New Orleans Saints: 5 worst NFL Draft picks of all-time

3 of 6

(Original Caption) At the Santa Clara University stadium named in his honor, former Santa Clara football coach Lawrence T. (Buck) Shaw, (L) discusses forthcoming Shrine East-West football game with three eastern players, (L-R): Mike McGill, 225, linebacker from Nashville, Tennessee and Army; Tom Schoen, 178, safely from Euclid, Ohio and Notre Dame; and Kevin Hardy, 275, from Oakland, California and Notre Dame. Shaw, also an ex-49er pro coach and an official at the University watched the boys go through their paces for the December 30th game at Candlestick Park. /

Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Kevin Hardy. 4. player. 15. . Defensive Tackle

1968 was the second ever season of Saints football. This was an expansion era team in the Crescent City and the Saints needed talent to field a strong enough roster to contend in the NFC in the late 1960s. With their second ever first round pick, New Orleans selected Notre Dame defensive tackle Kevin Hardy with the No. 12 overall selection.

The problem with that choice was that not only did Hardy have a lackluster NFL career, he never played a snap for the Saints in his four-year NFL career. Hardy played for the 1968 San Francisco 49ers, the 1970 Green Bay Packers, and the 1971-72 San Diego Chargers before retiring at age 27.

New Orleans needed to find a franchise cornerstone with their No. 12 overall pick in the 1968 NFL Draft. For whatever reason, Hardy never played for the Saints and that contributed to New Orleans going 20 years before making its first trip to the NFC Playoffs.

It’s hard to say what the apparent disconnect was in the Saints’ front office in the early years, but not only did they use a first round pick on a kicker not named Morten Andersen, but they drafted a defensive tackle who ended up playing for a division rival at the time in San Francisco his rookie year.

Even if Hardy would have played a snap for the Saints, there’s no guarantee that he would have been more that the rotational defensive lineman he was for the Chargers before calling it quits after the 1972 NFL season.

Next: 3. DT Shawn Knight, 1987, No. 11 overall

Home/New Orleans Saints