Raven, Jets, Chiefs and Giants are a few of the clear winners of Day One of the NFL Draft. Whether it was trade-offs for premium corners or passes, or just making solid decisions with the picks they had, those teams won the night based on those who they added to their list and how much they had to spend to get them. However, you can’t have a series of winners without a few losers, and boy did you lose last night.
The Saints weren’t the only team to walk away from last night with their tails sandwiched between their legs. The Cowboys and Patriots both hit their offensive goals. The Commanders reached out to receiver Jahan Dotson, and the Packers again refused to pick up any wide receivers. However, none of these teams reached the level of inferiority that the Saints did.
I know it’s become a meme at this point, but the Saints really pulled a Kevin Costner in last night’s “Draft Day.” Why on Earth would the team make a trade-off to pick a player they could have at 16? Sure, the Commanders decided on a receiver so it’s likely Washington would pick one at 11 years old, but they probably chose Jameson Williams. How do I know this? Well, considering the Commanders are willing to trade-offs, they might not like the receiver options they have at level 11. They’d go crazy if they picked Dotson before both Williams and Chris Olave, so they made the trade-off and Let the other teams pick those first and get some draft capital in the process. Obviously they are not sold on Olave or Williams, or else they would choose one of them. If they don’t get any trading offers they like and are forced to pick at 11 and choose to avoid Dotson, it’s likely they’ll pick the guy most analysts and pundits consider a good choice. than. It doesn’t guarantee that will happen, but I feel pretty confident in that assumption. The argument is, of course, that maybe the Saints know the Commanders will choose Olave, and that’s why they trade, but like I said, if they really like and want Olave, they won’t trade a bit. any.
That leaves the 12-year-old Vikings who traded their options for the Lions. Leos won’t trade without the guy they want. Do you really think they would trade 12 picks, giving up a first pick and a second pick in the process, for a second pick? No chance. It makes sense, therefore, that if the Saints never traded to 11 to pick Olave, the Commanders would probably go with Williams, so the Vikings didn’t trade their pick to Detroit but instead, exchange it for someone else or make your own selection. Olave probably won’t get off the board at all if the Saints stay put. They can get their guy, keep the third and fourth picks, and avoid the hassle of having to trade. Instead, they trade in exchange for being able to open champagne and celebrate a job poorly done a few minutes earlier. Acclaim!
That is not where the foolishness of the Saints ends. The Saints have not yet finished placing their palms together. With the 19th pick, the Saints took down Trevor Penning, a left-hander in Northern Iowa. Trevor Penning ‘MAY’ be a good player in the future, but he’s not ready to start right now. The man needs some serious work on his engineering. He got used to bullying smaller passers in college and then exposure at the Senior Bowl. He’s big and anyone his size has the potential to dominate at the NFL level, but he has a lot of work to do before he’s ready for that. The Saints don’t boast an elite roster, but they’ll be competing for a playoff spot next year, so the decision to draft a left-hander to replace Terron Armstead, who isn’t ready for the NFL looks daunting suspect. I know Penning is the most overrated tackle left on the board at 19, but you have to think a discount trade would be a better option. Even if they don’t land Penning, there are some other professional handling options available to Abraham Lucas (though he also needs some improvement as a pass blocker) and Zach Tom.
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Perhaps the Saints are planning to develop Penning into a suitable fruit in a few years’ time. If that’s the case, sure. However, unless it’s a quarter, I always work with the assumption that you shouldn’t draft a project in the first round. That’s what the following rounds are for. The first round is for instant impact players that you can stick with your roster and forget about. Penning is not like that.
At the end of the day, the Saints traded for a player they could have at their original pick. They took the third and fourth to get him. I like Olave, but they didn’t need to make that move at all. I could have lived with that decision, but to follow up with that by drafting a solution that many consider not yet in the NFL? I do not like it. As was the case with anyone drafted yesterday, it’s likely that both Olave and Penning will become superstars and prove all the haters wrong. If that day comes, I’ll happily apologize and go with the egg on my face, but even then, in both situations, the Saints can handle their choices much better. No matter how Olave and Penning appear, it’s a fact, and it’s what makes them the biggest losers on Day One.
