My snap reaction without trying to analyze is to agree with you, and a lot of that has to do with the bias of wanting to see the Saints pick LSU players. But let's be honest; while there are a large number of LSU products out there who are at the top of the game, can anyone name a team that has won the Super Bowl that has had
even one Tiger in a key role? I'll answer myself...until this year (Mathieu is a defensive leader for the Chiefs) no, there hasn't been. And staying with Mathieu, I'll throw this out there....if Mathieu's playing free safety for us, he doesn't make the mistake Williams made on the Minny Miracle and we win that game, but even believing we had the best team in the NFC that year, that doesn't guarantee we would have beat Philly the following week or New England in the Super Bowl. Bottom line; Payton's apparent anti-LSU bias is
not costing the Saints championships.
Now, our LB situation....the only thing that bothers me is Anzalone's questionable durability. But with a starting group of Anzalone, Davis and Alonso, with Robertson as a versatile 4th guy....that's a strong group, and again, that presumes Anzalone staying on the field. Would Queen have made us better? Absolutely, but its not like the position is an obvious need.
As for taking Ruiz, after reading what a number of beat writers are saying, I may have to bite the bullet and go watch last year's playoff game again. I think they're right, but I think I need to be reminded that we lost that game primarily because Minny's defensive line dominated us in the trenches, especially right up the middle. And I see a lot of guys saying Ruiz' strength is pass coverage. I watched a scout video last night that showed him repeatedly doing an expert job in pass coverage, and by that I mean quickly recognizing where the attack was coming from, and adjusting appropriately. The center's job in pass coverage is rarely a one-on-one block, and Ruiz is excellent at helping one side get its block and then switching to the other side to get a second help.
Finally, I have to be consistent, and I know my spur-of-the-moment reaction last night was to be pissed off. But I've been bitching for 2 years about LSU not addressing its apparent lack of depth in the offensive line. Well the Saints have had to shuffle players there constantly over the last few years. O-linemen ain't sexy picks, but championships are won in the trenches. And
@shane0911 's opinion of the Saints being a consistent shit-show in the draft is just dead wrong. At #24, there simply was not one guy out there about who you can say, "that's it; (name) is the piece of the puzzle that's been missing." Given that as a fact, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.
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