Some New Orleans Saints players benefited more than others once the 2020 NFL Draft wrapped up. Others found themselves on more unstable ground than when the event started, while the futures of this year’s rookie class is yet to be decided.
Let’s get into our winners and losers for the Saints from the 2020 draft:
Winners
Saints wide receivers
We went into the draft thinking the Saints would take advantage of rare depth among the wide receiver class and overwhelm Drew Brees with weapons. That’s not what happened. Instead, the Saints showed a lot of faith in their depth chart as-is, waiting until the undrafted free agency frenzy to add any new talent at the position.
That’s good news for players like Tre’Quan Smith, Krishawn Hogan, and Lil’Jordan Humphrey, not to mention Deonte Harris. Every wideout ranked after Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders now knows who they will be competing against in training camp, and their opponents won’t have the luxury of high draft status to give them an edge. The best players will get the most opportunities, as it should be.
Adam Trautman
This might be the perfect situation for Trautman to step into, given his background at a small school not known for putting players into the NFL. He’ll be able to lean on the decade-plus of experience that Jared Cook and Josh Hill have collected in their NFL careers, providing perfect models of how he too can succeed at the game’s highest level.
He also won’t have to be rushed into a role he isn’t ready for. Cook can continue to dominate targets through the air while Hill handles blocking duties. The Saints have shuffled their third tight end spot around often the last few years, trying to find a backup blocker who can lessen Hill’s workload, and Trautman can fill that role while thoroughly learning the playbook.
Alvin Kamara
The Saints had opportunities to draft a running back of the future, but instead they reinforced the offensive line and made sure to invest in better blocking up front and out wide on screens. That’s great news for Kamara, who is headed for the final year of his rookie contract (and who also was never dangled as trade bait with other teams).
Kamara’s immediate job security is now tighter than it’s ever been before, with no immediate replacement on hand and a stronger supporting cast around him. Cesar Ruiz starting at center should push Erik McCoy to guard, where both players can do a better job executing blocks in space and up the middle than the Saints were able to do last year. Now we need to see whether the Saints will try to re-sign Kamara to a big-money contract extension before the season, because his value will skyrocket if they wait too long.