24. DE Cameron Jordan A

Finally! Cameron Jordan was a top 10 prospect in my book and a consensus top 15 pick. However, stupid teams drafting in the top 20 allowed him to drop to the Saints at 24. It’s almost not fair. The rich get richer. This is exactly the type of player they need opposite Will Smith to help beef up their defensive line.

28. RB Mark Ingram A

The price for him might have been a little steep (2012 1^st round pick, 2011 56^th overall pick), but they felt like he was the missing piece to their team and I don’t disagree with them. I had Ingram rated highly even with his knee problem and this team had so many injury problems at running back last year that Julius Jones and DeShawn Wynn got key carries in their playoff loss to Seattle.

72. OLB Martez Wilson A

I had a first round grade on Wilson as the best middle linebacker in this class. He can play middle linebacker for them with Jonathan Vilma moving outside. Or he can also start outside. Either way, he’ll be a starter for this team in the long run.

88. CB Johnny Patrick D

Another cornerback? Last year they drafted Patrick Robinson in the first and they couldn’t even get him on the field other than nickel packages, and this was after moving 2009 1^st round pick Malcolm Jenkins to safety. Why do they need another cornerback? Between Jabari Greer, Tracy Porter, and Patrick Robinson, they’re pretty set at cornerback. I don’t think Patrick was a great value here or anything.

226. DE Greg Romeus A

You can never have too many pass rushers and Romeus is a steal at this point. If he’s healthy, he gets picked in the top 2 rounds and they don’t need him right away. He gives Gregg Williams another weapon to work with as they try to get to the quarterback more, a huge need of theirs. He can play end on passing downs with Jordan moving inside to tackle.

243. OLB Nate Bussey B+

Another linebacker was definitely needed and Bussey can play special teams, but he was outside my top 300. That’s not a huge deal because it’s the 7^th round though.

Overall:

This draft would have been an A if it wasn’t for that Johnny Patrick pick. They didn’t need another cornerback at all. They needed a defensive tackle. I can’t give them an A for that reason. However, I strongly considered it because of how big of a steal they got at 24 with Cameron Jordan, 72 with Martez Wilson, and 226 with Greg Romeus, all at positions of need. They also got what could easily be the missing piece to their offense with Mark Ingram, who I think was worth what they gave up, but I’m giving them an A-.

Grade: A-