Sean Payton discusses Thomas Morstead in New Orleans paper
Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:32 pmFound this on NOLA.com:
New Orleans Saints pick punter Thomas Morstead in the fifth round of the NFL draft
Posted by The Times-Picayune April 26, 2009 2:57PM
Categories: NFL, Saints
The New Orleans Saints surprised everyone when they traded up into the fifth round to pick Thomas Morstead, a punter from Southern Methodist.
The trade was this year's seventh round pick and a fifth round pick in 2010 for the New York Giants' fifth round pick this year.
Saints Coach Sean Payton said that the punter position was one the team had identified as a need going into the draft.
"He has a strong leg, we think the best leg in the draft," Payton said. "We think we've got a very good punter and the objective is to improve ourselves at that position. We think it's going to be a very good competition with Glenn (Pakulak)"
Morstead averaged 41.8 yards per punt with the Mustangs last season and pinned opponents inside the 20 yard line 20 times.
He ranked sixth in Conference USA in punting last season.
"In talking about Glenn, he did a good job for us in a tough situation," Payton said. "We're not handing the job over to this college player, but we're looking forward to good competition."
Morstead was a consensus All-Conference USA as a sophomore when he led the league with a 44.6-yard average and set a league record as a placekicker by hitting all 43 PAT attempts.
In his career at SMU, he averaged 43.38 yards per punt and downed 58 inside the 20. That average ranks third in school history and sixth all time in Conference USA.
Morstead was one of three punters the Saints were wanting to acquire, Payton revealed later, but one of two he said they would have drafted. He didn't say who the third prospective punter was the team was considering.
"The one that was taken by Cincinnati (Kevin Huber from University of Cincinnati, 22 picks before the Saints took Morstead) was one of the only players," Payton said. "Thomas was the only one we felt we would draft. The second route to go is if you don't draft the guy you target than immediately when the draft ends you recruit for these others, but we didn't feel like he was a guy we were going to be in a position to sign after the draft. We were fairly certain that we were going to be dealing with another list. We thought that much of him to select him in the fifth round and for a punter or a kicker, the evaluation would have to be strong."
New Orleans Saints pick punter Thomas Morstead in the fifth round of the NFL draft
Posted by The Times-Picayune April 26, 2009 2:57PM
Categories: NFL, Saints
The New Orleans Saints surprised everyone when they traded up into the fifth round to pick Thomas Morstead, a punter from Southern Methodist.
The trade was this year's seventh round pick and a fifth round pick in 2010 for the New York Giants' fifth round pick this year.
Saints Coach Sean Payton said that the punter position was one the team had identified as a need going into the draft.
"He has a strong leg, we think the best leg in the draft," Payton said. "We think we've got a very good punter and the objective is to improve ourselves at that position. We think it's going to be a very good competition with Glenn (Pakulak)"
Morstead averaged 41.8 yards per punt with the Mustangs last season and pinned opponents inside the 20 yard line 20 times.
He ranked sixth in Conference USA in punting last season.
"In talking about Glenn, he did a good job for us in a tough situation," Payton said. "We're not handing the job over to this college player, but we're looking forward to good competition."
Morstead was a consensus All-Conference USA as a sophomore when he led the league with a 44.6-yard average and set a league record as a placekicker by hitting all 43 PAT attempts.
In his career at SMU, he averaged 43.38 yards per punt and downed 58 inside the 20. That average ranks third in school history and sixth all time in Conference USA.
Morstead was one of three punters the Saints were wanting to acquire, Payton revealed later, but one of two he said they would have drafted. He didn't say who the third prospective punter was the team was considering.
"The one that was taken by Cincinnati (Kevin Huber from University of Cincinnati, 22 picks before the Saints took Morstead) was one of the only players," Payton said. "Thomas was the only one we felt we would draft. The second route to go is if you don't draft the guy you target than immediately when the draft ends you recruit for these others, but we didn't feel like he was a guy we were going to be in a position to sign after the draft. We were fairly certain that we were going to be dealing with another list. We thought that much of him to select him in the fifth round and for a punter or a kicker, the evaluation would have to be strong."