Saints 2017 Draft Recap

            The New Orleans Saints entered the 2017 draft with additional first and third round picks after trading wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the New England Patriots.  Armed with this extra draft capital, Saints management led by general manager Mickey Loomis and head coach Sean Payton had spoken of their desire to rebuild the team’s consistently awful defense. The pledge, a constant refrain from Loomis and Payton over the past few years, highlights the problems that have plagued the team over the past three seasons. Saints management continually acts as if they are one or two players away from being a Super Bowl contender. They, then, expend whatever resources are necessary to get those players. In the meantime, they completely lose sight of the future for the sake of the present. The Saints front office also treats acquiring players as if it has solved all their problems. Player acquisition is the first step in the process, they also need to develop their players into useful contributors.   

If you want to see how that strategy has worked out so far, look back to 2015 first round pick, linebacker Stephone Anthony, who started in 2015, but barely found the field in 2016. Anthony’s failure to develop into a starting caliber defensive player is a failure of drafting and development. So while it’s easy to look at the results of the Saints draft and be excited about the potential playmakers they’ve added on defense, remember that’s not the whole story. The coaching staff still has to turn them into players that can help the Saints. With all this in mind, let’s take a look at New Orleans’ picks from the 2017 draft.   

1-11: Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State

            Initial reports on draft night suggested that New Orleans considered trading up to get Lattimore (which would have been a mistake), but instead they waited and got the player they wanted anyway. Lattimore has battled hamstring injuries during his college career, but had a strong junior season where he intercepted four passes. Most importantly, he helps solidify the Saints secondary, which lost multiple starters to injury last year.

1-32: Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin

            For a team that desperately wanted to improve their defense, selecting an offensive lineman here is a bit puzzling. It’s similar to two years ago when the Saints selected Andrus Peat in the first round after making a similar pledge to rebuild the defense.  Payton has said that the team envisions Ramczyk playing right tackle. Incumbent right tackle Zach Strief is 32 years old and nearing the end of his career.  So Ramczyk is set up as his long-term replacement. It’s not a bad pick, just one that won’t pay dividends on defense. 

2-42: Marcus Williams, S, Utah

            With their pick in the second round, New Orleans took a safety, who like Lattimore, should help their beleaguered pass defense.  In his time at Utah, Williams played largely in the center of the field away from the line of scrimmage.  A similar role in New Orleans would allow safety Kenny Vaccaro to play closer to the line, where he had his most successful season in 2014. Williams also joins a young, and hopefully improving group of safeties that includes Vaccaro, last year’s second round pick, Vonn Bell, and veteran Rafael Bush. 

3-67: Alvin Kamara, RB, Tennessee

            This is the kind of pick that should drive Saints fans crazy.  Why do the Saints need another running back? They already have Mark Ingram, a washed-up Adrian Peterson, and Tavaris Cadet.  There’s only so many snaps to go around.  Also, the Saints gave up their second round pick in 2018 to draft Kamara. Giving away valuable future picks to get guys who probably won’t start for you in 2017 is precisely the kind of bad decision making that got the Saints in their current mess. 

New running back, Alvin Kamara 

3-76: Alex Anzalone, LB, Florida

            Anzalone projects as an outside linebacker for the Saints. He adds some much-needed youth to a Saints linebacking corps filled with veteran players like A.J. Klein, Manti Te’o, Craig Robertson, and Dannell Ellerbe.  Anzalone had flashes of effectiveness in college, but only played 31 games over four seasons because of injury issues. It’s hard to get too worked up either way here. Anzalone fits a need for the Saints, but his injury history is concerning. 

3-103: Trey Hendrickson, DE, Florida Atlantic

            With their last third round pick, New Orleans finally drafted a pass rusher. While Loomis and Payton stressed the need to bolster the team’s pass rush, they had not addressed the issue in free agency. Hendrickson blocked four kicks and had 29.5 sacks during his career at Florida Atlantic. So he’ll likely play immediately on special teams and due to the weakness of the Saints other pass-rushers, he could see significant playing time during his rookie season.

6-196: Al-Quadin Muhammed, DE, Miami

            Muhammed has some push-rushing ability, but was suspended for the 2014 season when he punched out another student. Muhammed also got kicked out of Miami after an NCAA investigation described him as taking benefits from a luxury car company.  Like Hendrickson, if Muhammed demonstrates pass-rushing ability, he could find himself getting significant snaps.