Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic gave the New Orleans Saints a grade of D for the decision from Mickey Loomis and company to trade up to pick No. 11 and select former Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave Thursday night.
However, Kapadia didn't pan the selection because he thinks that Olave won't end up being a very productive player for the Saints as he's paired with another former Ohio State star in Michael Thomas.
Rather, Kapadia thinks the Saints are a team that's pushed the chips to the center of the table this offseason, and that strategy doesn't make sense for them given where their organization is at currently:
"I don't like this process for the Saints. This move represents an overconfidence in their ability to evaluate talent and an inaccurate assessment of their chances of contending in 2022. They lost key players in left tackle Terron Armstead and safety Marcus Williams in free agency. Malcolm Jenkins retired.
"The Saints are operating in 'win-now' mode when they shouldn't be. Olave could very well have a great career, but this is bad process."
New Orleans did manage to go 9-8 in the first season of the post-Drew Brees Era, despite quite a bit going wrong for them. Jameis Winston suffered a torn ACL in late-October. None of Taysom Hill, Trevor Siemian or Ian Book was able to stabilize the quarterback position after Winston was lost for the season. The aforementioned Thomas didn't play in a single game during the 2021 season.
With all that said, Sean Payton stepped down as head coach after the season. Dennis Allen has earned another shot to be a head coach and he retained much of Payton's staff, but you can't replace one of the greatest offensive minds in NFL history.
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Kapadia mentioned the losses of Armstead, Williams and Jenkins, and while Thomas' career once seemed on a Hall of Fame pace, he's hardly played over the last two seasons. Cameron Jordan will turn 33 in July. Winston is coming off of a torn ACL, and the Saints' not-so-subtle flirtation with Deshaun Watson leaves you with the impression that while they are high on the former No. 1 overall pick, they don't view him as a sure thing. Even the team's other first-round pick -- former Northern Iowa offensive tackle Trevor Penning -- is hardly viewed as a player that's immediately going to be an elite left tackle.
Mind you, the Saints may this trade up for Olave with former Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams -- who is coming off of a torn ACL but is perhaps the most talented wideout in this class -- still on the board. That speaks to the team thinking they can make a playoff run in 2022.
And perhaps in a weak NFC, Olave will be a major part in the Saints becoming a Super Bowl contender in 2022. But they sure are betting on a lot of ifs becoming sure things, and continued success against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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