New Orleans Saints Draft Choices: James Geathers (1984)

The first round of the 2016 NFL Draft will be held on Thursday, April 28, in Chicago, Illinois.

Between now and then, we’ll be looking back at all of the drafts of the New Orleans Saints, from 1967-2015.

Yesterday, we looked back at 1983.

Today: 1984

The 1984 draft was the 18th draft in the history of the Saints.

The pick: James "Jumpy" Geathers, a defensive lineman from Wichita St..

For the second-consecutive year, the Saints did not have a first round pick, as it was traded away to the New York Jets for quarterback Richard Todd.

Geathers was selected with the 42nd-overall pick, in the second round, of the 1984 NFL Draft by the Saints.

A native of Georgetown, South Carolina, Geathers played six years for the Saints, from 1982-1985, before playing 7 more seasons, with three different organizations.

The 6-foot-7, 290-pound Geathers spent his first four seasons in New Orleans as a reserve.

That's not to say he didn't have success though, compiling 21.5 sacks in his first three seasons, including 9 sacks, a career-high, in 1986, including 72 total tackles.

After a knee injury cost him all but one game in 1987, Geathers returned to the club for the 1988 and 1989 seasons, but didn't have the same success, compiling only 4.5 sacks in those two years, including 56 total tackles, combined.

Geathers left the Saints following the 1989 season, playing three seasons for the Washington Redskins, three more for the Atlanta Falcons, and one for the Denver Broncos, before retiring after the 1996 season.

In a 6-year stint with the Saints, Geathers accumulated 26 sacks and 129 total tackles in 80 games, including 23 starts.

The Saints made three other quality selections in the 1984 NFL Draft, taking Georgia defensive back Terry Hoage in the third round, Iowa center Joel Hilgenberg in the fourth round, and Brian Hansen, a punter out of Sioux Falls, in the ninth round.

Hoage played 13 years in the NFL, although only two seasons with the Saints, while Hilgenberg and Hansen both made the Pro Bowl as members of the Saints.