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Saints GM Mickey Loomis Speaks on Analyzing Rookie Class at NFL Combine

By Andrew Schuster

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With the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine underway in Indianapolis, coaches, scouts, football operations executives and the player personnel department are all in attendance at Lucas Oil Stadium representing the New Orleans Saints.  Of course, head coach Sean Payton and GM Mickey Loomis are there in Indiana’s capital city.

The combine is a time of trial and error.  Some will disappoint, while other players representing themselves and their NCAA schools will surpass expectations and climb up the draft boards.

With tons of college talent from this year’s rookie class in Indy, the NFL‘s 32 are there to use the combine as one of the deciding factors to determine which players are best fit for their organizations.

Accompanied by assistance of coaches and personnel, Saints GM Mickey Loomis has been quite the expert when it comes to evaluating players and making final decisions.  We’ll go ahead and throw last year’s draft out the window — I saw that as more of a mishap from the scouting department, which has seen several changes since the season’s end.

NewOrleansSaints.com senior writer John DeShazier had a chance to catch up with Loomis in Indy.  New Orleans’ general manager spoke on several subjects, one of which included the rookie class showcasing their talents at the scouting combine.

“This (NFL Combine) is one of the early steps in the process in these college guys,” Loomis said.  “We’re doing interviews, watching workouts and just collecting data and collecting information right now.  Obviously that’s separate from the free agency that’s coming up here at the beginning of March.”

Loomis was then asked about interviewing players.

“Well, there’s two phases of that.  The first phase is the in-room formal interviews that we do.  We get sixty of those.  We’ve done a bunch in the last two nights.  We’ll do some more tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday night,” Loomis told DeShazier in Indy.

“There’s also an opportunity for our coaches and scouts to grab players in more of a free-for-all circumstance at the hotel.  We’ll get another hundred there probably, and maybe even a few more than that.  That’s more of an informal setting than our in-room interviews though.”

Interview away, Mickey.  The more the merrier, right?  There is no better opportunity to get to know what these young talents bring to the table — physically, mentally and from a character standpoint.

The offensive linemen and tight ends are finished for the weekend.  Saturday will be quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs, followed by defensive linemen and linebackers on Sunday.  Defensive backs (corners and safeties) will wrap things up Monday.

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