LB selection sunshine pumping up your arse.

LINK
I tried to remove a lot of the filler due to it being a fairly long read.

When you get the top-rated middle / inside linebacker, the NCAA Division I leader in sacks, and the best defensive football player in FCS (formerly known as Division 1-AA) college football in the last 2 years all in one draft, it’s safe to say that they may have, to shamelessly borrow from the old Dirty Harry / Clint Eastwood movie of the 1980’s, a “sudden impact” on your defense and football team as a whole.

What I like about this weekend’s additions are the element of nastiness and tenacity that each of these three young men bring to the table.

Kikaha (6 feet 3, 246 pounds) led the NCAA in sacks with 19 in 2014 and ranked second in tackles for loss with 25. That was following his junior season in 2013, when he piled up 13 sacks.

Most impressive about those numbers are the fact that Kikaha rebounded from season-ending knee injuries to the same ACL in 2011 and 2012, to accumulate those sack totals the next two seasons.

While there were the “whispers” among many scouts that the knee may or not still be fully recovered that caused his stock to fall, I saw several fellow writers that cover the Draft say that he would have easily been a first round pick and in the first group of “edge” rushers had there not been those doubts.

There won’t be any confusion about Davis Tull’s role, because his versatility allows him to play strongside, Jack, and even defensive end, his original position.

I said it the other night and I’ll say it again here: the Saints may have gotten the STEAL OF THE DRAFT in Tull.

Tull (6-2, 246) is a three-time Southern Conference defensive player of the year and picked up 10 1/2 sacks in his senior season. He’s also known for his off-the-charts football IQ.

Drafting Tull and Kikaha both in back-to-back successive days of the Draft made it abundantly clear that the Saints wanted to upgrade at linebacker, specifically coming off the edge.

And then last but certainly not least there is Anthony — who in my opinion will quickly emerge as the new LEADER of the Saints defense.

With all due respect to Hawthorne, I believe by the end of the season, he’ll be backing up Anthony, instead of the other way around.

One of the things that drew the Saints to Anthony besides his aggressiveness, is his natural leadership ability.

“All of the things fit with Stephone. Again we got really familiar with him in the process. We loved the make-up. He’s sharp. He’s the leader of their defense. When you talk to Brent Veneble, who is the head coach there, or anyone back there, his name comes up in five seconds. Then the production on the film was good. Then when you look at the combine numbers, when you look at his size.

I’ll certainly be the very last to criticize them for doing that, because Stephone Anthony is going to be a star in this League. You can BANK on it.

All in all, Kikaha, Tull, and Anthony represent a SERIOUS upgrade to the linebacker unit for the upcoming season. Its probably safe to say that all three of them will have a “sudden impact” on the Saints defense in 2015.

While I can’t really speak on behalf of Saints fans, I’ll just speak for myself when I say that by injecting some new talent and HEART into the linebacker unit, the Saints have “made my day”