Anfernee Orji highlighted as the Saints’ most exciting undrafted rookie

It didn’t take long for New Orleans Saints fans to pick out their favorites from the team’s crop of undrafted rookies signed after the 2023 draft, but here’s an interesting pick from Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine: former Vanderbilt linebacker Anfernee Orji.

The Saints have room on the depth chart with Kaden Elliss leaving in free agency and backups Zack Baun and D’Marco Jackson returning from injuries, but it’s a lot to ask Orji to climb the ladder and play ahead of one of them. Still, New Orleans wanted him badly enough to guarantee a large portion of his rookie contract so they could recruit him as an undrafted free agent.

There’s a vision for the player, which Ballentine broke down in his writeup:

The middle of the field thumper at linebacker has somewhat fallen out of fashion in the league. The linebacker who can cover and be an effective zone defender is generally the preferred archetype at off-ball linebacker.

However, there’s still some value in a player like Anfernee Orji. The 6’1″, 230-pounder is a bit undersized and his lack of length makes it less likely he can get a hand on the ball in zone coverage or disrupt bigger tight ends at the catch point.

What he can do is fly around the field, get downhill and be an eraser in the run game. He posted a relative athletic score of 9.23 anchored by a 4.53 40-yard dash, 38½” vertical and 10’2″ broad jump.

Orji was fourth in the SEC in total tackles and showed the ability to track down plays from sideline to sideline with Vanderbilt.

There’s a role for Orji at the next level.

That athleticism and movement skills are valuable traits, but if he’s going to make the roster Orji will need to be a big player for New Orleans on special teams. The good news is that’s an area he excelled in at Vanderbilt while covering punts and kickoffs. Missed tackles have been an issue for him, but if he can play with greater control and be an asset in the gam’e’s third phase, it shouldn’t shock anyone if the Saints hold onto Orji as a young backup in September.

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