Missing from the Saints 2007 draft were many things – starters the most obvious. What I noticed though were several more subtle voids. Those were the obvious pick (Reggie Bush), the high-character guy (Roman Harper), the small-school value (Jahri Evans), and the late-round steal (Marques Colston). Not that the Saints were expected to mimic verbatim the format they followed for the 2006 draft, but not to repeat any of the planning that made drafting in '06 so successful was dumbfounding. With the 2008 NFL draft less than two weeks away, will the Saints make the same mistakes they made in '07, or will they remember why they tasted success in '06?
To understand just how pathetic last year's personnel moves were, I offer a reminder of the 2006 off-season – the good one, remember? This was the year the Saints could do no wrong. During free agency, they signed would-be starters Drew Brees, Scott Fujita, Scott Shanle, and Mark Simoneau (acquired from the Stallworth trade with Philadelphia). Then, on draft day they grabbed FIVE more starters, including Roman Harper, Jahri Evans, Marques Colston, and draft-day acquisitions Jeff Faine and Hollis Thomas. And if getting nine starters in one off-season wasn't good enough, the Saints also brought home the draft-day headliner and #2 overall pick Reggie Bush. Loomis and Payton replaced Aaron Brooks and Donte' Stallworth with Drew Brees and Marques Colston and plugged in the other eight additions to completely revamp the starting lineup and depth chart on both sides of the ball. Then, with 10 completely new faces, they marched all the way to Soldier Field for the NFC Championship game. Wow! First year coach + nearly 50% personnel turnover = most successful year in Saints history.
Unfortunately, that divine inspiration that guided Payton and Loomis in year one was nowhere to be found during the 2007 off-season. To their credit, the coach and manager aggressively set out to upgrade talent; however, this time around they wouldn't be as lucky. On defense they brought in three hopefuls: linebacker Brian Simmons, safety Kevin Kaesviharn (both from the Bengals) and cornerback Jason David (from the defending champion Colts). Brian Simmons could never unseat incumbent Mark Simoneau at middle linebacker, and unfortunately, Jason David did unseat Fred Thomas. We all know how that worked out. And, as for Kaesviharn, I'm still scratching my head as to why he did not replace Josh Bullocks at starting free-safety. I guess the reality that Bullocks' jersey never needed washing on Mondays was not reason enough to bench the man. Attempted remodeling also took place on offense as the organization brought in Eric Johnson with the hope of giving its pro-bowl quarterback another consistent outlet in the passing game. Johnson proved to be a favorite target, just an incredibly inconsistent one.
As was the case during free agency, the Saints also came up empty in the 2007 draft. Saints brass selected Robert Meachem, Usama Young, Andy Alleman, Antonio Pittman, Jermon Bushrod, David Jones, and Marvin Mitchell. None would start and only two would see any playing time. The Saints' questionable picks ranged from drafting Meachem in the 1st Round despite his long injury-history at Tennessee, to trading up in the 4th Round for Antonio Pittman, then cutting him in favor of undrafted free-agent Pierre Thomas. Even cornerback Usama Young was seemingly taken a round too early (2nd pick of the 3rd); and nearly a year later, we still don't know if the small-school product will find a home in New Orleans' secondary.
In all, only 2 starters (notice I said starters, not upgrades) and 3 reserves were added to the mix in '07. That's a far cry from the year before, which saw 9 starters and several other back-ups upgrading their respective positions. The Saints went from playing in the NFC championship game in 2006 to finishing second-to-last in the weakest division in professional football in 2007. Was it bad coaching and execution? Maybe. Was it bad personnel decisions? Definitely.
Perhaps Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis got ahead of themselves in 2007. Maybe they were a little too stubborn and overconfident. The good news is that Loomis and Payton's ineptitude last year has not prevented the two from getting back to their 2006 roots. The work done thus far in free agency has been extraordinary, reminding me of the moves made during the '06 off-season. The decision to bring in Jonathan Vilma, a high profile, highly productive player who had been recently undervalued by his former team, was similar to the one the organization made with Drew Brees. If healthy, and it appears he will be, Vilma should be the leader of our defense next season. Bobbie McCray and Randall Gay both bring a workman-like attitude to the team much the same way former '06 acquisitions Scott Fujita and Jeff Faine did. Moreover, unlike Brian Simmons last year, all of the Saints' newly-acquired free agents are entering the prime of their career and have good reason for their apparent motivation. We can reasonably believe that none have come to New Orleans just to collect a pay check.
