New Orleans Saints First Round Draft Choices: Kevin Hardy (1968)

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 1967.

Today: 1968

The second-ever draft for the Saints was the 1968 draft.

The pick: Kevin Hardy, a defensive tackle, out of Notre Dame.

Hardy became the second-ever, and highest first round draft choice of the Saints, taken with the 7th overall pick in 1968.

A native of Oakland, California, Hardy ranks as one of the worst first round draft choices ever by the Saints, having never played a single down for them.

Hardy did spend four seasons in the NFL, spending 1968 with the San Francisco 49ers, 1970 with the Green Bay Packers, and the 1971-1972 season with the San Diego Chargers, before his career came to an end, having only started 11 games.

Truth be told, the 1968 draft as a whole ranks as one of, if not the worst, for the Saints in franchise history, with only one of their 17 draft choices that year ever starting a sigle game.

Gene Howard, a defensive back from Langston, who spent three years for the Saints, from 1968-1970, started six games for the team in 1970.