re: 27 years of aggressive draft strategy

Just the epitome of gum smacking arrogance to always think over 27 drafts you have the answer on who to pick vs trade down for more shots.

Gayle needs to fire this scumbag.

We needed offensive line help. 2 of the best OL in NFL history were on the board. We have the #2 pick...and we trade down

at least could have traded down for someone fun like Warrick Dunn or Tony Gonzalez who were picked 12th and 13th

That 1997 draft has to be one of the worst in history when you consider how many picks we had, the quality of the draft, and how high our picks were.

We ended up with:

OG Chris Naole - Career added value of 61(20 with Saints)
DB Rob Kelly - AV of 8
DE Jared Tomich - AV of 10
RB Troy Davis - AV of 4
QB Danny Woeful - AV of 6 (4 with Saints)
WR Keith Poole - AV of 13
TE Nick Savoie - AV of 0

7 picks with a total Career Added Value for the Saints of 59

For comparison 21 players in that draft had a Career Added Value of at least 59

Next OL after Naole = Tarik Glenn who had a AV of 87 with 3 pro bowls
Next DB after Kelly = Dexter McCleon who had an AV of 38 (HOF Ronde Barber was taken 33 picks after Kelly)
Next DE after Tomich = Marcellus Wiley had an AV of 42 with 1 pro bowl
Next RB after Davis = Duce Staley who had an AV of 52
Next QB after Wuerfell = Pat Barnes with an AV of 0
Next WR after Poole = Macey Brooks with just 3 AV
Next TE after Savoie = Ituala Mili had an AV of 15

So if we had just taken the next guy at each position, we'd have improved to an AV of 237. Wuerfell was the 2nd best QB in the draft by AV...which just shows how dreadful of a QB class this was. Poole was better than any WR drafted after him...so hard to fault those 2 picks...but man

In a draft with 5 HOFers, 13 All-Pros, and 24 Pro Bowlers...it stings having the #2 pick, 7 draft picks, and end up with a gooseegg.

I didn't spend time trying to find UDFA for 23 years, but I did go through and look at all 3-7 round draft picks of the Saints during Loomis's tenure as GM and their weighted AV (from Pro-Football-Reference).

Of course, this only identifies how well the Saints evaluated talent - not that they were successful with the Saints. E.G. Rob Ninkovich doing well in New England.

Also, newer drafted players will have less chance to acquire value so far, so keep that in mind.

2002
James Allen 9
Keyou Craver 2
Mel Mitchell 4
J.T. O'Sullivan 6
John Gilmore 3
Derrius Monroe -

2003
Cie Grant 1
Montrae Holland 30
Melvin Williams 2
Kareem Kelly -
Talman Gardner 0

2004
Rodney Leslie 2
Mike Karney 2
Colby Bockwoldt 12

2005
Alfred Fincher 3
Chase Lyman -
Adrian McPherson -
Jason Jefferson 3
Jimmy Verdon 0

2006
Jahri Evans 114
Rob Ninkovich 51
Mike Hass 0
Josh Lay -
Zach Strief 50
Marques Colston 72

2007
Andy Alleman 5
Antonio Pittman 3
Jermon Bushrod 62
David Jones 6
Marvin Mitchell 12

2008
DeMario Pressley 1
Carl Nicks 53
Taylor Mehlaff 0
Adrian Arrington 1

2009
Chip Vaughn 0
Stanley Arnoux 1
Thomas Morstead 29

2010
Jimmy Graham 61
Al Woods 34
Matt Tennant 3
Sean Canfield -

2011
Martez Williams 2
Johnny Patrick 4
Greg Romeus -
Nate Bussey 0

2012
Akiem Hicks 54
Nick Toon 3
Corey White 12
Andrew Tiller 6
Marcel Jones -

2013
Terron Armstead 67
John Jenkins 28
Kenny Stills 35
Rufus Johnson 0

2014
Khairi Fortt 0
Vinnie Sunseri 0
Ronald Powell 1
Tavon Rooks -

2015
Garrett Grayson -
P.J. Williams 19
Davis Tull -
Tyeler Davison 31
Damian Swann 1
Marcus Murphy 2

2016
David Onyemata 43
Daniel Lasco 0

2017
Alvin Kamara 76
Alex Anzalone 30
Trey Hendrickson 56
Al-Quadin Muhammad 18

2018
Tre'Quan Smith 15
Rick Leonard 0
Natrell Jamerson 1
Kamrin Moore 0
Boston Scott 11
Will Clapp 12

2019
C.J. Gardner-Johnson 24
Saquon Hampton 0
Alize Mack -
Kaden Elliss 23

2020
Zack Baun 28
Adam Trautman 9
Tommy Stevens 0

2021
Paulson Adebo 19
Ian Book 0
Landon Young 9
Kawaan Baker 0

2022
D'Marco Jackson 3
Jordan Jackson 1

2023
Kendre Miller 3
Nick Saldiveri 3
Jake Haener 1
Jordan Howden 5
A.T. Perry 2

2024
Spencer Rattler 2
Bub Means 1
Jaylan Ford 1
Khristian Boyd 0
Josiah Ezrim -

Number of players over 25 AV: 18
Draft picks (3rd-7th round): 99
Draft picks (3rd-7th round) 2002-2020: 83

18/99 = 18.18% hit rate
18/83 = 21.68% hit rate

Can't help but laugh when you look at the picks and notice the Saints came away with 3 pro bowl players from that draft, all undrafted

quote:

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In a draft with 5 HOFers

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And in a perfect draft, Saints could have grabbed 3 of them (Pace went #1 overall).
Stay put at 2 and get Jones or Tony G, follow through with the trade and get Tony G.

Could "reach" at 33 and draft Ronde Barber, and also "reach" at 39 and get Jason Taylor. Or you could still grab Ronde or Taylor at pick 62 if you missed one or both of them in the 2nd round.

you know it's funny the Saints had a really good O-line after that terrible 1999 were Ditka was fired.

Naeole obviously a part of that unit.

They were so good that the Saints were able to withstand injuries to Ricky Williams and Joe Horn (Ram playoff game).

Sure, the defense led the league in sacks, but that O-line was legit. A lot of high round draft picks on it. Granted, it was a different era of football. No CBA and training camps/practices were a lot more physical.

plus, the salary cap back then was nothing like it was back then. Nor in 2006.

How many times did someone call us and offer to trade up?

quote:

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Loomis has never once traded down in his entire time with the Saints. I don't expect him to start.

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This is the key to why the Saints always have cap issues and injury-prone players. Loomis is a terrible GM. Without Brees, he would have been out long ago.

I don't see Mickey sitting on his hands this draft, considering they have cap space to fill in holes this year and cap space next year to continue to build roster.

I suspect, at a minimum, we have the parameters for a trade up to #1 already worked out. Betting markets are reflecting that. Probably trying to figure out if it is worth the price for us now.

Worry about your cowboys fruitcake.