re: Interesting intel from Nick Underhill

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I remember someone saying here that the Saints weren't going to look at Downs because of the defense scheme we use depends heavily on good down field coverage. Apparently Downs is not that good covering deep.

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That’s exactly what I was told, but I thought he tracked the ball well. I’m a fan. They are pros. They are probably right and I am probably wrong.

Staley loves playing an off man zone, which Downs would feast. The Saints also play a lot of cover 6, and that is where they think he would struggle.

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What you got against the best receiver in the draft ?

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We need a YAC or contested catch guy to complement Olave.Tyson is neither. And he’s an injury risk. This were Megatron or Julio Jones quality then sure, roll the dice. But he’s not that much better if at all better than any other upper tier WRs.

No more first round whiffs with a potential franchise QB. We don’t need all pro WR as much as a reliable starter.

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They are pros. They are probably right and I am probably wrong.

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I have no idea either. I guess if it came down to Delane or Downs it would be a coin flip. The only thing I know for sure is that whoever we get at #8 this board is going into meltdown mode . And that's pretty entertaing as well.

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Love isn’t the pick after giving Etienne the house.

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The house?

We’ve invested the most capital at RB in AK, Etienne, and Miller. 2 of whom probably won’t be here in ‘27 and Etienne might not even be here in ‘28. Hell, Miller and AK might not even be here this year in ‘26.

There was that interesting interview Moore did recently talking about AK and the RB room. He kept saying that AK was on the team and in the room now, but they’d have to wait and see how the draft plays out before really making tough decisions at the RB position. Like if we upgrade there, AK’s position is not safe. Might not be anyway if he doesn’t take a pay cut.

But it didn’t sound like Moore was talking about us picking up a 4th round back that would edge AK out. He did half-heartedly mention other teams would be releasing guys after the draft, so there might be some guys he likes that get released after their teams draft a RB. But that seemed more like plausible deniability. But he kept alluding to waiting until after the draft to address the AK situation. I don’t think he was outright saying they were really high on Love and were hoping he’d fall. But it did sound like that was definitely on the table.

I know they had better top end WRs, and a much better OL, but there’s no way he watched Saquon go crazy in his 7th season (at 27-years-old) and how that helped Jalen Hurts have his best season as a pro. Hurts set career highs and lead the entire NFL in completion percentage (68.7%), yards per attempt (8.0), and QB rating at (103.7). (It was 89.1 in ‘23. His interceptions also dropped from 15 in ‘23 to 5 in ‘24).

That was no coincidence, obviously. He’s seen up close how much a great RB can help a young QB, and make the entire offense and team better. The all-timers can still have as big an impact on the team as anybody still. It just depends on whether or not he sees Love as that kind of all time RB.

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I think Nick is just carrying water for the saints.

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At this point, yeah. But I will say that the mind games and playing things close to the vest and trying to hide everything was more of Payton and DA’s style, which bit them in the arse.

Nick does know who they will likely take but isn’t going to put it out there until much, much closer to the draft like last year. He and Tripp only started banging the drum for Banks until the week of the draft itself after they were adamant they were going to go Edge

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Etienne's contract ranks 6th among RBs in average annual value.

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On April 15th, 2026. On April 15th, 2027, it might not be top 20. On April 15th, 2028, it might not be top 25, and we can restructure and/or release him by then. And isn’t his annual salary really backloaded? So by the time he’s actually getting paid, the cap will have gone up even more.

The only that should matter is how much percentage of the cap a player is getting. But it’s like so many people just can’t get past the fact the cap has gone up over $100 million really quickly. (Not you, necessarily). Back up DTs who barely play are making what Emmitt Smith and Thurman Thomas did in the early 90s.

Again, not you necessarily, (and I’m mixing my thoughts on the Olave situation here), but this reminds me of the folks who say “so and so is not a top 10 college football team.” But when pressed to name 10 better ones, can’t do it. They see a team and compare it to what has, over the years, been imprinted in their minds as to what a “top 10 team” should look like. They can’t comprehend that it’s only relative to the other teams THAT PARTICULAR SEASON.

Some guy in the Olave thread said Chris Olave is a $25 million/year WR. Because that’s what he’s brain has been trained to think after decades of watching the NFL. And he’d be right. If it were 2016. But it’s 2026, and we all need to adjust our way of thinking about these contracts.

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That's not to say Love isn't worth being drafted #8, but to me that's a luxury that we do not have when we need starters at Edge/DE, CB1, WR1, OG

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You don’t draft for need at 8. I mean, you don’t take a QB if he’s BPA and you have Patrick Mahomes. So need does play some factor. But I’m not reaching at 8 for a starter at a position of need if they don’t have him ranked near #8. Just me, but if I’m drafting top 5, I want a guy whose ceiling is HOF. Top 10 and I want a a guy whose ceiling is perennial All-Pro. Of course it will rarely work out like that, but I’m not drafting a low ceiling guy at 8 who if he hits is very nice NFL starter at best. I’d rather bust on a guy whose could potentially be special. No matter the position.

***none of this was an attack on you, just used your post to jump off of and give some other thoughts semi relative.***

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Have you seen Tyson play ?

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Watched several of the breakdowns. But the interesting ASU games last year, no, because he was hurt.

Agree on Lemon over Tate and Tyson. But I’d skip Tyson altogether.

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But I will say that the mind games and playing things close to the vest and trying to hide everything was more of Payton and DA’s style, which bit them in the arse.

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Wait what? Payton would get drunk on the golf course and blabber to everyone who they were drafting. You forgot the Chiefs knew we wanted Mahomes? The year we moved up, everyone knew it was for a receiver. And the year we picked Breese, every mock in the world had us taking him. They never played it close to the vest.

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Etienne's contract ranks 6th among RBs in average annual value. RB by committee is a bit of thing but RB along with QB & maybe TE are the only few positions that giving out 6th highest active contract at the position is "house" enough to negate drafting the same position at #8 overall. That's not to say Love isn't worth being drafted #8, but to me that's a luxury that we do not have when we need starters at Edge/DE, CB1, WR1, OG

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Also, Etienne’s contract guarantee is really just for 2yr 24 mil… they could move on in yr 3 for free if needed

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They like Rutledge out of Georgia Tech.

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He would be a nice 2nd round pick, but not sure he gets to us there.