The Saints are indeed showing signs of learning from last years missteps in duplicating their 2006 efforts thus far in free agency. However, the real test will come on April 26th at the NFL Draft. They must remember the little things that made their draft so successful two years ago. If Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis can adhere to the same patience and aptitude they demonstrated in their first draft together, they are bound to find major contributors with their 6 selections. No misses like Antonio Pittman, no unnecessary reaches like Usama Young, no high risks like Robert Meachem -- just solid, value-based drafting. Instead of over thinking each selection, take the obvious pick, choose the "character" guy, and draft for that all-too-important "value." If Loomis and Payton do this, there's a great chance they will reap the benefits during the regular season and return to the one thing all of us want to see – winning in 2008.
To understand just how pathetic last year's personnel moves were, I offer a reminder of the 2006 off-season – the good one, remember? This was the year the Saints could do no wrong. During free agency, they signed would-be starters Drew Brees, Scott Fujita, Scott Shanle, and Mark Simoneau (acquired from the Stallworth trade with Philadelphia). Then, on draft day they grabbed FIVE more starters, including Roman Harper, Jahri Evans, Marques Colston, and draft-day acquisitions Jeff Faine and Hollis Thomas. And if getting nine starters in one off-season wasn't good enough, the Saints also brought home the draft-day headliner and #2 overall pick Reggie Bush. Loomis and Payton replaced Aaron Brooks and Donte' Stallworth with Drew Brees and Marques Colston and plugged in the other eight additions to completely revamp the starting lineup and depth chart on both sides of the ball. Then, with 10 completely new faces, they marched all the way to Soldier Field for the NFC Championship game. Wow! First year coach + nearly 50% personnel turnover = most successful year in Saints history.Unfortunately, that divine inspiration that guided Payton and Loomis in year one was nowhere to be found during the 2007 off-season. To their credit, the coach and manager aggressively set out to upgrade talent; however, this time around they wouldn't be as lucky. On defense they brought in three hopefuls: linebacker Brian Simmons, safety Kevin Kaesviharn (both from the Bengals) and cornerback Jason David (from the defending champion Colts). Brian Simmons could never unseat incumbent Mark Simoneau at middle linebacker, and unfortunately, Jason David did unseat Fred Thomas. We all know how that worked out. And, as for Kaesviharn, I'm still scratching my head as to why he did not replace Josh Bullocks at starting free-safety. I guess the reality that Bullocks' jersey never needed washing on Mondays was not reason enough to bench the man. Attempted remodeling also took place on offense as the organization brought in Eric Johnson with the hope of giving its pro-bowl quarterback another consistent outlet in the passing game. Johnson proved to be a favorite target, just an incredibly inconsistent one.
As was the case during free agency, the Saints also came up empty in the 2007 draft. Saints brass selected Robert Meachem, Usama Young, Andy Alleman, Antonio Pittman, Jermon Bushrod, David Jones, and Marvin Mitchell. None would start and only two would see any playing time. The Saints' questionable picks ranged from drafting Meachem in the 1st Round despite his long injury-history at Tennessee, to trading up in the 4th Round for Antonio Pittman, then cutting him in favor of undrafted free-agent Pierre Thomas. Even cornerback Usama Young was seemingly taken a round too early (2nd pick of the 3rd); and nearly a year later, we still don't know if the small-school product will find a home in New Orleans' secondary.
In all, only 2 starters (notice I said starters, not upgrades) and 3 reserves were added to the mix in '07. That's a far cry from the year before, which saw 9 starters and several other back-ups upgrading their respective positions. The Saints went from playing in the NFC championship game in 2006 to finishing second-to-last in the weakest division in professional football in 2007. Was it bad coaching and execution? Maybe. Was it bad personnel decisions? Definitely.
Perhaps Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis got ahead of themselves in 2007. Maybe they were a little too stubborn and overconfident. The good news is that Loomis and Payton's ineptitude last year has not prevented the two from getting back to their 2006 roots. The work done thus far in free agency has been extraordinary, reminding me of the moves made during the '06 off-season. The decision to bring in Jonathan Vilma, a high profile, highly productive player who had been recently undervalued by his former team, was similar to the one the organization made with Drew Brees. If healthy, and it appears he will be, Vilma should be the leader of our defense next season. Bobbie McCray and Randall Gay both bring a workman-like attitude to the team much the same way former '06 acquisitions Scott Fujita and Jeff Faine did. Moreover, unlike Brian Simmons last year, all of the Saints' newly-acquired free agents are entering the prime of their career and have good reason for their apparent motivation. We can reasonably believe that none have come to New Orleans just to collect a pay check.
