re: Friendly reminder: Draft time

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Have the NO Saints ever had a really good draft.....

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2017 as mentioned.

1981 - 10 players that were with the team for multiple seasons and at one point or another were starters. One Hall of Famer, 1 ROY, multiple Pro Bowlers, multiple starters on the Saints’ first playoff team, and… 1 LSU player! Only knock on this draft: picked Rogers ahead of Lawrence Taylor. But would they have drafted Rickey if they’d picked LT?

Round 1, Pick 1 - George Rogers, RB, South Carolina
Round 2, Pick 29 - Russell Gary, DB, Nebraska
Round 2, Pick 51 - Rickey Jackson, LB, Pittsburgh
Round 3, Pick 57 - Frank Warren, DT, Auburn
Round 3, Pick 71 - Hoby Brenner, TE, Southern California
Round 5, Pick 112 - Louis Oubre, OG, Oklahoma
Round 5, Pick 128 - Jerry Boyarsky, DT, Pittsburgh
Round 6, Pick 139 - Nat Hudson, OG, Georgia
Round 6, Pick 144 - Johnnie Poe, DB, Missouri
Round 6, Pick 166 - Glen Redd, LB, Brigham Young
Round 7, Pick 167 - Kevin Williams, WR, Southern California
Round 8, Pick 214 - Gene Gladys, LB, Penn State
Round 8, Pick 215 - Kevin Evans, DB, Arkansas
Round 9, Pick 222 - Toussaint Tyler, RB, Washington
Round 10, Pick 249 - Hokie Gajan, RB, Louisiana State
Round 11, Pick 277 - Lester Mickens, WR, Kansas
Round 12, Pick 305 - Jim Wilks, DE, San Diego State

1986 - 7 players that were with the team for multiple seasons and at one point or another were starters. One ROY, 1 DPOY, multiple Pro Bowlers, and multiple starters on the Saints’ first playoff team, and… 1 LSU player! Interesting fact: 4 RBs they were contributors in the same draft, including the ROY, 2 who were Pro Bowlers, 3 who were starters at one time (maybe 4, can’t recall if Word ever started at FB). If medical tech had been what it is today Mayes (Achilles) and Dalton (ACL) could have played many more years.

Round 1, Pick 6 - Jim Dombrowski, OG, Virginia
Round 2, Pick 31 - Dalton Hilliard, RB, Louisiana State
Round 3, Pick 57 - Rueben Mayes, RB, Washington State
Round 3, Pick 60 - Pat Swilling, LB, Georgia Tech
Round 3, Pick 62 - Barry Word, RB, Virginia
Round 4, Pick 88 - Kelvin Edwards, WR, Liberty
Round 5, Pick 115 - Reggie Sutton, DB, Miami
Round 6, Pick 142 - Bob Thompson, WR, Youngstown State
Round 7, Pick 173 - Gill Fenerty, RB, Holy Cross
Round 8, Pick 200 - Filipo Mokofisi, LB, Utah
Round 9, Pick 226 - Merlon Jones, LB, Florida A&M
Round 10, Pick 253 - Jon Dumbauld, DE, Kentucky
Round 11, Pick 284 - Patrick Swoopes, DT, Mississippi State
Round 12, Pick 311 - Sebastian Brown, WR, Bethune-Cookman

Now of course these were 40 years ago. But your question is “ever”. And these were amazing drafts that were the backbones of the Saints’ first playoff teams.

Final point: most of us only know the detailed history of the Saints. So we assume the bad drafts, bad personnel and coaching decisions, etc. are unique to the Saints in the assessment that the Saints are the historically worst at something. But there are examples of bad for every team. Some more than others, but without knowing the specifics I’d guess the Saints aren’t the worst. Maybe in the bottom half of the league, but worst ever?

The Saints have won a Super Bowl - double digit teams haven’t. In the last 20 years the Saints have made the playoffs 10 times and have the 6th most wins over that period (during Payton’s tenure I think it was 2nd only to the Patriots).

Recent results suck, and a front office refresh and roster reset is due IMO. Hopefully Moore ushers in the coaching side of that. But we’ve actually been a very fortunate fan base over an extended period outside of very possible 2 additional Super Bowls (2011 and 2018) that were within reach.