Walterfootball new mock draft speculates on why the Saints might draft

And I don't have the exact percentages, but I think that most of these mockers don't realize how often we run 4 man fronts. Ealy looks like a great player and I wouldn't mind the pick, but he's not going to be on the field as often as you would like a first rounder to be.

I believe it was between 67%-75%.

If you count Galette as a DE(because he played down most of the time), we usually ran with Jordan(92%), Galette(86%), Hicks(66%), and Jenkins/Bunkley(70%) as our Dline.

Lofton was in almost every play(96%), Hawthorne played about 70% of the snaps, and Haralson 37%. We mostly used just 2 LBs at a time.

Outside the injury factor, we mostly ran with Jenkins, Vaccaro, Lewis, and Greer in the secondary. I believe Robinson and Harper(and later White and Bush) would have been used about equally if not for injuries, meaning we ran mostly nickel with either a 3rd corner or safety.

But even with all of that, Ryan is very adaptable and will get the right/best people on the field for the situation. I imagine with Butler being back we run a lot more 4-3(maybe closer to half and half). Either that or Hawthorne will see a big drop in playing time.

I'd say 80% of the mocks I've seen have us going OLB. While I wouldn't be mad at the pick, I just don't see that as a first round type pick for us this year when we could really use another good safety, CB, WR, or O-lineman

1. Pass rush was not an issue so even if Butler does not come back strong we still have all of our young pass rushing pieces. NOT a need.

2. Don't care if we get Ealy or not, just pointing out that the argument is flawed.

It all depends on what we do in FA. If we fill our holes(CB, S, T, and C) we can freely go BPA. If not we need to lean towards that unless the BPA is too strong.

Edit:
This is like the Jarvis Jones bullshite from last year these mockers kept stirring up. Do not need pass rushers. They are nice to have but we have plenty.

I'm still bangin the drum for a versatile LB'er who can play 3 downs, cover well and blitz a bit.
Still have man crush on Fuji.

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. They are nice to have but we have plenty.

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that's pretty shortsighted

it wouldnt hurt to have another pass rusher on the field in passing downs. Whether its a DE or OLB. You can get a LDE for when Hicks moves inside, or another starting caliber OLB on the other side of Galette. Both of those spots can be upgraded.

Galette is one of our starting ends(his hand is always in the ground despite what he's called), and Jordan is the other. Jenkins is actually a pass rusher on the inside(he was better at that then run defense in college and his first year here). Then you can throw in Hicks, Foster, or Walker.

If we are talking blitzing that's a different cat. We don't need another pass rusher with 6 good to very good ones on the team.

And we have Butler.