Last
week we previewed the Saints biggest needs heading into the 2016 NFL draft. To
recap, we specifically highlighted New Orleans’ need to draft impact defensive
players and to trade down and accumulate more picks in order to improve the
team’s depth.
If
you’ve been a fan of Mickey Loomis’s previous drafts as the Saints general
manager, the 2016 version had a lot to like. Loomis traded up twice for players
he thought would help the Saints, drafted an unknown player out of Canada, and
added a tall and lanky wide receiver. If, on the other hand, you understand
that the draft is a crapshoot and that no team is better than any other at identifying
and developing players and trading up and giving away picks in future years is
a bad idea, then there’s a lot for you to dislike.
On the
whole, the Saints did address some of their biggest needs, but left themselves
with little room for error. With all this in mind, let’s review New Orleans’
picks.
First Round, 12th
overall: DT Sheldon Rankins, Lousiville
With
their first round pick, the Saints selected a run stuffing defensive tackle
from Louisville. This selection addressed the Saints’ need for a defensive
tackle to bolster their anemic run defense. Will Rankins suddenly make New
Orleans defensive line one of the best in the league? Of course not, but pair
him with free agent signee Nick Fairley and the Saints have the makings of a
decent interior of their defensive line.
Second Round, 47th
overall: WR Michael Thomas, Ohio State
With
their second round pick, Loomis snagged a 6’3, 212 lb wide receiver who should
be a nice complement to the Saints current stable of pass catchers. Brandin
Cooks and Willie Snead are smaller and speedier players and Thomas gives Brees
a tall red zone target—much like the recently released Marques Colston. The
biggest problem is the Saints don’t need a wide receiver as much as they need
playmakers on defense.
Second Round, 61st
overall: S Vonn Bell, Ohio State
In
order to aid the Saints secondary, Loomis traded with the New England Patriots
for one of their two second round selections. Since there’s two parts to this
trade, the player selected and the cost to acquire him, let’s talk about safety
Vonn Bell first. With the NFL becoming more and more of a passing league, the
need for quality players in the secondary has only increased. While the Saints
already have Kenny Vaccaro and Jarius Byrd as starters, they spend so much time
in nickel coverage (5 defensive backs) that having a starting caliber third safety
is essential to mounting any kind of pass defense. From this perspective the
pick makes total sense.
As is their
usual MO, the Saints traded up to get Bell and gave away their 4th
round pick in the process.
New England
trades 2-61 to the Saints for 3-78 and 4-112
According to Chase Stuart’s
empirically derived draft chart, the Saints paid 137 cents on the dollar to
move up. For a team that has a myriad of draft needs and a bad history of
trading up and missing on those picks, this was a troubling move.
Overall,
there was nothing wrong with the pick itself, but the trade up was too
expensive especially for a team in desperate need of depth.
Fourth Round, 120th
overall: DT David Onyemata, Manitoba
The
Saints selected Onyemata, a Nigerian born player from Manitoba, by trading back
up in the 4th round. Considering his background and lack of
experience playing in the United States, the Saints are taking a huge risk with
this pick. Maybe Onyemata helps bolster the interior of the defensive line or
he could be a total bust.
To
acquire Onyemata, the Saints gave up their 5th round pick this year
(152) and their 5th rounder next year to move up to 120. According
to Stuart’s draft pick calculator, the Saints paid 127 cents on the dollar to
make this move up. Once again, they’ve left themselves with little room for
error and now only have 6 picks for next year’s draft.
Seventh Round, 237th
overall: RB Daniel Lasco, California
It’s
hard to get too worked up about seventh round selections since they play
primarily on special teams, if they make the roster at all. It is worth it,
however, to question why New Orleans selected a running back when they already
have Mark Ingram, C.J. Spiller, Tim Hightower, Tavaris Cadet, and Vick Ballard
on the roster. Maybe that pick should have gone to taking a shot on a defender.
This
was a very Saints draft. They continued their trend of targeting specific
players despite the fact that no team possesses the ability to draft better
than any other. They drafted some badly needed players for the defense, but New
Orleans is not one or two players away from fielding a championship level
defense. They need depth across the roster and by trading up and giving away
picks both this year and next, they walked out of the 2016 draft with only 5
players and no room for error.
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