2020 NFL Draft: Comparing 5 Saints mock draft scenarios

The New Orleans Saints are likely to draft a wide receiver early and bulk up the offensive line, if 2020 NFL Draft mock-ups are accurate.

It’s one thing to come up with a mock-up of the 2020 NFL Draft out of thin air; it’s something else entirely to step over to The Draft Network and give their mock draft simulator a spin — five times. That’s what we’ve done, setting the board to be automatically filled by their algorithm, revealing five different scenarios for the Saints.

So to be clear: there was no input from us in the selections, just the program making decisions based off predetermined team needs and the prospects that were available. It was an interesting exercise. Here’s who ended up wearing black and gold in each of the five simulations:

Scenario 1

  • Round 1, Pick 24. Justin Jefferson, WR LSU
  • Round 3, Pick 88. Jake Fromm, QB Georgia
  • Round 4, Pick 120. Solomon Kindley, IOL Georgia
  • Round 5, Pick 151. David Woodward, LB Utah State
  • Round 6, Pick 183. D.J. Wonnum, EDGE South Carolina

Eat your heart out, SEC fans. The Saints ended up with an ideal number-two wide receiver, a potential quarterback of the future, and a starting-quality guard. Jefferson is almost tailor-made for the Saints offense and it’s encouraging that he was available in this first run. Fromm has been described as having some of the same strengths and weaknesses as Drew Brees (limited downfield passing ability but nice short-range accuracy), which is troubling considering he doesn’t have two decades of wear and tear in the NFL to explain his limitations. Kindley feels like a steal in the fourth round.

Woodward and Wonnum are nice depth, with Wonnum measuring out as one of the more-explosive linebackers at the combine (he recorded a 123-inch broad jump at 6-foot-5, 258 pounds), though he probably figures to play with his hand in the dirt as an undersized defensive end like Trey Hendrickson and Carl Granderson. Woodard is more of a marginal athlete, clocking the 40-yard dash in 4.79 seconds at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, but that didn’t stop him from averaging 13-plus tackles the last two years at Utah State. He has a knack for finding the football, with six forced fumbles (and a recovery) and two interceptions in that same span.

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