New Orleans Saints First Round Draft Choices: Derland Moore (1973)

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, from 1967-2015.

Yesterday, we looked back at 1972.

Today: 1973

The 1973 draft was the seventh draft in the history of the Saints.

Now, the Saints did not have a first round pick in 1973, so we'll take a look at the first player they selected.

The pick: Derland Moore, a defensive tackle, out of Oklahoma.

Moore was taken in the second round, with the 29th overall pick.

A native of Malden, Missouri, Moore was an All-American at Oklahoma, before going on to an extremely successful pro career with the Saints.

A 6-foot-4, 250-pound defensive tackle, Moore was a reserve in his rookie season, before going on to start over the next 11 seasons.

In all with the Saints, Moore played in 169 games, a club record, over 13 seasons, made on Pro Bowl, and would go on to be inducted into the franchise Hall of Fame.

No question, Moore was a good pick.

The Saints, with their other second round draft choice in 1973, selected Purdue defensive end Steve Baumgartner, who played for the team for five seasons, including two as a starter.

In the fourth round, the Saints made a nice pick, selecting Stanford linebacker Jim Merlo, who spent all six of his NFL seasons with the Saints, including four as a starter.