Saints Draft Grades
Draft weekend is over and its time to look at the New Orleans Saints picks and pretend we know more than them. They came into the event with holes at wide receiver and offensive tackle. One of the biggest questions was would they draft a QB to groom for the future? So lets take a look at the Falcons Draft grade.
11th Overall Selection (RD1-11) Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State
The Saints needed a pass catcher and they grab one of the btter ones here. I had Olave at the top of my WR rankings so getting him as the third receiver off the board is a steal in my eyes. Olave should provide a great target for Winston in the redzone and contribute day one. Not to mention he is one of the faster receivers and no one really talks about that. The pick I love, but they did give up a decent haul to move up so that hurts the grade a bit as they could have stayed put and gotten Burks, my wide receiver 2.
Grade B+
19th Overall Selection (RD1-19) Trevor Penning, OT, Northern Iowa
Penning is a big body with a nasty streak. He immediatley gives the Saints offensive line a mean streak it may have been missing. I had Penning slated to go to the Saints here so it comes as no surprise. The biggest question is if he can make the jump from FCS to NFL talent. Lets hope it’s a smooth transition.
Grade B+
49th Overall Selection (RD2-17) Alontae Taylor, DB, Tennessee
Alontae Taylor is a polarizing player. He possesses so many skills a scout falls in love with. The problem is they make you question whether he should play CB or safety. Luckily being a tweener isn’t a bad thing any more. Ryan compared him to Ambry Thomas of the 49ers in his scouting report. I think he is very similar to fellow Saint Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
Grade A-
161st Overall selection (RD5-18) D’Marco Jackson, LB, Appalacian State
The Saints seem to do a decent job of evaluating and coaching up linebackers, so I hope they can mold this young man. Jackson may be a steal. Playing for Appalacian State, he doesn’t get many prime time games so you may not have heard of him, but he has major upside. He’s 6’1” 235 LBS and runs a 4.55. He can play sideline to sideline and also adds value as a blitzer. Great find by the Saints.
Grade A-
194th Overall Selection (RD6-15) Jordan Jackson, DT, Airfoce
This is a late round swing for the fences. Jackson is an athlete and they drafted him for that very reason. He is a bit of a tweener and needs to put on size weight to play inside in the NFL. He has a very impressive first step, but needs to hone in on one position. Most teams had him rated as an undrafted free agent though, as did nfl.com, so maybe they could have waited. However it was their last pick and they had identified their guy.
Grade C
Saints Draft Grade Overall Grade B+
For the most part I was happy with their picks overall. I’m a fan of Jameis and think he can still be the guy so I didn’t see the need to draft a QB like many others either. My only knock on the Saints draft was the picks they traded away. That knocked them down a bit for me.
Saints Draft Grade Analyst-Ken Noble.
