Great Players That The Saints Could Have Drafted: Jackie Slater

The 2016 NFL Draft gets underway on Thursday, April 28, in Chicago, Illinois.

Between now and then, we’ll be looking back at some of the past drafts by the Saints, and some of the better players they passed up on when it was their turn to pick.

Of course, every NFL team has had their “steals” and “busts” over the years, as the NFL Draft is such an inexact science, but it’s kind of fun, and at times, agonizing, to look back and see what players they could have, and maybe even should have drafted.

Today, we go back to the 1976 NFL Draft.

In the third round, with the 77th-overall pick, the Saints selected Texas guard Bob Simmons.

Simmons wasn't a bad player, playing in 88 games, and starting 70 over 7 NFL seasons.

But all of that was for the Kansas City Chiefs, and not the Saints.

9 picks later, with the 26th pick of the fourth round, and the 86th-overall selection, the Los Angeles Rams took Jackson St. offensive tackle Jackie Slater.

It was a terrific pick by the Rams, as Slater was the anchor on their offensive line for all of the 1980's, as well as much of the early 1990's.

A 7-time Pro Bowler, Slater was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 17 seasons, Slater appeared in 259 games, including 211 as a starter.

Slater, who is viewed as one of the best right tackles of all-time, would have certainly helped the Saints in their quest for respectability.