The New Orleans Saints entered the 2015 NFL draft looking to fill some much needed spots on the roster. This was the first time since 2002 that the team held nine picks and the fifth time in franchise history that New Orleans selected two players in the first round.
Despite receiving All Pro center Max Unger in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks, the Saints need a solid guy who can play multiple positions on the offensive line.
With the 13th pick overall, the New Orleans Saints selected Stanford University offensive tackle Andrus Peat.
“Offensive tackle, we viewed as a position that wasn’t a high priority in the draft but it is certainly a position we would call a ‘need’ position,” Head Coach Sean Payton said after the draft when asked if the team went into the draft wanting a tackle. “Maybe not a ‘must’, but a ‘need.’
“First off,” he continued, “we value the offensive and defensive lines in the draft. The tackle position is extremely hard to fill in free agency so it’s a position that’s valued very highly in the draft. I don’t know that we went into the draft saying we must have a tackle… especially in the first round. Yet it was an area, when we talked about the nine picks, [which] we would like to [address] in these nine selections. One of those was an offensive tackle.”
Peat, 6’7”, 316 lbs., started his last 27 games at left tackle for the University.
He is a tall player with a well-proportioned frame and, for a power player; he gains plenty of ground on his kick slide with good knee bend and movement. Peat plays with a strong, wide base. The former Cardinal is very instinctive against twists and reacts quickly to them.
Some have felt that, even though Peat has the ability to drop his anchor in pass protection, he has exhibited some fear of wide rushers off the edge. This causes a breakdown in his technique, allowing him to become flat footed.
“He’s young and his film is outstanding,” Payton said of Peat’s impressive play. “He is big. He is very athletic. He is built much differently than his father. His stature… he has long arms.”
“I wouldn’t put a label on him,” the head coach also said when asked about Peat being a starter. “With all of these guys, we’re going to get them in our program; get them caught up to speed with what we’re doing and not put a tag on them when they say ‘plug him in, he’ll start.’ We don’t know. We certainly feel like he has a ceiling that’s extremely high. I would say the two sacks we saw on the highlight film today were the only two of the season. His production was outstanding.”
One thing is for certain. By drafting Andrus Peat, the Saints have given themselves the flexibility to build a line that will contribute to a successful offensive attack this season.
New Orleans also added quarterback Garrett Grayson (Colorado State University) in the third round (75th overall) and they added depth at the running back position with Marcus Murphy (University of Missouri) in the seventh round (230th overall).
Many believe Grayson will be nothing more than a backup, but he does have all the tools to develop under Sean Payton’s tutelage.
Six out of the nine picks that the Saints had were spent on the defensive side of the ball. This was a unit that was the team’s Achilles’ heel in 2014, ranking 25th against the pass and 29th against the run. The unit gave up the second-highest single-season number of sacks last year with 29.
In the first round (31st overall), the black and gold selected a big, strong, athletic inside linebacker, Stephone Anthony (Clemson University).
“All of the things fit with Stephone,” Payton said. “Again, we got really familiar with him in the process. We loved the makeup. He’s sharp. He was the leader of [Clemson’s] defense. When you talk to Brent Veneble, who is the head coach there — or anyone back there — his name comes up in five seconds.”
Anthony is an inside linebacker who should help defensive coordinator Rob Ryan slow opposing offenses down.
The Saints also drafted University of Washington defensive end Hau’oli Kikaha in the second round (44th overall), Florida State University cornerback P.J. Williams in the third (78th overall), University of Tennessee at Chattanooga outside linebacker Davis Tull in the fifth round (148th overall), California State University, Fresno defensive tackle Tyeler Davison also in the fifth (154th overall) and University of Georgia cornerback Damian Swann with the last of their three fifth-round selections (167th overall).
The picks spent on these players will give defensive coordinator Rob Ryan all the tools needed to come up with a game plan that is more aggressive than in 2014 resulting in more opportunities to get the ball back for the offense.
One thing is for sure… the Saints are looking to rebound from last year’s disappointing season. In a division that is up for grabs, the black and gold have put themselves in position to make a run for the postseason in 2015.