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Draft Preview: Saints pick 12th
Posted: Monday April 05, 1999 11:09 AM
For the next 12 days, CNN/SI will offer a daily look at one pick from the 1999 draft, finishing with Cleveland. Check back for a new preview each day. If Mike Ditka gets his way, it'll be a lot easier to predict the New Orleans Saints' 1999 draft picks. First, he'll take Ricky Williams. Then, he'll take in a round of golf or two. Ditka has made it clear he really, really covets Williams, enough so that he's reportedly offered all six of his picks in this year's draft AND his top three picks in next year's draft for a pick that will give him the Heisman Trophy winner. Ditka thinks enough of Herschel -- sorry, Ricky -- to mortgage his team's future. The Saints have already sent their second-round pick to the Rams for slumping receiver Eddie Kennison, who has 42 catches and one touchdown in the past two seasons after catching 54 for nine scores his rookie year. So what do the other six picks get you? To get a better feeling of that, consider the players taken with the same six picks last year. None of the six made any starts last year, with first-round linebacker Keith Brooking playing in 15 games, more than the other five players combined. Brooking is the only one of the six to crack his team's two-deep depth chart. The other five: Panthers defensive tackle Mitch Marrow, Raiders guard Gennaro DiNapoli, Jets tight end Blake Spence, Chiefs defensive tackle Derrick Ransom and Broncos linebacker Nate Wayne. That's not much, but in 1997, it would have meant Warrick Dunn and Jason Taylor. And keep in mind the Saints are supposedly throwing in picks in the first, second and third rounds next year -- arguably doubling the value of the deal for whoever doesn't want Williams. Don't underestimate the value of New Orleans' first-rounder in 2000 -- this could easily be a top-10 pick. Check out the Saints' non-division opponents next year: at home against Tennessee, Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Dallas and on the road against Chicago, Jacksonville, Baltimore and the New York Giants. How many wins are the Billy Joes good for? Best bet for No. 12 With all that said, as with most draft projections, we have to ignore all the potential trades for now. This is like discussing "Titanic" without mentioning the icebergs -- they can radically change the course of events. But if Williams is impressive in his personal workout for teams next week, the Saints' offer might be ignored, and Ditka will have to actually use his draft picks.
That might not be a bad thing -- he has plenty of holes to fill on both sides of the ball. New Orleans could certainly use a quarterback. The Saints ranked last in the league in rushing last year, and no returning receiver had more than three touchdowns in '98. There's a big hole at right tackle, and they need a strong safety to replace Chad Cota, who left for the Colts in free agency. Assuming that the 11 picks ahead of New Orleans will include the top four quarterbacks and the top two tailbacks in the draft, look for New Orleans to find a new No. 1 receiver with their top pick. N.C. State's Torry Holt showed he can be a dominating receiver last year -- teams knew he was coming every week and he still managed 88 catches for 1,603 yards and 10 touchdowns. He totaled 180 yards or more in three games last year -- the Saints have two of those in their franchise history. Click here if you have a question or comment about the upcoming NFL Draft. We'll answer a few questions and publish selected comments once a week between now and April 17.
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