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What are the most-important positions for the New Orleans Saints to address in the 2020 NFL Draft? Before free agency, replies would have included wide receiver, offensive guard, linebacker, safety, and cornerback. And likely quarterback.
With the first week-and-a-half of free agency in the books, the Saints have plugged many of those holes on their roster. They’ve added help at wide receiver (Emmanuel Sanders) and safety (Malcolm Jenkins) while retaining their own starters at guard (Andrus Peat) and cornerback (Janoris Jenkins), among others. They still have work to do in reinforcing the depth chart — younger options at corner would be nice, and they should add another passer — but the biggest hole remains at linebacker.
And that’s where ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. projects the Saints to make a move in the first round. He picked the Saints to select Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray, one of the top prospects in this year’s class at his position along with Patrick Queen (LSU) and Zack Baun (Wisconsin). Here’s what he wrote about the Saints’ situation:
This is a roster that should compete for a Super Bowl in 2020. Off-ball linebacker, though, is a position where New Orleans could get some help, and neither of my top inside linebackers have come off the board yet. Murray, a stellar athlete and tackling machine, is a good value pick here.
Murray has made 100-plus combined tackles in each of his last two seasons with the Sooners (including a bonkers 155-tackle effort in 2018), racking up 29.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks in that time. He’s also deflected six passes and forced two fumbles (recovering one) in his career. The 21-year-old rookie has the range to rove around the field from one sideline to the other with ease, having timed the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds at 6-foot-2, 241 pounds. He also notched impressive jumps of 38 inches vertical and 129 inches broad. It’s easy to imagine him slotting in next to Demario Davis as the starting linebacker duo, backed up by injury-prone playmakers in Kiko Alonso and Alex Anzalone.
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