New Orleans Saints First Round Draft Choices: William Roaf (1993)

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 1992.

Today: 1993

The 1993 draft was the 27th draft in the history of the Saints.

Actually, the Saints had two first round selections in 1993, but we'll concentrate on their top pick, which they acquired in a trade with the Detroit Lions for linebacker Pat Swilling.

The pick: William Roaf, an offensive lineman from Louisiana Tech.

This selection turned out to be one of the best in franchise history.

After playing his college football at Louisiana Tech, Roaf was selected by the Saints with the 8th-overall in the first round of the 1993 NFL Draft.

A native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Roaf became an immediate starter, starting 16 games at right tackle in 1993.

Roaf made the switch to left tackle and was named to the Pro Bowl, as he was for seven-consecutive seasons, and 11 of the next 12.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Roaf was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs prior to the 2002 season.

Roaf played four years for the Chiefs, before retiring following the 2005 season.

Roaf was named to the NFL All-Decade Team in both the 1990’s and 2000’s.

He was also named to the Louisiana Tech Hall of Fame in 2003, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

In 9 years with the Saints, Roaf appeared in 131 games, all of them as a starter.

In 13 NFL seasons, Roaf appeared in 189 games, all as a starter.

With their other first round selection in 1993, with the 20th-overall selection, the Saints took Notre Dame tight end Irv Smith, who spent five years with the franchise.

Other notable picks in 1993 included Fresno St. fullback Lorenzo Neal in the 4th round, Nebraska tailback Derek Brown in the 4th round, and Nebraska defensive back/kick returner Tyrone Hughes in the 5th round.