The Saints new quarterback Garrett Grayson sees himself as having a unique opportunity similar to the ultimately winning situation the Green Bay Packers created when developing Aaron Rodgers.
Grayson, the 75th overall pick in this recent Draft, knows he's coming to New Orleans to watch and learn, which is just fine with him.
"I have no problem sitting behind a Hall of Famer like Drew Brees and learning, just like Aaron [Rodgers] did with Brett Favre. I have no issue with that. I'm not just saying this, this is really is a dream come true for me," Grayson said. "I said all along through this whole process that New Orleans was one of my dream teams to go to for that exact reason. I want to go to a situation, as a competitor you want to come in and compete right away but I wanted to go to a place where I was going to have a spot behind, or have a good spot behind, a NFL Hall of Famer potentially. So this is honestly just a dream come true for me. I am beyond excited to be a part of the Saints organization."
Grayson is a product of Colorado State University, where he started all 13 games last season, completing 64.3% of his passes for 4,006 yards and 32 touchdowns. The 23-year-old also threw seven interceptions.
"That's a guy that I think caught Sean's eye early on, as well as our scouts and our assistant coaches," general manager Mickey Loomis said. "The more we dug into him in terms of the evaluation, the background, all of the things that you look for, it just seemed like every box was checked in terms of a quarterback that you want to help develop. We went and worked him out and had a great visit with him. He's a good candidate for us. I like the fact that we have another guy in the mix with Luke (McCown) and Ryan (Griffin). We think a lot of both of those players as well. I think the time was right. The cost in terms of the draft pick was right. It's a great situation for any young quarterback to sit back and learn from one of the best that's ever played the game."
Nothing will be handed to Grayson, although many will be waiting to see if he can earn the right to be the heir apparent to starting quarterback Drew Brees, who is 36 years old and poised to begin his 15th NFL season this year.
Coach Sean Payton says the Saints have been waiting for the right opportunity to bring in another quarterback and this Draft finally provided it.
"It was only the right time because, we've said a year ago with a grade on a quarterback hoping it maybe might fall and it didn't," Payton said. "He was taken earlier. Two years ago, maybe three years ago, (Mike) Glennon was a guy we had a real good grade on. The answer to the question would be why now at the Sam linebacker? Why now at the offensive tackle position? You are really trying to look closely at the draft and how you have these players graded. We really liked this player."
The fact that the Saints had 9 picks certainly provided New Orleans with the needed flexibility to both shore up their defense with 6 picks and address a new signal caller. The Saints' War Room had Grayson graded as a late second round pick, so taking him in the third round made perfect sense to Payton, especially after watching Grayson's workout.
"He is accurate. It was good. It was really good. That is good news," Payton said. "A lot goes into that position, the makeup, presence, decision making. Pete Carmichael, Mike Neu, those guys spent a ton of time, our scouts, on looking on film. It is one thing to look at a highlight tape but to really go back and look at the season, a tedious look at last season and then go see the player in person, work them out. A lot goes into a decision like that, and the things we are looking for, he appears to have that. I am anxious to see him come in and compete. And I mentioned this earlier, it will be, first off, the work ethic of the guys ahead of him, the way they train, the way they study, all of those things will be different."
Grayson appears to be an eager student, with a list of priorities he wants to improve in his game.
"I'd like to quicken up my release," Grayson said. "That is something through this whole process I had to talk to people about. It all happened, it kind of got longer as the season went on because I hurt my AC and SC joint early on in the year. It just didn't hurt as bad to throw with the longer release and so it got me in some bad habits and that is something that I am trying to tighten up because I know those defenses in the NFL are coming off the edge quick, so obviously you don't want to have that release or the ball hanging out there too long. It is just something to try and tighten up. Like I said, I am just trying to learn anything I possibly can from Drew."
Grayson believes CSU's program, under the direction of head coach Jim McElwain, has helped prepare him to compete at the NFL level.
"Coming out of high school, I was a full spread guy and that was quite a big decision or a big part of my decision coming out from high school to CSU, Coach (Steve) Fairchild was there at the time and had a pro style system," Grayson said. "I was extremely happy that Coach Mac (Jim McElwain), when he got hired because I knew obviously from watching him at Alabama what kind of system he was bringing. I wanted to be in a pro style system and I feel like that translates guys that play in those systems that they are the ones that translate and have the most success early on in their careers and have extended careers. Again, I am just extremely excited and just want to get down there."
Grayson will wear #17 for the Saints.
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