He came in as the No. 7 overall pick in the 2008 draft, immediately took his place on the defensive line and got the NFL jitters out of the way during the preseason. By the time the Saints played their first regular-season game, against Tampa Bay, Ellis was exactly what his team had hoped for.

"I think by and large, what we've seen from him is what we felt like we were going to see as a guy that we drafted," Saints Coach Sean Payton said.

But Payton might have gotten more than he expected from his entire crop of first-year players. It's possible that he found at least five starters for the future.

The first was Ellis, who, on a defensive line that suffered injuries and underperformed, clearly stood out as a solid rookie, with 30 tackles, four sacks and four pass deflections in 13 games.

On the offensive line, there was Carl Nicks, the 164th pick and the Saints' second fifth-round selection. There was speculation in training camp that Nicks could challenge left guard Jamar Nesbit for a starting spot. The job belonged to Nicks beginning with the fourth game of the season, when Nesbit was suspended by the NFL.

"I just expected to learn the playbook, learn the offense, get acquainted with my teammates and just back up, basically," Nicks said. "If they needed me to play wherever, I was going to play. So that's pretty much what I thought coming in."

By the end of the season, Tracy Porter had been out of the limelight for months. But the Saints' second-round pick, a cornerback from Indiana, was there early, and he provided the team's secondary with a glimmer of hope when it was struggling and cornerback Mike McKenzie was not yet fully healthy.

Porter started the Saints' final two preseason games and the first five regular-season games, picking up 25 tackles, a sack and an interception. His season ended with a wrist injury in the Saints' fifth game, against Minnesota.

Porter said Monday that his rehabilitation was expected to take two to three months, meaning he should be ready for offseason activities -- and he could be back to starting by the beginning of next season.

Perhaps the most surprising of the Saints' new and successful starters in 2008 were kicker Garrett Hartley and punter Glenn Pakulak, simply because they weren't with the organization before the midway point of the regular season. Both also were the third to hold starting spots at their positions.

Pakulak is a 28-year-old who had no NFL experience, but he punted consistently for the Saints.

Hartley, a rookie from Oklahoma, came in to replace Taylor Mehlhaff, the Saints' disappointing sixth-round pick. In eight games, Hartley was 13-of-13 on field-goal attempts -- including all four tries from beyond 40 yards -- and 28-of-28 on extra-point attempts.

Payton has often complimented Hartley, especially on his performances in practice, and the Saints likely will sign him for the upcoming season.

"As good as he's been on game day, he's been better in practice, and very consistent," Payton said Monday. "And so that's very encouraging that he's a young player, a rookie, and it's not too big for him. He's handled it very well with a live leg. So I'm encouraged with that a lot. A lot."

The Saints also have more to look forward to with Robert Meachem, the first-round pick in 2007 who missed that season after knee surgery. Meachem, who gained 24.1 yards per catch (12 receptions for 289 yards) has been drawing more favorable comments from Payton lately, as have defensive tackle DeMario Pressley and receiver Adrian Arrington, two 2008 draft picks who spent the season on injured reserve.

With the Saints having just four picks in the 2009 draft -- one in the first and seventh rounds, two in the fourth round -- the 2008 rookie class could be the dominant one to watch for the next several years.

"I only see better things, more things coming next year, when I'm more in tune with these guys, more knowledgeable about what's going on," Ellis said. "So I'm looking for big things next year."

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Teddy Kider can be reached at tkider@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3409.