Saints crap out when they roll 11

Published 5:47 am Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Old-time Saints fans still can’t think about the NFL draft without closing their eyes and breaking into a cold sweat while having an abrupt and nightmarish Russell Erxleben flashback.

Hard to believe that at the time, which was 1979, it was considered outside-the-box thinking use a first-round draft pick for a kicker.

Never more.

Erxleben was going to be a dual-threat kicker, handling both placekicking and punting for the foreseeable future and beyond.

As you probably already guessed, it turned out he couldn’t do either, and is generally considered — NFL.com has done the math on this — the biggest bust in Saints first-round history. Which is no easy feat.

Both Erxleben’s kicking and punting were criminal, though apparently not felonies, for it was his later dabbling in financial fraud that landed him in federal prison, now serving his second stint.

Kickers and punters to this day generally blame him for the fact that they never get invited to the NFL draft green room and are generally relegated to undrafted free agent status.

So maybe the Saints should not tempt fate. Maybe they should go ahead and trade down with the No. 11 overall pick they possess.

Back when Erxleben was taken (two picks ahead of Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow), the Saints clumsily wielded the No. 11 overall pick in the draft — same as they own for Thursday night.

Just a random coincidence, you say?

As often as the Saints have picked in the top half of the draft, only two other times in recorded history have they had the No. 11 overall selection.

Neither went well. The franchise went brain dead both times.

If not for the obvious choice of Erxleben as the all-time first-round bust, defensive tackle Shawn Knight (1987) and cornerback Alex Molden (1996) would surely be in the discussion.

Both went No. 11 overall — and went downhill into football oblivion from there.

Forget No. 11.

There are other disturbing signs on the eve of this year’s draft.

Tuesday the Saints signed Adrian Peterson to a one-year guaranteed contract, with an option for a second year.

Sounds great — future Hall of Famer for sure.

When they’re really pumping up LSU’s Leonard Fournette, it’s the Peterson comparisons, which wasted on many backs, that are the highest praise.

The big question is, How much tread is left on the tires?

He’s 32 years old and was only able to play in three games last season for the Vikings.

True, there’s not a lot of risk in the signing.

But this, too, has been tried.

Few now remember, but Earl Campbell was once a Saint.

Bum Phillips couldn’t help but reunite himself with his favorite Houston Oiler when he took over as Saints head coach.

The only catch was that Campbell, terrifying as he once was, could barely walk by the time he got to New Orleans.

You can go back further — Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung were once Saints — original Saints, at that.

Not to be confused with Thunder and Lightning from their Green Bay days, Hornung retired before playing a down and Taylor played one year.

Still, Peterson is an interesting signing.

He was used to carrying the Vikings’ offense on his back, hence a lot of the wear and tear.

The Saints pay Drew Brees handsomely for that role, and perhaps head coach Sean Payton can tinker with his schemes to find useful ways to employ Peterson.

Peterson has never been teamed with anything like a Brees at quarterback.

There are some possibilities.

But what we know for sure is that Adrian Peterson can’t rush the passer. Nor is he much of a lockdown cover cornerback.

If we’ve learned anything from the Brees-Payton era it’s that the Saints will figure it out.

So perhaps, if nothing else, by scratching an offensive itch just before the draft, the Saints won’t be tempted to use any early picks on any offensive player no matter the hype.

Brees can turn undrafted players in serviceable NFL players, late-rounders in All-Pros.

So the Saints need to use all available early resources to do something about that defense, mostly a pass rusher and somebody who can cover anybody.

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen actually showed some promise in his first season last year. Give him something to work with.

But I’d still be leery of that No. 11 pick.

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Scooter Hobbs covers LSU

athletics. Email him at

shobbs@americanpress.com