Final seven-round 2020 mock draft for the Saints, with trades

The New Orleans Saints completed several trades in our final seven-round 2020 mock draft, adding prospects like Tee Higgins and Jalen Hurts.

Round 2

Top available prospects at No. 33:

  • LB Patrick Queen, LSU
  • WR Brandon Aiyuk, Arizona State
  • DE Yetur Gross-Matos, Penn State
  • WR Denzel Mims, Baylor

Queen was the clear-cut best of the bunch, and we didn’t want to bet on him not being available after another trade down. So he was the pick here. We might have been able to trade down again but one move down the board is unprecedented enough for the Saints, given their history.

With injuries hitting the linebacker corps so hard last year (starters Alex Anzalone and Kiko Alonso are returning from injured reserve, as is backup Kaden Elliss) and no starters signed beyond 2020 (Demario Davis’s contract is also up after this season), adding Queen now gives the Saints a much-needed injection of youth and long-term viability in the middle of the field.

The pick: LB Patrick Queen, LSU

A run on receivers in the middle of the second round (Mims, TCU’s Jalen Reagor, and Colorado’s Laviska Shenault Jr.) prompted us to try and trade back up, targeting either USC prospect Michael Pittman Jr. or Clemson wideout Tee Higgins. It took some haggling, but giving up our third- and fourth-round picks at Nos. 88 and 130, as well as next year’s second-round choice, got the deal done in a move all the way up to No. 44.

The Chicago Bears unexpectedly sniped us, picking Pittman one spot ahead of us. So we settled for Higgins. He has some of the same athletic limitations that Michael Thomas and DeAndre Hopkins showed coming out, as well as some of the same strengths like catching the ball when it’s thrown to him. Don’t overthink a subpar pro day workout. Higgins will bully nickel corners all season long in the lineup behind Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders while continuing to get stronger and improve his routes.

Remember: we still own the Bengals fourth-round pick at No. 107, as well as their third-round pick in 2021. We’re also anticipating a third-round compensatory pick after losing Teddy Bridgewater in free agency. That’s plenty of ammunition to work with.

The pick: WR Tee Higgins, Clemson

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