5 Things The Saints Should Avoid In The 2015 NFL Draft

4.  Taking a chance on a “project” player

Jan 22, 2015; Mobile, AL, USA; North squad defensive corner Quinten Rollins of Miami (Ohio) (22) runs through drills during Senior Bowl practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

This worked out well with Jimmy Graham but not so much in other areas for the Saints during the draft with the most recent being cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptitste.

Maybe if he’d have been a fifth or sixth round pick the sting wouldn’t have been so bad but when the Saints used their second round pick, the expectation was they’d found a starter.

I even fell into the hype of the comparisons to Seattle Seahawks corner Richard Sherman and the Youtube highlights of him set to the Skrillex sounding “Bullet Train” by Stephen Swartz.

He was active for four games and was in on eight snaps vs. the Detroit Lions….and that’s about it.  He wasn’t even a factor on special teams.

Jean-Baptiste was a former wide receiver that was converted to corner his last few years at Nebraska and the transition period seemed a tad steep for him and so was the jump into the second round to get him.

NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan mocked Miami(Ohio) cornerback Quinten Rollins to the Saints in the second round stating, “Meet the defensive version of Jimmy Graham” and “Rollins is one of the top sleepers in the draft”.

The Graham reference is to Rollins being a basketball player for the university as well before playing cornerback for one season…yes one season.

The “sleeper” part is because of Rollins stats he put up in the one season recording seven interceptions, which I’ll say is impressive.

But the Saints don’t have the time to develop what many say is a raw prospect that needs to improve his technique to play in the NFL.

While he may be a player that develops into a great cornerback the Saints don’t need to jump on a project player in the early rounds.