The 2022 New Orleans Saints season hasn’t gone as many expected — certainly not as the decision-makers on Airline Drive anticipated. While there have been some exciting performances from young players like Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Juwan Johnson, Pete Werner, Kaden Elliss, and Alontae Taylor, as a team the Saints haven’t met expectations. A couple of wins have improved their record to 6-9, but that’s unlikely to be enough to get them to the playoffs.
Which means the Saints probably won’t make their first pick in the 2023 NFL draft until midway through the second round, unless Sean Payton accepts an offer from another team and brings back a first rounder to New Orleans through a trade (which is not guaranteed). So what could we expect the Saints to do on draft day?
To get an idea of their options, we gave the Pro Football Focus mock draft simulator a spin and put together this seven-round mock draft. Here’s our holiday wish list of draft prospects for 2023: