Eric Berger's Saints Page
Draft Coverage
The Saints traded 8 picks included 2 #1s
to get Ricky Williams, the Heisman winner from Texas. He is the running
back we have been missing the past several years. I don't think we gave
up too much to get him. Yeah, we did give up an awful lot of picks, but
in my opinion, Ricky is the closest to a sure thing coming out of the draft
since Marshall Faulk or Barry Sanders. And you have to remember the Saints'
drafting record. There is no guarantee that draft picks will pan out, especially
where the Saints are concerned.
What I mean is this: how many of those 8
picks do you think the Saints would have
actually turned into contributing players? I look at the draft 2 years ago
& I have to conclude that the Saints would have screwed up most if not
all of those picks that they gave up. So when you hear the Saints aren't
just one player away, don't assume we would necesarily have gotten more
than one anyway.
That
being said, I do think we could have gotten him for a little less. If the
Saints had played things a little closer to the vest, we may not have had
to give up all of those picks. I really think if we had just offered two
# 1s at first & added a 3 & 4 on draft day, that would have done
it.
But for the record, I don't regret that we
made the trade. The Saints did a decent job with rookie free agents, but
with only one draft pick, they needed to do a little better. A few, namely
L.C. Stevens and Gana Joseph, are gems who probably deserved to be drafted.
And the others, P.J. Franklin, Chris Cummings, Rick Nord, Tom Schau, and
Donnie Spragen. They have also signed WRs Danan Hughes, Ryan Yarborough,
and Lawrence Dawsey, and of whom have a very good shot at contributing.
The Draft that would have been.
If you want to keep score at home, I'll tell you who I
think the Saints would have taken. My friend Ralph & I have painstakingly
tried to create the Saints draft had they not traded all their picks:
1. Cade McNown, QB, UCLA
3. Dat Nguyen, MLB, texas a&m
4. Darren Chiaverini, WR, Colorado
5. Devin West, RB, Mizzou
6. Anthony Pointdexter, S, UVA
7. Rondel Melendez, WR, Eastern Kentucky
We were looking at productive players from major college
programs, usually overacheivers who didn't deserve to be taken as high as
the Saints were willing to take them. Also very possible picks were some
of the guys the Saints signed, particularly LC Stevens and Gana Joseph.
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