New Orleans Saints First Round Draft Choices: Alvin Toles (1985)

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 1984.

Today: 1985

The 1985 draft was the 19th draft in the history of the Saints.

The pick: Alvin Toles, a linebacker from Tennessee.

Toles was selected by the Saints with the 24th-overall pick, in the first round, of the 1985 NFL Draft, the final draft by the team under Bum Phillips.

A native of Barnesville, Georgia, Toles played four for the Saints, from 1985-1988.

The 6-foot-1, 211-pound Toles played in all 16 games as a rookie, starting two, before becoming the full-time starter at right-inside linebacker in 1986, the first year of Jim Mora as head coach of the team.

Toles lost his starting job in 1987, due to the emergence of inside linebackers Sam Mills and Vaughn Johnson, and spent his final two years with the team mostly contributing on special teams.

After a serious knee injury in 1988 that cost him all of the 1989 season, Toles was waived by the Saints in 1990, and then retired.

In a 4-year stint with the Saints, Toles appeared in 55 games, including 17 starts.

The Saints did make four quality selections later on in the 1985 NFL Draft, taking Cal State-Fullerton offensive lineman Darren Gilbert in the second round, USC linebacker Jack Del Rio in the third round, LSU receiver Eric Martin in the seventh round, and Miami (Florida) linebacker Joel Kohlbrand in the eighth round.

Martin was the best pick that year, going on to play 9 years for the Saints, totaling 532 receptions for 8,161 yards and 48 touchdowns.