[jwplayer DSh2y3LE-ThvAeFxT]
What is the biggest draft need for the New Orleans Saints? Objectively speaking, probably wide receiver. Michael Thomas led the group with 149 receptions; Ted Ginn Jr. placed second-best, with just 30 catches. After those two, second-year pro Tre’Quan Smith was the only receiver to catch at least 18 passes. Thomas put the team on his back and made NFL history, but he can’t be expected to do it his entire career. The Saints must get him some help.
But for now, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis is focused on talking up the players still in the room: behind Thomas, that means names such as Smith, Keith Kirkwood, and Deonte Harris. Backups like Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Emmanuel Butler, Krishawn Hogan, Tim White, and Maurice Harris are also around. Ginn and slot specialist Austin Carr are each pending free agents.
“I like the group of receivers that we have,” Loomis said after Senior Bowl practice in Mobile, Ala. However, much as he may like those prospects, Thomas was the only one he could specifically point to as a reason for optimism. “Obviously, Mike is an elite receiver, maybe the best in the league. Certainly, production was the best in the league and we’re excited about him, continue to be excited about him. But we’ve got a lot of guys that we like in the room.”
In other words: the Saints aren’t going to move heaven and earth to bolster the receiving corps as long as Thomas has two good hands. His NFL-best performance explains some of their confidence in his abilities, but the best Saints teams have had a bevy of weapons to work with. They can’t count on schemed touches for Taysom Hill and occasional targets to Jared Cook and Alvin Kamara to be good enough forever.
It’s likely Loomis’s attitude will change in the months ahead, as the NFL’s calendar shifts to free agency and then the hectic weeks before the 2020 NFL Draft. He admitted that he and Saints coach Sean Payton were getting their first brush with the upcoming draft class at the Senior Bowl, and that the team hasn’t really hammered out a list of offseason priorities just yet. Hopefully scouting director Jeff Ireland and his staff will find the players who can help the Saints get over last year’s postseason stall-out.
[lawrence-related id=26676]
[vertical-gallery id=27352]