The Saints are indeed showing signs of learning from last years missteps in duplicating their 2006 efforts thus far in free agency. However, the real test will come on April 26th at the NFL Draft. They must remember the little things that made their draft so successful two years ago. If Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis can adhere to the same patience and aptitude they demonstrated in their first draft together, they are bound to find major contributors with their 6 selections. No misses like Antonio Pittman, no unnecessary reaches like Usama Young, no high risks like Robert Meachem -- just solid, value-based drafting. Instead of over thinking each selection, take the obvious pick, choose the "character" guy, and draft for that all-too-important "value." If Loomis and Payton do this, there's a great chance they will reap the benefits during the regular season and return to the one thing all of us want to see – winning in 2008.
6 comments:
great article, but is the concussion machine Morgan really in his prime?
nice take on it, but can you ever really expect another turnaround like the 2006 season in terms of picking up that many new starters?
we were able to get that many because we had completely overhauled the team, and dumped most of the old players anyway. if you fire the starter and then hire someone else you've "replaced a starter", but now these new guys have to unseat the person in front of them.
now i agree there were many missteps in last year's draft, and hopefully we can do better, but the jury's still out on some of our players last year. I think part of the front office strategy was the impression that we did not need impact players that year (since we did so well the previous year). we could go after projects who could blossom into great players.
i still hope meacham can turn into a quality #2 wr opposite to colston. i think one of the worst moves we made was getting rid of joe horn, a great on the field leader, fan favorite, and he could still produce on the field.
great take and i agree, although i don't know that we'll ever quite see another "2006" because --hopefully-- we'll never need another overhaul like that
I half to agree that Morgan is nothing more than a gamble....The guy is a walking concussion….
As far as claiming that Usama Young is a reach, I would not go quite that far. The best DB's in last year's draft was probably Aaron Ross taken at 20 and Darrel Revis taken at 14. Usama Young was really not a reach when you consider the run that the league put on CB's last year, and the fact that there were not many good DB prospects in FA.
Usama Young I think will turn out to be a great player for the Saints. He has good size at 6'0'' and around 200lbs. Not to mention he has the ability Sean Payton covets most and that is speed. He clocked a 4.3 He will hopefully take over that Nickel spot in this years team and possibly could be a contributor for that 2nd starting spot next to Gay (assuming we do not take a CB in the draft or by trade) Especially since McKenzie might not return until November at 100%
He has great speed and size and those are 2 intangibles that you need to succeed covering NFL WR's…
Also an immediate impact is needed from your 1st pick, but after that you need to at least wait another year before you can truly grade last year’s draft.
ctalati32: 100% agreed on Joe Horn. I think we really missed having a veteran receiver who knows how to get open downfield last year.
Noladome: I will consider Young a bust/reach if he doesn't take over one of the starting positions with Mike out for the first half of the season. He's big and fast and has had a full year to learn the system. When is he going to be ready to play if not now? You have to hope that a guy with his physical attributes is going to be one of your corners when you make him an early 3rd round pick like we did.
Section123saintsfan:
Most young CB's taken in the draft do not become starters in their first year. Rookie DB's are often thrown against and exploited. I have been very pleased with Young's play thus far. Besides Aaron Ross, many of the CB's taken in 2007 would be a reach/bust according to your logic. I hope he can contribute this year, but being a starter in a Defense that asks the CB's to play man coverage is very difficult for young players.
Our CB's will still be a weakness on this team even if we draft a rookie. CB is probably one of the hardest positions to scout in the Draft, and that is why many of the CB's taken in the first do not always contribute. There will be a curve for any rookie that we take in the draft regardless of his ability. In fact, I am one of the few people who believe that drafting a CB at #10 would be a mistake if we are looking to have an immediate impact. I realize that we have a glaring need for the position, but we cannot afford to miss on a 1st again. (As far as an immediate impact) Any CB that would be drafted will still share playing time at first with other DB’s like Jason David, and Craft.
The best move for this team to make is to go out and get Lito Sheppard from the Eagles. Not often do you get a Pro-Bowler at CB at his age. He will be paramount to the success of this team. I hope that Payton and Loomis really consider making a move for him because Shockey would be nice, but I cannot justify giving up a second rounder to help a top 5 offense in the NFL.
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