The Saints have signed a number of UDFA’s, 19 in total and have already cut 2 of them and signed 3 new ones. If any of you can name 2 without looking it up I will buy you a beer next time I see you. This week me and Brian will be looking into the Saints UDFA class and name a few guys who we think can make the team. As an extra bonus we will name a guy that gets cut because of the signing. This will start out pretty straight forward, but our last guys will be interesting! So here I go:
Marijn Pessers (@Monedula_)
First up Guard Landon Turner. He is the guy that could have gone the 3th round I hear. Give it a week or 2 and someone will tell you he had a 2nd round grade. Lets just hope in a few years nobody will understand why he did not go 1st overall. However this guy did drop out of the draft. But as the Saints do have 0 depth behind Lelito and Kelemete they have no choice but to keep him.
They cut: Caleb Eulls. He was a surprise to make it last year and they drafted 2 D-linemen who I think will make the team. He is too far buried on the depth chart to make it.
Brian, who do you see make the team?
Brian Bauer (@SaintBrian9)
Going the exact same route Marijn – Turner was a projected fourth rounder and with the aforementioned depth you just laid out at the position, they’ll hang on to him. I will take it a tad further than no choice – lots of good things written about Turner and to be honest, his initial pedigree started higher than Lelito’s did. I can actually see this guy getting playing time and rotating throughout the game. Eulls is a great call, but I’m gonna take a chance here and say it’s Damian Swann. He’s down three concussions already a reckless driving charge in March isn’t going to do him a lot of favors with Payton/Loomis.
With my second signing I’m going with Jordan Williams, the wide receiver from Ball State. I know we just drafted Michael Thomas and the admittedly had similar superlatives, but Williams is very much the type of receiver the Saints have drafted in the past and like to employ. Per the scouting report: “Williams has excellent size, he is gifted at tracking the ball in the air and adjusting to it, and he has great hands easily plucking the ball out of the air from its high point.” Sounds a little Colston-ish to me, and the kind of guy they’d keep around to push Brandon Coleman to the next level, or off the roster. They cut: Travaris Cadet. My gut here tells me there’s pruning to do at running back and that Cadet winds up yo-yo-ing back and forth with the team through the season.
MP
Good pick, I myself was eyeing a WR possibly but then I would cut Coleman. I think the guy is not going to perform well, or rather be out performed by a rookie. That means you have him at #5 WR. He will be cut, put on the practice squad in favor of a RB on special teams. Because the #5 WR spot is a special teams one. That said, I am not going to name a WR as my second choice, possibly my 3rd though. The guy cut will be Coleman, but for my UDFA guy to be on the 53 man roster it will be an other O-linemen. It will be Center Jack Allen. They are looking for the best O-linemen there. My philosophy is that if you can play Center you can play Guard. Lelito can play all 3 spots and he is for not the starter Guard. So he is not your backup center any more so they need one. I am going with Andrew Juge his research on this one and he mentioned him being an option in round 4 or 5. That would suffice to make him a backup and special teams guy.
BB
I like Allen a lot and almost went with him as my 2nd. Only thing about Allen I’m keeping an eye on though is his size. He’s relatively short for a guard (6-2, under 300 lbs), which probably makes him better suited for center (which could also potentially make him the third keeper they take, as it’s Unger and ???). Meanwhile, Avery Young, who played all over the line at Auburn is 6-6, 310, and may be more immediately game ready than Allen, if it’s one or the other. I like Young here to take my third spot, as basically a utility man who can rotate at guard and tackle. Need more? Was also projected in our 4 or 5. So there you go! As for who gets the axe, I’m taking Marijn’s Kaleb Eulls suggestion if only because of the glut he mentioned on the defensive line. Only so much room.
MP
So my last guy to make it. I think I should go defense here. And by just the numbers side of things, they do not have much depth at safety. Safeties are relatively fast guys and thus ideal for a special teams spot which you have to be able to play as an UDFA. Now this next guy is not that fast but he comes as a Payton favorite according to his NFL write up. I am talking about Micheal Caputo. Very Italian, or possibly Yiddish for “broken”. Anyway here is the conclusion form NFL.com: “Safety who is best suited near the line of scrimmage and who is more than willing to step up and do his part against the run. Caputo is the type of durable leader that defensive coordinators will like and he has some special teams value, but his lack of speed and limitations in coverage could hurt his draft chances.” Sounds to me a perfect guy for the nickle spot as the Saints like to play them.
Now for the guy to not make it, I go with… Br<?>n.Dixon I do not know which Dixon honestly, since there are currently 2 CB Dixons on the team, Brian and Brandon. You do not need a CB in the nickle if you have an extra Safety. One less depth needed there. Oh and they do keep Swann.
BB
One thing I’ll say for sure is that while this has been a fun little exercise, it might not be that far from the truth to have three UDFA guys make the team. I’ve read in numerous places that the Saints had the best UDFA haul, and for a team that’s fond of retaining these guys (and who only ended up with 5 picks to begin with) it wouldn’t surprise me if they kept even 4-5 (even if 2-3 are eventually cut and wind up on the practice squad). Remember – some teams like San Francisco drafted along the lines of 11 guys … adding 5 UDFAs to our flock suddenly doesn’t seem so unrealistic.
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