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A busy offseason has set the New Orleans Saints up to draft the best available prospects once they’re on the clock in the 2020 NFL Draft, and most projections suggest a linebacker or wide receiver might fall to them. Some scenarios even have the Saints trading up for a quarterback once a highly-valued player is within reach.
But the newest mock draft from Doug Farrar over at Touchdown Wire has the Saints going in a different direction. He decided to explore what sort of ripple effect could be sent throughout the first round if the Miami Dolphins traded up to the first-overall pick. That ended up pushing LSU Tigers cornerback Kristian Fulton down to No. 24, and the Saints quickly pounced to add him:
The Saints took former Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins off waivers late in the season to improve a cornerback group that struggled in 2019 outside of Marshon Lattimore, and Jenkins performed well enough to grab a two-year, $16.75 million extension. But New Orleans played with five or more defensive backs on 83% of their snaps last season, and that isn’t likely to change. With that in mind, here’s new blood in the person of Fulton, who impressed against some of the SEC’s best receivers and was able to show a knack for coverage in both man and zone concepts — though at this point, he’s best off when he can take a receiver from the line of scrimmage all over the field. Fulton has some technical issues to work out, such as his pad level and footwork, but a little more coaching could turn him into a legitimate No. 1 cornerback.
Fulton would not start right away for the Saints, and maybe not even get on the field outside of dime sets (some combination of P.J. Williams, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Malcolm Jenkins, and Patrick Robinson figures to see most snaps from the slot in the Saints nickel defense). But he would be a quality backup behind Lattimore and “Jackrabbit,” and offer the team an important bridge to the future should either of them depart from New Orleans in the next few years.
At the end of the day, there isn’t a team in the NFL with enough cornerbacks, so it’s likely Fulton (or any rookie the Saints pick this year) would end up seeing real snaps at some point during the season.
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