New Orleans Saints
The Saints have now suffered through three straight 7-9 seasons, and without the magnificent Drew Brees they’d have been one of the worst teams in the league every year. The biggest reason this team struggles to win is that its defense is atrocious. The biggest reason for that is that Mickey Loomis is terrible at drafting.
From 2010-14, the Saints drafted 28 players. Of those 28, only seven remained on the roster heading into the 2016 season.
The past couple of drafts have provided some positive developments. The likes of Sheldon Rankins, Michael Thomas, Stephone Anthony and Andreas Peat could be tremendous building blocks for the future.
But based on this team’s deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball in general, and just looking at Loomis’ history of poor drafts, it’s more likely the Saints will draft poorly again in 2017 than hit a home run. In particular, defensive backs are almost guaranteed to flounder, and don’t dare ask the Saints to draft a dynamic edge rusher.
Because this scribe is fond of Brees and would love to see him end his career on a positive note, we sure hope New Orleans can do something positive. With the No. 11 overall pick in Round 1, the Saints have a chance to land an instant impact defender that could help this come to fruition. But one player won’t do it. It’s going to take a very successful draft to help the Saints make positive strides in the very competitive NFC South.