Senior Bowl director says Saints made a ‘slam dunk’ in Round 1

Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy says the Saints made a “slam dunk” in the 2024 draft, picking the right tackle whose opponents said was the toughest player in practice:

Taliese Fuaga has a lot of fans. The New Orleans Saints picked the Oregon State right tackle in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, and it wasn’t a decision that shocked some of Fuaga’s biggest supporters. One of those movers and shakers around the NFL is Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy, who praised Fuaga in a conference call with local media.

“They drafted a guy who is going to be a Day 1 starter. Slam dunk,” Nagy told Nola.com’s Rod Walker after the Saints announced the pick. He added, “He’s a really nimble, big human being. And he’s a bully.”

Fuaga was voted the National Team practice player of the week at this year’s Senior Bowl — an award chosen by his opponents on the defensive line, who made that decision after clashing with him and every other offensive lineman on the National Team during the week.

His movement skills are obvious. Fuaga excelled in the same wide zone scheme that Klint Kubiak is bringing to New Orleans, having paired light feet with a mean streak at Oregon State. The Beavers enjoyed running behind him, and soon, so will the Saints.

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