TopFrog
Lifelong Frog
http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/2010042...9013/1006/rss02
[SIZE=14pt]TCU's Washington is a good bet to be Saints first pick, but that will be late Thursday night [/SIZE]
By Glenn Guilbeau • Gannett Louisiana
BATON ROUGE – You may have to stay up past 10 p.m. to see it, but the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints could make Texas Christian University linebacker Daryl Washington their first pick in the newfangled NFL Draft with the 32nd and last pick of the first round Thursday night.
The new draft, which used to be held on a Saturday and Sunday in April, will be stretched out over two nights and one day and televised in prime time for the first time in league history. It all starts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN with the first round only that is scheduled to run until 10 p.m. Pre-draft coverage begins at 2 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.The second and third rounds will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 5 p.m. Friday and running through 9:30 p.m. The fourth through seventh rounds on ESPN will run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday.
"Looking forward to the new draft format," said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, who has coordinated the good and bad of the last eight Saints' drafts, Thursday at a press conference at the club's facility in Metairie.
"I think it will be interesting. It will be interesting for me. It will be interesting for you guys to see how the process is impacted by this new schedule," Loomis said. "I think we have a few ideas of what could happen, but until we live through it once, we don't know."
ESPN analyst and former Tampa Bay Super Bowl winning coach Jon Gruden likes the idea of one night reserved for the critical and expensive first round instead of the first and second rounds on the Saturday and the last five on the Sunday as in the past.
"The way it was, it felt like three weeks at the end of the day," he said. "With what's at stake, it's good to take a break after the first round and reconvene in the morning after they've had a chance to think things over. I don't think it will be dramatically different until the first round is over. You might see more trades to start the second round. I think you'll see a little more aggressiveness."
The Saints may spend most of the first two days waiting as they will likely not pick until nearly 10 p.m. on Thursday and well into the night on Friday with the 64th pick of the second round and the 95th pick of the third round. They have fourth, sixth and seventh round picks (130th, 201st and 239th) on Saturday. They traded their fifth round pick last year to Philadelphia to go up in the fifth round and nabbed punter Thomas Morstead.
Loomis feels far less pressure picking so low with regard to having to get a can't-miss player and the subsequent cost of the contract. He foresees some idle time on Thursday and Friday for he and his staff.
"There's a lot more time to sit around and eat," he said. "That's probably a negative, at least for me."
Loomis has not come out and said directly that the Saints will pick an outside linebacker with their first pick, but he virtually eliminated an offensive pick along with defensive backs and defensive linemen during the course of his press conference. And so far the most significant loss from the Super Bowl champions' roster is veteran strong side linebacker Scott Fujita, who signed a free agent deal with Cleveland recently.
TCU's Washington (6-foot-3, 234 pounds) played in a 4-2-5 alignment in college and could fit in Fujita's old spot. Todd McShay, ESPN Scouts' director of college scouting, said on a teleconference last week that Washington could end up as a Saint.
"It wouldn't surprise me," he said. "I think Washington, depending on how things shake out, could be a really good pick at 32. I think if you could stack him up against a lot of these bigger name players from bigger schools, I think Washington's going to wind up becoming a better pro than a lot of them."
One of the linebackers McShay was referencing was Missouri's Sean Weatherspoon (6-1, 239), who some draft experts say will be available when the Saints select in the first round. Weatherspoon is more suited for the weak side, though.
"You'll hear Sean Weatherspoon a lot," McShay said. "I'm not as high on Weatherspoon as some other people are. I have a second-round grade on him. To me, Daryl Washington is just as good of a football player, if not better. The athleticism that he has, his ability and just his potential – he's just scratching that peak and the surface of what could be a tremendous football career ahead of him. He's instinctive. He's tough and continues that all through his frame, and he runs in the low 4.6's."
The Saints appear sound on the defensive line with the recent free agent acquisition of Alex Brown from Chicago at end, and Anthony Hargrove recently re-signed with the Saints to end his free agency. They join returning veteran ends Will Smith and Bobby McCray and tackles Sedrick Ellis and recently re-signed Remi Ayodele.
"Alex Brown is a nice addition for us and helps us with our depth on the defensive line," Loomis said. "We have Anthony Hargrove back. He signed his contract, and that's comforting in the sense that he can play defensive end as well as defensive tackle.
