The New Orleans Saints filled a lot of holes in the offseason, addressing a weak defensive line and bringing in some more offensive weapons. However, there are some spots on the roster that still need to see improvement from young guys that they couldn’t pull the trigger on replacing yet.
Some players just haven’t met expectations. The team’s early draft picks in the last couple of years have been heavily criticized, outside of Chris Olave who impressed immediately as a rookie in 2022. It has been a case of players not yet living up to the high potential that they were drafted for over players that would be a little bit safer of choices. The Saints have bet on their ability to help coach guys up and meet their potential, but too often fallen short of that goal.
This team won’t get where they want to go with too much dead weight. Here are five recent early-round draft picks from the Saints that really need to improve in 2023:
Cesar Ruiz
Ruiz looked like a better pro for parts of last season, but improving on where he was before still isn’t enough to get justify a first-round selection. If he can continue to play well (and with consistency) and earn a second contract, the pick will look better. He specifically needs to improve as a run blocker.
Payton Turner
Turner flashes potential when healthy, and he can be a fun player to watch. His biggest worry has just been availability. He was always going to be a bit of a project but missing so many games through the first two years has slowed down his development a good bit.
Zack Baun
Baun went from a third-round selection to pretty much only a special teamer. He played on 81% of special team snaps and just 10% of defensive snaps last season, according to Pro Football Reference. With the loss of Kaden Elliss, there could be some snaps available higher in the rotation that Baun should be aiming for.
Trevor Penning
Penning suffered a poorly-timed injury before the season last summer that really stunted his development and limited his playing-time. He’s healthy now and should have more of an opportunity to improve. He looks really promising as a run blocker, which was a weak point last year, but he has a ways to go in terms of pass blocking. Finding a franchise tackle would mean a lot for the future for New Orleans.
Paulson Adebo
Adebo had a major sophomore slump last season, really extending even back into the preseason camps. He was one of the weakest starting boundary corners in the entire league last season, so he can only really go up from there. Pro Football Focus rated him as 111 out of 118 eligible corners last year. He needs to improve his tight coverage without drawing flags after being fouled 13 times in his first 30 games.
