New Orleans Saints: Making the case for Bryce Petty

By Brian Spaen | Apr 30, 2015

The New Orleans Saints come into the 2015 NFL Draft with nine picks — a large allotment of picks that can be used for all of their need positions. They also have enough picks to boost an area that doesn’t need immediate help, but will down the road: Quarterback. That’s why the team is considering Bryce Petty late in the first round, and they should.

There’s a total of five picks for the Saints in the first three rounds: the 13th and 31st in the first round, 44th overall in the second round, and the 75th and 78th overall in the third round. According to Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, New Orleans will grab Danny Shelton, a nose tackle from Washington, first. Then, the gunslinger from Baylor.

"The Saints worked out Petty in the last week and regard him as the best pure passer in the draft. Drew Brees, 36, will enter his 15th season. Petty has time to learn how to make reads and play from under center without having to play."

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Petty is a new favorite to be the third quarterback taken in the draft over UCLA’s Brett Hundley. Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota have been the often talked about QBs that have shined over the rest of the class. Some mock drafts have those two going right at the top. Why is Petty not as high? He wouldn’t be a good fit for a team that desperately needs a quarterback right away.

Greg A. Bedard of Sports Illustrated explains how Baylor’s spread offense doesn’t allow for a great transition into the NFL. Wide receivers that Petty finds open all the time won’t be there at the next level.

"[Baylor coach Art] Briles’ version of the spread offense is extremely simple and features a lot of grip-and-rip throws behind the line of scrimmage; the deep routes are simplistic and often wide open. For all the criticism of Marcus Mariota’s easy throws, Baylor’s offense makes Oregon’s look like a complicated West Coast scheme. There’s very little reading in the Baylor scheme, meaning Petty (unlike Mariota) never had to scan across the field."

Bedard does believe that Petty has a better outlook, however. He’s quick enough on the field to make decisions — much more than Hundley — despite a low completion percentage in the spread offense (62 percent in 2013 and 63.1 percent in 2014). In fairness, the percentage is also low because of how many times Petty has to throw (over 400 attempts in each season).

With these issues, Petty must have to sit and learn an NFL system. That’s why he’d be a perfect fit for New Orleans and taking a seat behind veteran Drew Brees. There’s only a few years left in Brees’ career as he enters his 15th NFL season at the age of 36.

Will it turn out to be as successful as Aaron Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers after taking over for Brett Favre? That’s lofty expectations, but the Saints could have a lot of comfort at the quarterback position if they picked up Petty late in the first round.

Next: New Orleans Saints 7-Round Mock Draft

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