"Generally, what you try to accomplish in an off-season is to fill enough of your major holes (via free agency) so that when you get to the draft, you're able to take the best available player. And so that's always the goal. We've been able to achieve that most years. You need to pay attention to the holes on your team, and if you do have a particular need at a position, what you hope for is that the best available player is at that position or at least graded very closely to it."
The Saints are among the strongest in the league at cornerback with Jabari Greer and Super Bowl interception hero Tracy Porter along with backups Randall Gay and Malcolm Jenkins. The Saints could be in the market for a safety as 34-year-old, five-time All-Pro Darren Sharper may jump to another team for a lucrative, multi-year deal.
Former LSU safety Chad Jones will likely still be around in the late second round for the Saints.
"He's an intriguing player," NFL draft expert Mike Detillier said Saturday. "I could see the Saints going for Chad. I know Mickey was at Chad's individual workouts at LSU's Pro Day. He's a great hitter and has shown some good speed in the 4.5-4.6 range for a safety."
Loomis also worked out outside linebacker Perry Riley and defensive tackle Al Woods at the Saints facility. Both are projected to be middle-to-late round picks.
"We always pay close attention to the LSU guys," Loomis said. "It's good business, number one. We don't want to miss on a guy in our own backyard, which occurred with Randall Gay."
Gay, a Saints free agent signing in 2008 from New England, went undrafted in 2004 and signed with New England as a free agent.
"We don't want to miss a good guy from LSU," Loomis said.
LSU could have as many as 10 players picked, and the school record is only eight. Wide receiver Brandon LaFell and Jones could go as early as the second round but may fall to the third round, Detillier said. Other LSU players expected to go in the middle-to-late rounds are tailback Charles Scott, offensive guard Ciron Black, returner/receiver Trindon Holliday, Woods, Riley, defensive end Rahim Alem, safety/linebacker Harry Coleman and cornerback Chris Hawkins.
Three other players have an outside chance of getting picked very late – tight end Richard Dickson, defensive tackle Charles Alexander and middle linebacker Jacob Cutrera.
[SIZE=14pt]TCU's Washington is a good bet to be Saints first pick, but that will be late Thursday night [/SIZE]
By Glenn Guilbeau • Gannett Louisiana
BATON ROUGE – You may have to stay up past 10 p.m. to see it, but the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints could make Texas Christian University linebacker Daryl Washington their first pick in the newfangled NFL Draft with the 32nd and last pick of the first round Thursday night.
The new draft, which used to be held on a Saturday and Sunday in April, will be stretched out over two nights and one day and televised in prime time for the first time in league history. It all starts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN with the first round only that is scheduled to run until 10 p.m. Pre-draft coverage begins at 2 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.The second and third rounds will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 5 p.m. Friday and running through 9:30 p.m. The fourth through seventh rounds on ESPN will run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday.
"Looking forward to the new draft format," said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, who has coordinated the good and bad of the last eight Saints' drafts, Thursday at a press conference at the club's facility in Metairie.
"I think it will be interesting. It will be interesting for me. It will be interesting for you guys to see how the process is impacted by this new schedule," Loomis said. "I think we have a few ideas of what could happen, but until we live through it once, we don't know."
ESPN analyst and former Tampa Bay Super Bowl winning coach Jon Gruden likes the idea of one night reserved for the critical and expensive first round instead of the first and second rounds on the Saturday and the last five on the Sunday as in the past.
"The way it was, it felt like three weeks at the end of the day," he said. "With what's at stake, it's good to take a break after the first round and reconvene in the morning after they've had a chance to think things over. I don't think it will be dramatically different until the first round is over. You might see more trades to start the second round. I think you'll see a little more aggressiveness."
The Saints may spend most of the first two days waiting as they will likely not pick until nearly 10 p.m. on Thursday and well into the night on Friday with the 64th pick of the second round and the 95th pick of the third round. They have fourth, sixth and seventh round picks (130th, 201st and 239th) on Saturday. They traded their fifth round pick last year to Philadelphia to go up in the fifth round and nabbed punter Thomas Morstead.
