This was a popular pick for the New Orleans Saints in a lot of mock drafts, and it ends up being the direction they went. The Saints selected Northern Iowa defensive tackle Khristian Boyd at No. 199 in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft, reuniting him with his former college teammate Trevor Penning.
Boyd wasn’t just popular among NFL fans. He had the second-most pre-draft meetings and visits of any prospect in this year’s class. Teams were highly intrigued by the run-stopping defensive tackle from a smaller school, and it’s easy to see why. He generated a ton of pressure on top of stonewalling opposing rushing attacks. Pro Football Focus awarded him the seventh-best grade among defensive tackles in 2023.
And he has a very clear path to getting on the field as a rookie. The Saints never signed anyone to replace the 20-ish snaps per game that Malcolm Roach averaged last season, so Boyd can step right into the rotation behind Bryan Bresee, Nathan Shepherd, and Khalen Saunders. If he’s ready. He’ll have a great opportunity to lock that in at training camp this summer.
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