Will the Saints finally get their franchise QB?
With all eyes on draft season, the Saints are in a prime position to land a top-three pick and have a look at a potential franchise QB. Sure, you can go the route of building around Tyler Shough with this draft not being very deep for quarterbacks, but it will be hard to pass on a "dude." Ty Simpson, Dante Moore, and Francisco Mendoza all figure to go in the top ten. You can pivot to Jordyn Tyson at wide receiver, but sitting at the third pick will give you first crack at any of the three quarterbacks.
SB Nation just published their latest mock draft, and the Saints are in the third spot behind Tennessee and the Giants. Tennessee and New York have their QBs of the future and selected Reuben Bain, Jr, from Miami and Arvell Reese from Ohio State with the first two picks.
With the Saints on the clock, New Orleans selects Indiana QB Francisco Mendoza.
Here is what Mark Schofield of SB Nation wrote about the selection and why he passed on Moore and Simpson:
"Mendoza has enjoyed a tremendous season and is one of the more efficient quarterbacks in the class. His comeback effort against Penn State is another check mark on his resume, and if he leads Indiana to a deep title run, he might cement his status as QB1. But he has another year remaining of eligibility, and if the Hoosiers fall short of a title, you could see a world where he stays in school to finish the job.
This is Dante Moore’s first season as a starter, so there is not a huge sample size, but the arrow is trending up. If he decides to enter the draft, you can see teams wanting to buy that potential. But he also has eligibility remaining and could decide to stay in Eugene.
Ty Simpson played himself into both the Heisman mix as well as a potential first-round spot, but the Alabama passer also has just one full year as a starter under his belt, and has collegiate eligibility remaining."
Schofield names the teams looking for a quarterback while warning about one team who can throw themselves in the mix.
"As for the teams in the QB market, the Saints, Jets, and Raiders go early at the position in this mock draft. Cleveland is certainly a team to watch, and while they do not dip their toes into the QB pool in this mock draft, the Browns are likely to make a move or two to address the quarterback position next spring. Yes, Shedeur Sanders showed flashes in his first NFL start — that throw to Isaiah Bond certainly stands out — but we will need to see a lot more from him before we entrench him as the starter in Cleveland going forward."
The draft is unpredictable and the Saints can expect calls about their pick on draft day and at the combine, but the Saints need to get their hands on their franchise QB.