Mallett being drafted by the Patriots, is it really that crazy to think the Saints might go for a quarterback in the 2nd or 3rd round? Personally I could stomach that a lot easier if the defense wasn’t in such a bad way.
Currently the Saints have a veteran backup in Luke McCown, freshly re-signed, and Ryan Griffin. Some of us were surprised that Griffin didn’t win the backup job over McCown last year and the fact that McCown is already back for more suggests Griffin hasn’t really developed to the point where the Saints would trust him blindly. And if they don’t trust him as the backup now, it seems fair to strongly question if he’s the heir apparent. On the flipside, Griffin has been given a 53 man roster spot at various times in both 2013 and 2014. The Saints were willing to risk losing him, too, but they also did enough to ensure he stuck around. It’s hard to know where that leaves him in the big picture and this certainly feels like a huge year for Griffin if he’s going to have a future in New Orleans. He absolutely has to beat out McCown.
But going back to Rapoport’s practical guarantee of a hot shot young arm coming on board after this upcoming draft, the idea here is the future “guy” has to study behind Brees. Any scenario involving Brees’ replacement has to include Brees teaching him the ropes, right? Well, there’s a couple schools of thoughts on that one. There’s the examples of Steve Young and Aaron Rodgers, sitting behind Joe Montana and Brett Favre for years before being handed the keys. There’s also the examples of Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, who took the league by storm almost immediately with no tutelage. My thought there is that if you have the luxury of a quarterback of Brees’ stature, having him as a mentor for even one season is a nice benefit. It certainly doesn’t hurt. Any youngster that learns how to prepare, act like a professional and lead from Drew will be better off.
Worth noting that the only quarterback Sean Payton has ever drafted in New Orleans was Sean Canfield (pictured above) in the 7th round of 2010. He turned out to be very much like most 7th round picks in that he was out of the league in a few years.
As we get deeper into the evaluation of prospects we’ll revisit this and see who might be the right guy to select. For the time being, though, the question is simple. Do you believe this is the year to draft someone high? Meaning no later than the 5th round, let’s say, but more likely somewhere in the 2nd to 4th round range? Do you think Griffin could be the guy, or has the time come to invest a high pick in someone else?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
