Saints badly need another magical college draft

By Ed Daniels, Sports
Clarion Herald

The Saints need one of “those” drafts.

Like in 1981 when the Saints selected NFL Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson in the second round.

One round later, New Orleans selected tight end Hoby Brenner and defensive tackle Frank Warren.

Nine rounds later – yes, nine – the Saints selected defensive tackle Jim Wilks, who played 183 games.

That draft also yielded running backs George Rogers and Hokie Gajan and defensive backs Russell Gary and Johnnie Poe.

Five years later, the 1986 draft became a big part of the Saints’ first playoff berth a year later.

Offensive lineman Jim Dombrowski was the Saints’ first-round pick, followed by running back Dalton Hilliard a round later.

And, in the third round, the Saints had three stellar selections: linebacker Pat Swilling and running backs Rueben Mayes and Barry Word.

Twenty years later – the year the Saints signed free agent quarterback Drew Brees – the club also drafted Reggie Bush, Roman Harper, Jahri Evans, Zach Strief and Marques Colston.

Eleven years later, the 2017 draft yielded Marshon Lattimore and Ryan Ramczyk in the first round, and with the 67th selection, the Saints struck gold with running back Alvin Kamara.

Drafts can help you win Super Bowls and division titles, and they can also send coaches, general managers and scouts to the unemployment line.

In the early ’70s, the draft was not a made-for-TV event. It kicked off on a Tuesday morning.

A high school junior asked his PE coach who the Saints picked in the first round. The response is classic, 50 years later.

“The linebacker from Ohio State,” the PE coach said.

The student went home, thinking the Saints had drafted Ohio State linebacker Randy Gradishar.

Three years later, Gradishar, the 14th pick in the draft by Denver, was the leader of the Orange Crush defense that won the AFC championship and played the Dallas Cowboys in the first Super Bowl ever played in the Superdome.

This summer, Gradishar will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

One pick earlier, the Saints drafted linebacker Rick Middleton, who was later inducted into the Ohio State Hall of Fame but lasted only two seasons with the Saints and three with the San Diego Chargers.

In 2002, an anxious crowd gathered at a club, less than a mile from the Saints’ Metairie practice facility. Former Destrehan high school and University of Miami star Ed Reed watched as three selections went off the board in front of him.

They were tight end Daniel Graham of Colorado to the Patriots, defensive end Bryan Thomas of UAB to the Jets and linebacker Napoleon Harris of Northwestern to the Raiders.

Then, the phone rang and tears began to stream down Reed’s face.

The safety, who had led Miami to a national championship, had inexplicably fallen to pick No. 24.

“I won’t let you down,” said Reed to the Ravens football brass.

Reed was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame 17 years later.

The reporter who watched him play as a freshman in high school, watched him slip on that magnificent coat at the gold jacket ceremony on a Friday night.

The Ravens had seen what others hadn’t.

Which is why the NFL draft still determines those who win and those who don’t.

Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at [email protected].