Former LSU Tigers cornerback Mekhi Garner scheduled a private workout with the New Orleans Saints, per The Draft Network’s Justin Melo. He’s projected to be a fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft after playing 777 defensive snaps in 13 games for LSU last season, having transferred from Louisiana. He spent his first three years of college with the Ragin’ Cajuns, where he played really well.
Right now Garner is drawing attention for his up-and-down performance at the NFL Scouting Combine. He weighed in at 6-foot-2 and 212 pounds with 32.2-inch arms, making him one of the more physically imposing corners in attendance. And he did well in his jumps, too. But while his 4.55-second time in the 40-yard dash is good enough by NFL standards, it’s worth bringing him in to run positional drills and better evaluate his movement skills.
Garner has a solid resume. He didn’t miss many tackles in college (just 14 of them on over 1,800 career defensive snaps) and he competed well in coverage with a completion percentage of 42.5% and 19 career pass breakups. He was only fouled 9 times. He doesn’t have much experience covering the slot, but he could be a nice addition to the depth chart. The Saints like to stack depth in the secondary. If they can address bigger needs early in the draft, he’d make sense in the later rounds.
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