New Orleans Saints May Have Added Another Hidden Gem To the Active Roster

New Orleans Saints May Have Found Another “Diamond In The Rough”

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

When the New Orleans Saints placed cornerback Corey White on the injured reserve, ending his season, they promoted a player from the practice squad to fill the last spot on the 53-man roster. The Saints opted to promote wide receiver Saalim Hakim to the active roster from the practice squad. To be honest, I was a little surprised that the Saints brought in Hakim to fill out the 53-man roster.

The Saints have wide receiver Andy Tanner on the practice squad and given his play in the preseason I thought he would the first wide receiver promoted to the active roster. Nevertheless, Hakim is on the active roster and some believe that he could be another “diamond in the rough” for the Saints. The Saints organization has a knack for finding talent and hidden gems. The Saints drafted wide receiver Marques Colston in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL draft.

Colston recently became the Saints all-time touchdown leader and has proven to be a great find for the Saints. Furthermore, the Saints drafted tight end Jimmy Graham in the third round in the 2010 NFL draft and Graham has since become one of the best tight ends in the NFL. Needless, to say the Saints know good players when they see them and have turned project players into superstars.

With all of that said, could Hakim be the latest Saints project turned superstar? It is obviously too early to tell and has yet to play a game for the team but there is reason to be excited about the prospects of Hakim. Hakim has a great build for a wide receiver as he stands at 6’2” 195 pounds. Given that he is so tall many would expect Hakim to give up some speed. However, Hakim has been known to run a 4.3 in the 40-yard dash which is very impressive for someone of his size.

Hakim is a very intriguing prospect and it looks like he will be another project for the Saints. I would love to see the Saints use Hakim in their next game against the Dallas Cowboys just to see what he can do. If Hakim can eventually produce for the Saints the team will have yet another great weapon in the receiving corps. However, only time will tell how good Hakim can be but if I were you I would keep an eye on Hakim’s development because you never know. What do you think?