The Saints selected 22-year old outside linebacker Nate Bussey out of Illinois with the 243rd overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Bussey is 6’1″, 219 pounds so he’s a tad small.  He had 83 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss and he recovered 3 fumbles last year for the Illini.  Bussey will be a longshot to make the Saints, so he must first try to do so on special teams.

The Saints have picked 23-year old DE Greg Romeus out of Pittsburgh with the 226th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Romeus is 6’5″, 267 pounds and he runs a 4.85 40, so he’s a pretty good athlete when healthy.  Romeus had surgeries to his back and knee last year which really slowed him down and probably affected his draft status.  Romeus played in 2 games (both starts) for Pittsburgh last year and he had 7 tackles and 1 batted ball.  He played in 40 games (28 starts) in his four years with the Panthers and he had 142 tackles, 38.5 tackles for a loss, 19.5 sacks, he batted down 12 balls and he forced 4 fumbles.  This could wind up being an awesome pick for the Saints if Romeus can just stay healthy, because he shouldn’t have been available this late in the draft, period!

The New Orleans Saints picked 23-year old cornerback Johnny Patrick out of Louisville with the 88th overall pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Patrick is on the small side at 5’10″, 185 pounds but he’s really fast as he runs a 4.43 40.  Patrick plays the game really fast and he’s no afraid of sticking a running back either.  But, he could have issues with taller WRs in the pros.  Patrick played in 13 games (all starts) for Louisville last year and he had 49 tackles, he broke up 12 passes, had 5 interceptions and he forced 1 fumble.  Patrick played in 46 games (40 starts) in his four years at Louisville and he has 171 tackles, he broke up 22 passes, had 9 interceptions, forced 1 fumble and he recovered 1 fumble.  This was an outstanding pick for the Saints as Patrick could be a starter pretty early in his career.

The New Orleans Saints picked 22-year old ILB/OLB Martez Wilson out of Illinois with the 72nd pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Wilson is 6’3″, 250 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40, so he’s a pretty good athlete.  Wilson is much better if used at inside linebacker where his toughness makes a big difference.  He played in 13 games (all starts) for Illinois last season and he had 112 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, he broke up 4 passes and had 1 interception.  Wilson played in 38 games (21 starts) in his four years with the Illini and he had 223 tackles, 20 tackles for a loss, 9 sacks, he broke up 8 passes and he had 1 interception.  Wilson missed his whole third year due to a neck injury, but he proved to be 100% healthy last year.  This was another solid pick for the Saints as Wilson will be a starter in the near future for them.