New Orleans Saints Post Draft Commentary

The Saints had a very uneven season in many ways. The team had the most prolific offense in the NFL yet only managed 7 wins. Whilst the offense was very effective, the Saints did not average 100 yards per game on the ground in 2008. Meaning the offense was in many ways Drew Brees, which is a solid option, but throwing the ball 60.7% of time regardless of down and distance is just too one sided to be successful in the long run.

The easy thing to do would be to blame the defense for the Saints woes by saying the unit underperformed, but the defense lacked the ability to apply pressure as Will Smith played through a sports hernia. Sedrick Ellis was a rookie and both players should be able to post better numbers than they did in 2008. If Smith can come back to form, other players such as Bobby McCray could increase their production and help stifle opposing passing games.

The Saints biggest need on defense may have been linebacker as outside of Jonathan Vilma the unit is simply average with starters Scott Fujita and Scott Shanle, but the team chose to continue to address the secondary throughout the 2009 draft. Adding some more interior help could have been a consideration as well, but the team only had 4 picks, and chose to allocate half of them to the secondary. The Saints did pick up Stanley Arnoux to help add some depth to the linebacking unit, but adding one player to the unit as a whole may be too little an effort.

The Saints did sign Jabari Greer in Free Agency, who coupled with the incumbents Tracy Porter and Randall Gay, gave the Saints enough starting depth to warrant that only one draft pick be used on a corner. Malcolm Jenkins’ ability to play corner on the next level has been questioned due to his lack of elite speed. Apparently the Saints also believe Jenkins to be a corner as they have asked Usama Young to switch to safety at least for the time being. The Saints also selected Chip Vaughn to groom at safety as the season progresses. The Saints did sign veterans Darren Sharper and Pierson Prioleau in Free Agency, but the team still needed depth long term as Sharper is only on a one year contract. Prioleau is familiar with new Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams’ scheme, which should help ease the transition.

The Saints did bypass their need at running back and chose to resign Jon Stinchcomb at right tackle. The Saints only having 4 picks really hurt the team’s chances of improving any area a great deal through young players. The front office did bring in veterans in many cases, but some are only stop gap measures and depth at best. The Saints still have quite a few areas of need looming before the season starts; such as finding a big back to pair with Reggie Bush.

Pre Draft Needs: RB, CB, DL, OL, LB, S