Going heavy on the draft

Going heavy on the draft

Good morning. It's time to trade those solar eclipse glasses for reading glasses because the Tuesday, April 9 edition of the Saints Insider newsletter has arrived.

We're weeks away from the NFL draft, and we've got plenty of preview content to check out until then. From positional previews to player profiles, we're taking a detailed look at who could best fit the Saints.

Here's a look at what you want to check out:

Pass rusher need

The Saints' big move this offseason was to sign defensive end Chase Young. But was that enough to cure New Orleans' pass rushing woes? Maybe not. This year's draft features a good crop of edge rushers, which may make New Orleans tempted to pick one. Offensive line is still more of a pressing need, but the Saints have four fifth-round picks this year. That could give them the wiggle room to take a flyer on a more developmental prospect.

Mock draft central

Our Luke Johnson took time to bang out a mock draft before taking some much-needed vacation time. Adding a fun wrinkle, he used Pro Football Focus' mock draft simulator to have the computer choose the non-Saints picks. From there, Luke put on his GM hat and took two prospects that should leave Saints fans pretty happy. (Spoiler: The offensive lineman at No. 14 would be a home run for the Saints)

Roundtable discussion

With a few weeks until the NFL Draft, we thought to do a roundtable that looked at some of the remaining issues with the Saints. Consider it also another draft preview. We get into topics such as whether the Saints need to continue to add at wide receiver and whether they've done enough in free agency. For the latter question, I liked this take from my colleague Jeff Duncan: "I’ve been underwhelmed but not surprised by the team’s low-profile free agent haul (Chase Young notwithstanding). The team’s cap situation is problematic and limited what they could do on the open market. I’m sure the team will make more moves after the draft as they have in recent years, but I don’t think there’s much out there to move the needle. At this stage of free agency, you’re looking at role players or dice rolls. If a player is still on the street in May, there’s usually a valid reason for it."

Are the Saints good at drafting?

We record our next podcast on Wednesday, but I encourage you to listen to our show from last Friday if you haven't. Our editor Zach had some pretty telling numbers regarding the Saints' recent draft history, and they actually aren't so pretty if you cheer for the Black and Gold. That said, does that make the Saints bad at drafting? That's debatable — and we got into it.

(My take: I ultimately think they've been above average since the addition of Jeff Ireland to the front office, largely because of 2017's home run class. Sure, the drafts recently have left a bit to be desired, but I think some of the selections reflect the kind of go-for-it team the Saints were at the time.)

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope you have a great day. Thanks for reading.

Take care,

Matthew Paras