Saints ‘excited’ about 2015 Draft

GUMBO GURU: Charlotte’s Country Kitchen
May 5, 2015
Wallace Thibodaux
May 13, 2015
GUMBO GURU: Charlotte’s Country Kitchen
May 5, 2015
Wallace Thibodaux
May 13, 2015

With nine picks in the 2015 NFL Draft, executives with the New Orleans Saints knew that they’d have an opportunity to reload their roster with players at a variety of positions.


Such was exactly the case for New Orleans, who used the draft to restock its depth chart.

Throughout the three-day, seven-round draft, the Saints predictably targeted defense, using six of their nine picks to overhaul that side of the ball. But the Saints also picked an offensive tackle, halfback and the team’s quarterback of the future in a draft that General Manager Mickey Loomis said was a success for New Orleans, which is looking to recover from last year’s underwhelming 7-9 campaign.

“We needed to improve our defense,” Loomis said. “Clearly, we needed to improve our defense and we needed to improve our depth on defense. … (The draft) worked out for us, and I would say that we are pretty excited about it.”


In the opening round of the draft on Thursday night, there was a lot of speculation about what the Saints might do. New Orleans owned two picks (No. 13 and No. 31), which led to a lot of speculation that the team would use the picks to either trade up or down to snag a player that Loomis and head coach Sean Payton coveted.

But New Orleans opted to stand pat, selecting massive Stanford offensive tackle Andrus Peat at No. 13 and Clemson inside linebacker Stephone Anthony at No. 31.

Peat’s selection was a bit of a surprise to some because of the Saints’ holes on defense. But on paper, he’s one of the top linemen in the draft. A 6-foot, 6-inch, 313-pound concrete slab of man, Peat was an All-Pac 12 lineman at Stanford – a consensus selection as one of the top tackles in the draft. Payton said Peat would immediately compete for a starting tackle spot on a New Orleans offensive line group that was hit or miss in 2014-15.


“We feel like not only is he a good young athlete, but his upside, we feel, is tremendous,” Payton said. “He has good size, great makeup and good character. He has the versatility to play either tackle position.”

About 90 minutes after taking Peat on Thursday, New Orleans was on the clock again. That’s when Anthony came off the board – a 6-foot, 2-inch, 243-pound edge rusher who can add some explosion to the team’s defense.

Anthony was a four-year contributor at Clemson, who recorded 6.5 sacks and 23.5 tackles for a loss combined in the past two seasons. He said he’s excited to play for the Saints and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.


“When they called, I barely could get any words out,” Anthony said. “I immediately became emotional. It’s a dream come true for me. This is something that I always dreamed of as a kid, and just to get that phone call and see my name across that screen was surreal.”

On Day 2 of the NFL Draft, the Saints continued its defensive push, drafting Washington linebacker Hau’Oli Kikaha (No. 12, Second Round) and Florida State cornerback P.J. Williams (No. 14, Third Round).

Kikaha was a tackle machine in college that slipped in the draft because of a poor showing at the NFL’s Scouting Combine. Williams is a solid cover corner that could be a nickel or dime option in the Saints’ scheme.


But the big headline in the second day of the draft for New Orleans came when the Saints selected Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson – the apparent successor to aging quarterback Drew Brees.

Grayson had a big senior year at Colorado State, completing 270-of-420 passes for 4,006 yards and 32 touchdowns and just seven interceptions.

He said he can’t wait to be Brees’ understudy in the future.


“I said all along through this whole process that New Orleans was one of my dream teams to go to for that exact reason,” Grayson said when asked his thoughts of learning under Brees. “I wanted to go to a situation where I could come in and compete right away, but I also wanted to go to a place where I was going to have a spot behind an NFL Hall of Famer, potentially.”

On the final day of the draft, the Saints continued to massage the defense, taking Chattanooga linebacker Davis Tull, Fresno State defensive tackle Tyeler Davison and Georgia cornerback Damian Swann all in the fifth round.

With no sixth round pick, the Saints got back in the mix in the seventh round by selection Missouri halfback Marcus Murphy.


Stanford offensive lineman Andrus Peat blocks during a game this season. Peat was taken by the Saints No. 13 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft.

 

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