New Orleans Saints: On Second Thought Welcome To The Team Patrick Robinson
By Keith Null
Admit it Saints fans when Drew Brees made the selection for the teams 32nd pick and announced it to be Florida State corner back Patrick Robinson a feeling of anguish washed over you.
That anguish stemmed from the fact that most thought it was set in stone that the Saints would take an outside linebacker or a defensive tackle, an area of need, as the team had drafted corner Malcolm Jenkins with the 14th pick only a year ago and Tracy Porter in the second round the year before that.
Apparently the Saints know something we don’t and believe they may have the replacement to Scott Fujita in house with players such as Jonathan Casillas, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Marvin Mitchell, Anthony Waters, Stanley Arnoux and veteran Troy Evans waiting in the wings.
On top of that they met with free agent outside linebacker Clint Ingram, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who has been a four year starter making 159 tackles, 5.5 sacks, two interceptions, one defensive touchdown and one forced fumble.
The Saints obviously have it handled at outside linebacker so let it go and trust in the franchise to do the right thing.
So on closer inspection Robinson was clearly the best prospect available with the Saints 32nd pick as there where no outside linebackers or defensive tackles left that carried a high enough grade to be selected.
Robinson brings allot to the table not only does he provide depth at corner, which is vitally important, if you look at last season when the team lost both starting corners Porter and Greer the pass defense went from 12th to 24th almost overnight.
His addition frees up corner Malcolm Jenkins to move to safety if Darren Sharper does not return and honestly even if Sharper does come back I think Jenkins will move anyways as it seems a more natural fit to his abilities.
Most importantly Robinson is fast, athletic and a great cover corner that when paired with Porter and Greer in the backfield will allow defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to blitz his brains out knowing the receivers down field will be covered.
Bottom line is the Saints defense will be better with Robinson in the secondary without question and although his selection is not the sexiest it certainly appears to be the smartest given the talent that was available on draft day.
Saint fans should apologize and roll out the red carpet to welcome Patrick Robinson to the team, were better off with him…..Two Dat?