The arrow is pointing up for the Saints' rookie quarterback
Tyler Shough has stacked three straight impressive performances, with two leading to victories. Beating Carolina and Tampa Bay on the road with a gutsy comeback attempt against Miami has raised the question: Should the Saints pass on a quarterback and build around Shough?
The quarterback class isn't very deep, and if you consider Ty Simpson's late-season slide and possible return to Alabama, it's even more shallow. Fernando Mendoza is the prize of the draft, but the Saints have won two of their last three and now sit at number five. The Heisman favorite will be long gone before its selection.
So, what would a draft look like from the fifth selection? John Sigler of Saints Wire completed that very exercise.
With the Saints first selection, Caleb Downs of Ohio State makes his way to New Orleans and is widely regarded as the best secondary player in the country.
"Downs is about to become the highest-drafted safety since Eric Berry came out of Tennessee, and for good reason. He's got cornerback size at 6-foot and 205 pounds. He's already played more than 2,400 defensive snaps for some of the best college defenses in recent memory at Ohio State and Alabama. He doesn't miss many tackles and coordinates an NFL-ready secondary as a defensive field general for the Buckeyes. Jonas Sanker looks like a keeper at safety, but Justin Reid's up-and-down year and Jordan Howden's inconsistencies open the door for Downs to make an impact from Day 1 as an every-down defender."
Sigler continues the Saints tradition of investing in the offensive line with left guard Chase Bisontis from Texas A&M at pick 36.
"It's a safe bet that investments on the offensive line will continue until protection improves. The Saints spend another top-50 draft pick on a blocker, this time landing one of the nation's best in pass protection -- Bisontis has only allowed one sack on his 668 snaps in pass pro since moving from right tackle to left guard last year. He's a natural fit at the weakest link in the Saints' offensive line, slotting in between Kelvin Banks at left tackle and Erik McCoy at center (once he's healthy). New Orleans already moved on from Trevor Penning and Dillon Radunz has underwhelmed ahead of free agency, so Bisontis would be expected to start from his first day in shoulder pads."
Rounds three and four see the Saints selecting skill position players to put around Shough at running back and wide receiver. Running back Justice Haynes from Michigan and WR CJ Daniels from Miami are the two selections.
"Here's that home-run threat we've been looking for at running back. Haynes had two runs of 75 yards this season against future NFL players at Oklahoma and Nebraska, plus a 59-yarder in the season opener against New Mexico and a 43-yard rush versus Wisconsin. He doesn't have much experience on passing downs (just 76 snaps in protection and 34 targets in his college career), but Devin Neal showed some really nice things in that phase. The downside is that Haynes underwent foot surgery in mid-November; Michigan didn't rule out a return in time for the postseason, so we'll see. Still, he had 18 rushes of 10 or more yards this year. That's more than Alvin Kamara (10), Kendre Miller (5), and Devin Neal (2) put together."
This is one of the picks the Saints got from trading Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks, and we're using it to add another weapon at wide receiver. Daniels didn't win much affection from LSU fans when he passed through in 2024, and while he hasn't been hugely productive this year at Miami (with 35 catches for 391 yards and 7 touchdowns), he has been reliable. Daniels caught 8 of 10 contested catches this year, per Pro Football Focus charting, and he's 35-of-54 on them in his career; turning 50/50 balls into 65/35 situations is impressive. He's bigger than most of the Saints' receivers at a listed 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and plays bigger than that with a wide catch radius and rare coordination in his lower body.
Adding a running back could signal the end of Alvin Kamara's time as a Saint, but pairing Daniels with Chris Olave and Devaughn Vele could make the Saints passing offense more explosive.