Loomis feels far less pressure picking so low with regard to having to get a can't-miss player and the subsequent cost of the contract. He foresees some idle time on Thursday and Friday for he and his staff.
"There's a lot more time to sit around and eat," he said. "That's probably a negative, at least for me."
Loomis has not come out and said directly that the Saints will pick an outside linebacker with their first pick, but he virtually eliminated an offensive pick along with defensive backs and defensive linemen during the course of his press conference. And so far the most significant loss from the Super Bowl champions' roster is veteran strong side linebacker Scott Fujita, who signed a free agent deal with Cleveland recently.
TCU's Washington (6-foot-3, 234 pounds) played in a 4-2-5 alignment in college and could fit in Fujita's old spot. Todd McShay, ESPN Scouts' director of college scouting, said on a teleconference last week that Washington could end up as a Saint.
"It wouldn't surprise me," he said. "I think Washington, depending on how things shake out, could be a really good pick at 32. I think if you could stack him up against a lot of these bigger name players from bigger schools, I think Washington's going to wind up becoming a better pro than a lot of them."
One of the linebackers McShay was referencing was Missouri's Sean Weatherspoon (6-1, 239), who some draft experts say will be available when the Saints select in the first round. Weatherspoon is more suited for the weak side, though.
"You'll hear Sean Weatherspoon a lot," McShay said. "I'm not as high on Weatherspoon as some other people are. I have a second-round grade on him. To me, Daryl Washington is just as good of a football player, if not better. The athleticism that he has, his ability and just his potential – he's just scratching that peak and the surface of what could be a tremendous football career ahead of him. He's instinctive. He's tough and continues that all through his frame, and he runs in the low 4.6's."
The Saints appear sound on the defensive line with the recent free agent acquisition of Alex Brown from Chicago at end, and Anthony Hargrove recently re-signed with the Saints to end his free agency. They join returning veteran ends Will Smith and Bobby McCray and tackles Sedrick Ellis and recently re-signed Remi Ayodele.
"Alex Brown is a nice addition for us and helps us with our depth on the defensive line," Loomis said. "We have Anthony Hargrove back. He signed his contract, and that's comforting in the sense that he can play defensive end as well as defensive tackle.
"Generally, what you try to accomplish in an off-season is to fill enough of your major holes (via free agency) so that when you get to the draft, you're able to take the best available player. And so that's always the goal. We've been able to achieve that most years. You need to pay attention to the holes on your team, and if you do have a particular need at a position, what you hope for is that the best available player is at that position or at least graded very closely to it."
The Saints are among the strongest in the league at cornerback with Jabari Greer and Super Bowl interception hero Tracy Porter along with backups Randall Gay and Malcolm Jenkins. The Saints could be in the market for a safety as 34-year-old, five-time All-Pro Darren Sharper may jump to another team for a lucrative, multi-year deal.
Former LSU safety Chad Jones will likely still be around in the late second round for the Saints.
"He's an intriguing player," NFL draft expert Mike Detillier said Saturday. "I could see the Saints going for Chad. I know Mickey was at Chad's individual workouts at LSU's Pro Day. He's a great hitter and has shown some good speed in the 4.5-4.6 range for a safety."
Loomis also worked out outside linebacker Perry Riley and defensive tackle Al Woods at the Saints facility. Both are projected to be middle-to-late round picks.
"We always pay close attention to the LSU guys," Loomis said. "It's good business, number one. We don't want to miss on a guy in our own backyard, which occurred with Randall Gay."
Gay, a Saints free agent signing in 2008 from New England, went undrafted in 2004 and signed with New England as a free agent.
"We don't want to miss a good guy from LSU," Loomis said.
LSU could have as many as 10 players picked, and the school record is only eight. Wide receiver Brandon LaFell and Jones could go as early as the second round but may fall to the third round, Detillier said. Other LSU players expected to go in the middle-to-late rounds are tailback Charles Scott, offensive guard Ciron Black, returner/receiver Trindon Holliday, Woods, Riley, defensive end Rahim Alem, safety/linebacker Harry Coleman and cornerback Chris Hawkins.
Three other players have an outside chance of getting picked very late – tight end Richard Dickson, defensive tackle Charles Alexander and middle linebacker Jacob Cutrera.
