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The New Orleans Saints went in a different direction than you’ll see in most 2020 mock drafts with the latest projection from Luke Easterling over at Draft Wire. Easterling ran a scenario in which the Saints, able to draft the best players available after stocking their roster well in free agency, went with Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor. Here’s what he wrote to justify the selection:
Sure, there may be bigger needs elsewhere, and running backs in the first round aren’t exactly en vogue anymore. But the Saints need to make the most of whatever time Drew Brees has left, and Mark Ingram’s departure left a void in their ground game that left the offense unbalanced. Taylor’s skill set is the perfect replacement, and he’s the top back in the class.
It kind of makes sense if we’re thinking that the Saints might make a move in the first round with an eye looking to the future. Alvin Kamara is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and the Saints could theoretically replace him with Taylor in 2021, even if the two of them would take snaps away from veteran runner Latavius Murray (who arguably deserved more playing time last season).
Having Taylor around on another cheap rookie deal could pay off later on down the road, but in the meantime he provides a great blend of size (weighing in at 5-foot-10 and 226 pounds), speed (timing the 40-yard dash in just 4.39 seconds), and versatility (having caught 26 passes as a senior, scoring five touchdowns through the air) — all in addition to his reliable production as a runner. Taylor ran for 1900 or more yards in each of his three years with the Badgers, scoring a combined 50 touchdowns on the ground.
However, Easterling didn’t stop at the end of the first round. His latest mock draft covers each of the first three rounds of selections, meaning the Saints landed another player with their third-round pick. In this scenario, Easterling paired them with Missouri tight end Albert Okwuegbunam.
Okwuegbunam was a player we picked in our own recent seven-round Saints mock draft, initially considering him in the fourth round. But the board shook out so that he was still available in the fifth round, and the value he presents was too good to pass up (even if it cost us our preferred late-round quarterback prospect and most of the remaining cornerbacks).
So what kind of player is he? Okwuegbunam is an accomplished pass catcher who excels at boxing out smaller defenders in the red zone. He’s caught 23 touchdown passes in his three-year SEC career. While his routes need development and he can’t really point to his blocking abilities as a strength, he’d be a nice understudy for Jared Cook during the final year of the veteran’s contract with New Orleans.
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