The New Orleans Saints filled a lot of holes in the offseason, addressing a weak defensive line and bringing in some more offensive weapons. However, there are some spots on the roster that still need to see improvement from young guys that they couldn’t pull the trigger on replacing yet.
Some players just haven’t met expectations. The team’s early draft picks in the last couple of years have been heavily criticized, outside of Chris Olave who impressed immediately as a rookie in 2022. It has been a case of players not yet living up to the high potential that they were drafted for over players that would be a little bit safer of choices. The Saints have bet on their ability to help coach guys up and meet their potential, but too often fallen short of that goal.
This team won’t get where they want to go with too much dead weight. Here are five recent early-round draft picks from the Saints that really need to improve in 2023: