re: Talking Saints and the draft on NFL NOW

if it came down to it... I almost wouldn't mind an O-lineman with the pick.

I mean if there just isn't anybody that screams value when we pick (like Mosley) or some of the other WR's we've talked about a thousand times.

last year we saw the O-line have more struggles than usual for whatever reason. Were they terrible? Absolutely not. But it just seems like adding depth here wouldn't be the worst idea. Strief has battled some injuries here and there and missed some games the last few years. Evans kind of went through a lull there at the beginning of the season. He didn't play bad but you could tell he was fighting through an injury or something. He's been a warrior and up until last year, he hadn't missed ANY games.

of course, left tackle was an eyesore at times. But it seems like we could be set there with Armstead stepping in and relieving Charles Brown of his duty.

A guard... another tackle? What would be better? I'm not taking anything away from Strief... just think about how he's all of sudden been dinged and missed some games here and there. And I'm not trying to crap on Armstead but he's still fairly new out there at left tackle.

what about Morgan Moses from Virginia?

we have a lot of money invested with in our guards. Do you bring someone in there like Zack Martin or Xavier Sua-Filo to push Grubbs? Or as a backup plan for Evans should he have some injury woes again? This will be his 9th season coming up.

point is... the Saints have picked players time and again that we really didn't expect. I'd rather have a WR like Matthews or a LB like Mosley myself.

but I know the odds of the saints picking a LB in the 1st round aren't that good. Haven't picked one since the late 90's.

Matthews reminds me a lot of Colston as a player. It would be nice to get him but do we use a 1st rounder on him?

A new WR won't mean as much if the O-line continues to be shaky like they were at times last year.

Bunch of stuff I saw in here I want to comment on. Let's see if I can remember it all.

First is that I would prefer a CB, WR, or Mosley(depending on what CB or WR) before we picked Shazier. Also if any "consensus" top 15 player fell I think we'd have to look there too(such as Nix or Clinton-Dix).

But this leads to my second point. Despite being on the small side(though there are a bunch or starting LBs in the 230s and 240s) he can still ball. Go look at his stats. Those are insanely good numbers especially considering these aren't 16 game seasons.

Yes he can get washed out on runs, but you can say the same thing about a bunch of starting LBs in the league if a guard gets on them.

Third, yeah I agree he looks more like a 4-3 LB, but Ryan has shown he is willing to adapt his scheme to fit the players. Semantics aside, we played with 4 guys with their hand in the dirt way more often than not.

I'd honestly rather Shazier on the field over Hawthorne, and we'd save money on top of it.

Fourth, on Moses I wouldn't be surprised if he went earlier if they have another tackle run like last year.

But the ONLY way I see us taking a tackle in the first is if he can also play guard. We are locked into Strief for at least 2(more likely 3) years and they have shown nothing but confidence in Armstead. He'd have to be able to take Grubbs' spot sooner than latter and then maybe kick back out when Strief goes/Armstead wants too much money.

Fifth, on Matthews I would not mind him at all in the first, but I would also see it as a reach. In some ways I prefer him over Beckham. It all depends on how the Saints have him graded though.

Sixth, on WR vs. defender it all depends on value. We could pass in the first on WR but then never have the value match up right later and have to "reach". Or there could be no "1st round" WRs left when we pick.

I want them to pick whoever they think will have the biggest impact on the team, not even just in the short term. If that's a guard that sits a year so be it. If it's a corner that only plays dime for a year so be it.

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He seems to be one of the latest guys moving up some people's boards though. I've heard a few people say MIA might take him at 19.

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yeah... and again I wasn't trying to knock anything about the guys we already have on the line as a starter. But having him available at our pick would be an interesting situation I think.

just trying to go through different scenarios in my mind I guess. You never really know how the draft will pan out.

I think we need a lineman more than anything else, so this Moses guy sounds fine to me

i would be happy with Marquise Lee, but Brandin Cooks is freakin awesome. I would rather take cooks over Lee. Where do they project Cooks going? Will he even be there if we want him?

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Fifth, on Matthews I would not mind him at all in the first, but I would also see it as a reach. In some ways I prefer him over Beckham. It all depends on how the Saints have him graded though

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Ive watched a ton of film on Matthews I think he's going to be a star which is why I have no problem with him at 27.

I also feel he's high up on a lot of teams boards I mean he did get invited to the Draft.