Bradford/Clausen now split among Mock Drafts

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Saints drafted Jamaal Brown 13th overall in 2005. He didn't play at all this year, which supports the notion that the left tackle position is overvalued compared to the other positions on the OL, particularly RT. But the Saints got where they are by investing a first and a second round pick in tackles over the last seven drafts, but more directly, by digging up the very best lineman available in the middle rounds, at positions where the draft value system dictates that great players are available if you look in places like Bloomsburg, and Towson State.

Even though the backup LT, Bushrod, was undrafted, the Saints didn't try to live off the middle rounds in the building of the OL. The fact that their interior line actually IS built of middle rounders, which it is, is possible in part because they were able to take college OTs and work them at a new position because they had already developed the two bookends.

In essence, when we had an effective Samuels and Jansen for the forseeable future, the line was our strength. We chose to invest heavily in Randy Thomas back in 2003 because we were working with a crappy interior OL at the time, which was a fine start, and then Dockery and Rabach worked because they were functional pieces in a strong unit that hadn't been skimped on. Kendall, to an extent, was the same principle. But once the cornerstones of our line began to decline, those interior players were exposed.

I don't think that's perfectly analogous to the Saints, because Nicks and Goodwin are strong players in their own right, certainly better than Rabach and Dockery, and helped solve the issue of having a replacement LT this year. But if the Saints OL success is sustainable, I'd imagine that Jamaal Brown is going to be a big part of it.