The Saints drafts the last several years before 2015 have been BAD. This much we know. Had they been able to use their 2012 and 2013 2nd round picks, there’s a strong chance they would have blown it. I’m of course referring to the selections taken away as part of the Bountygate penalty, handed down by the one and only Roger Goodell. But what if those picks would have been defensive contributors? Would we have suffered through a Saints unit as bad off defensively? It got me curious.
The 59th pick in 2012 was what the Saints “forfeited”. The Eagles ended up picking right after them with that same slot and they took defensive end Vinny Curry out of Marshall. Curry just received a 5 year, $47.25 million extension from the Eagles this offseason. Curry’s best year was 2014 when he finished with 9 sacks. Curry has been a pass rushing specialist only, but the Eagles are expected to promote him to starter this year after the contract he received. He’s had 16.5 sacks in his career so far, including 3.5 last year. A world beater? No, but the Saints could sure use a plus situational pass rusher right now. In fact, Curry would be a top two pass rusher on the Saints immediately. The pick taken 60th right after that, in case you were curious? Kelechi Osemele. The Raiders just gave him a 5 year $58 million contract this offseason. Safe to say he would have helped the offensive line woes the past few years.
The 45th pick in 2013 was what the Saints again “forfeited”. The Cardinals ended up picking right after them with that same slot and they took linebacker Kevin Minter out of LSU. Minter started 16 games last year for one of the league’s best defenses and finished with 94 tackles at MLB. The Saints could have used some talent at linebacker. The next guy picked? NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2013 Kiko Alonso. He started 16 games as a rookie and had 159 tackles to go with 4 interceptions. Three of the next six picks were studs DT Johnathan Hankins, RB Le’Veon Bell and LB Jamie Collins. That really hurts.
We don’t know if the Saints would have ever taken any of those guys I just listed. And we don’t know if they would have been any good had they been selected by the Saints. Different environments can turn the same player into different performers. But we do know they would have been available when it was the Saints turn to pick. And man, the roster’s overall talent would look SO much better with two of the people I just named. Any of them, really.
Thanks, Rog.
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