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What are the New Orleans Saints going to do in the 2020 NFL Draft? While it’s too early to say which positions (much less specific prospects) they’ll be targeting, Saints coach Sean Payton offered his take on the areas he’s been most impressed with so far during an interview with NewOrleansSaints.com’s John DeShazier.
“After doing the front-board meeting, certainly it’s a deep draft at receiver,” Payton said, referencing a conference with college scouting director Jeff Ireland and his staff. “We think at defensive back as well, and defensive line. Any time I say that, there’s certainly a lot of talent at the other positions. But if you said what stood out in our meetings in the last month, it would have been those positions.”
While receiver is easily the pick for New Orleans’ biggest roster need — Michael Thomas, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, was targeted 129 more times than the next-best wideout — Saints general manager Mickey Loomis was quick to emphasize that the team isn’t zeroing in on the options at the top of the draft.
“There’s players every year at every position and I think when you look at it, it’s like, ‘OK, how deep does it go?'” Loomis explained. “Are you getting into the middle rounds where you can feel really good about getting a guy that can be a significant contributor, not just early but down the road? My sense of it is, so far, it’s pretty deep.”
While every team and evaluator will have their own opinions on the depth of this year’s draft class at wide receiver, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. offered a bold take, speculating that as many as 25 to 30 wideouts could be selected in the first three rounds. If that’s the case, the Saints would be wise to consider trading down.
The problem with that is their draft trade history; Loomis laughed at the notion that the Saints never trade down in last year’s pre-draft press conference, admitting, “There’s a notion because there’s history . . . We’d be open to trading back if the timing is right and if the value is right.”
An aggressive approach has been the preference in the modern era of New Orleans football. The Saints have traded up in every draft Payton has overseen except for his first year on the job, back in 2006 (the Saints also stood pat in the 2012 draft, when Payton was suspended). They’ve traded down just twice in the last 14 years, in 2006 and 2007 — when Payton was building his roster from the ground up, looking to acquire veterans and extra draft capital.
Still, trading down isn’t a maneuver Payton is ready to rule out altogether: “And there’s nothing to say that five (picks) can’t be six as you get closer, relative to where you’re picking and whether you want to make any trades. But last year, we were all real pleased with what we were able to do with some of the ammo we had a year ago, and really bring in a number of players that helped us”
Working with just five picks again in 2020 (the Saints were shorthanded last year after previously trading for Marcus Davenport and Teddy Bridgewater), Payton was encouraged by his team’s ability to supplement a draft class that was short on numbers with high-impact undrafted rookies like Deonte Harris and Shy Tuttle, adding, “We felt like we had a real good draft without maybe the full allotment of picks. This year, I think we’ll have plenty of those opportunities again.”
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