The 2020 NFL Draft is just weeks away, and soon the New Orleans Saints will go on the clock to make their first selection. With the bulk of free agency spending now in the books, we have a better idea of the Saints roster needs that can be addressed by this year’s talented rookie class.
We used the mock draft machine built by the team at The Draft Network to simulate a seven-round mock draft, allowing us to make informed decisions and provide better transparency about the logic of each pick. Here’s what went into the thinking behind every selection we made, as well as a five-man cluster of prospects available whenever the Saints were on the board.
Round 1, Pick 24
Best players available:
- RB J.K. Dobbins, Ohio State
- LB Patrick Queen, LSU
- LB Kenneth Murray, Oklahoma
- LB Zack Baun, Wisconsin
- DT Neville Gallimore, Oklahoma
- QB Jordan Love, Utah State
As luck would have it, the Saints are on the board with all three of the top linebackers available. A run on wide receivers pushed Queen, Murray, and Baun down a bit, so New Orleans has its pick of the litter to find a starter next to Demario Davis. While they could target another position here, linebacker is their most obvious remaining need (and they reportedly aren’t high on Love, even if the Saints are still doing their homework on him).
So which one do they go with? Queen would be the pick for many fans who share support for the Saints and the LSU Tigers, but his smaller stature (6-foot-0, 229 pounds) may lead to struggles against NFL-quality blockers. He also doesn’t have as strong a body of work as other prospects, with just one year of standout production in college. There’s a lot of projection with him regarding his chances of NFL success.
Let’s consider the other two linebackers. Murray is a better athlete than Queen, having timed the 40 yard dash just 0.02 seconds slower while outweighing him by 12 pounds and performing better in both the vertical and broad jumps. He’s also made more plays for a longer time on a defense that sent far fewer of his teammates into the NFL. However, he has a tendency to overrun plays and make poor decisions when facing multiple gap assignments in run defense. There are low moments on his game tape where he’s slow to process what’s happening in front of him, uncomfortably recalling former first-round draft bust Stephone Anthony.
As for Baun: he’s more of an average athlete for the position than the other two top prospects, and he was also a late bloomer in college who didn’t break out until his senior year. But his scheme-diverse talents mean he can play with just about any defensive front alignment the Saints want to throw out there, even if he isn’t the easy fit at inside linebacker New Orleans might prefer next to Davis. It would take more time to find where he best performs in the Saints defense, so it makes more sense to choose a prospect who can slot in right away with the first pick.
We’ve chosen Murray before in this situation, but we’ll go with Queen in the first mock draft of April. Queen may need more time to develop, but the presence of veterans like Alex Anzalone and Kiko Alonso could give the Saints a buffer to fall back on should he struggle early in the season.
The pick: LB Patrick Queen, LSU