Here’s the fourth installment of our five-part series looking back at the best drafts by a team each decade.
We began with highlighting the 1974 draft of the Pittsburgh Steelers and their four Hall of Fame selections (Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster) that year. Then it was the 1986 San Francisco 49ers class that featured Charles Haley, John Taylor, Tom Rathman and Tim McKyer.
Last week, it was the 1991 Dallas Cowboys with Russell Maryland, Leon Lett and Larry Brown.
Now for our purposes, it is once again 10 years later and we’ll be picking another outstanding class from another franchise.
This time around, it’s a compact but productive class that propelled a franchise to a long-awaited Lombardi Trophy:
2006 New Orleans Saints
While the franchise was born in 1967, the New Orleans Saints as we know them these days actually came into existence in 2006.
That’s not to ignore the team’s history. Rather it is to point out the series of moves that combined to make this team a contender in recent seasons, one that has reached the playoffs four of the last five years and five of the past eight seasons since ’06.
We not only saw the arrival of new head coach Sean Payton but the free-agent addition of quarterback Drew Brees, no longer wanted in San Diego due to the arrival of Philip Rivers. That April in the draft, the Saints laid down the foundation for an eventual Super Bowl champion as well as a team that has been in the mix for a title nearly every year since.
Of course, 2006 also marked the season of post-Hurricane Katrina, which affected lives much more than any football game ever could.
But before we can get to the team’s rousing return to the Superdome in September against the Atlanta Falcons, a few other factors had to be put in motion in terms of the NFL draft that spring.
With the second overall pick in the first round, the Saints grabbed versatile Reggie Bush, who during his five seasons in New Orleans was more of an all-purpose threat than a runner. He excelled at catching the football in space and was deadly on punt returns. The team would eventually deal Bush to the Miami Dolphins in 2011 and he’s now a member of the Detroit Lions.
In the second round, the franchise grabbed safety Roman Harper, who spent eight seasons with the club before being released this offseason and scooped up by the division rival Carolina Panthers. Despite just seven career interceptions, the two-time Pro Bowler could usually be found among the team’s top tacklers each season
But the real beauty of this class was three later-round picks that are still with the organization. In the fourth round, the Saints selected offensive lineman Jahri Evans from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. The talented guard has missed just two starts in eight seasons and has been named to the last five Pro Bowls.
The seventh round brought a pair of significant additions, the first who has really come into his own the last few seasons. Versatile Zach Strief toiled at guard his first five seasons with the club but has now emerged as the team’s starting right tackle the last three years and just re-signed with the club this offseason.
Finally, there’s wide receiver Marques Colston. And when you say finally, it’s meant almost literally. The Hofstra University product was the 252nd of 255 choices that April. He’s rewarded the franchise with a lot of consistency, totaling team career marks for receptions (607), receiving yards (8,337) and total touchdowns (63).
It’s a Saints’ draft class that just keeps on giving, starting with an appearance in the 2006 NFC title game, a win in Super Bowl XLIV and numerous playoff appearances since.
And it has made for quite a story in the Crescent City when it comes to the game it loves.
