The New Orleans Saints looked to the draft to fill some of the bigger holes on the roster, which could lead to some early playing time for some Saints rookies.
The obvious ones on defense would be Isaiah Foskey and Bryan Bresee, but on offense Kendre Miller and AT Perry could have their names called a bit as well for some big situational roles. Last season, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed and Alontae Taylor were some rookies with big roles. The Saints aren’t afraid to let the first-year pros ride if they can contribute.
Here are some bold predictions for those rookies that will see early playing time in 2023:
DT Bryan Bresee
Bold prediction: Bresee will have more than 4 sacks.
Bresee will have a better rookie campaign than Sheldon Rankins. Rankins had 15 tackles and 4 sacks as a rookie, setting up as one of the most exciting defensive tackles in recent franchise memory. Bresee will come in with some competition that he can pass up for serious playing time and an opportunity to use his athleticism to rack up some rookie season stats. — Dylan Sanders
DE Isaiah Foskey
Bold prediction: Foskey will have more than 7 sacks.
Foskey has a good chance to have the best rookie season for a defensive end in almost 20 years, righting the ship for the position since the past few drafts. The rookie sack record belongs to Darren Howard with 11, but a much more reachable number was Will Smith with 7.5. The best in recent memory Marcus Davenport with 4.5, a number that Foskey will hopefully smash. — Dylan Sanders
RB Kendre Miller
Bold prediction: Miller will catch more passes than Alvin Kamara.
Miller will fill in for a missing Kamara for most of the season and end up leading the running back room in receptions next season. He didn’t do a ton of it in college, but is definitely able to catch passes. The Saints view him as a great option to fill the void and he’ll be crucial in supporting Jamaal Williams while Kamara is gone. — Dylan Sanders
OL Nick Saldiveri
Bold prediction: Saldiveri will play more snaps than Calvin Throckmorton.
It’s easy to scoff at this prediction, but Throckmorton has played 1,399 snaps through his first two years in New Orleans. That’s more than Andrus Peat has played in the same span of time (877). Throckmorton has been the next-man-up at both guard spots, and it’s on Saldiveri to displace him as the sixth lineman dressing out on game days. That task isn’t as simple as it may first appear. — John Sigler
QB Jake Haener
Bold prediction: Haener will not log a single pass attempt in 2023.
That doesn’t sound like much until you notice that X different players (Andy Dalton, Jameis Winston, Taysom Hill) have thrown passes for New Orleans over the last two years. Keeping Haener on the sidelines would mean that the Saints finally found not only steady play at quarterback, but that the rash of injuries which plagued the team are finally behind them. — John Sigler
WR A.T. Perry
Bold prediction: Perry will catch more than 4 touchdown passes.
While he won’t have nearly as many catches as Chris Olave had last season, Perry could either match or surpass Olave’s touchdowns last season. Olave had four receiving touchdowns last season. Perry, being a big body, could be an insert in the red zone offense as a rookie that didn’t have a ton of options last season. He was a killer in the red zone in college, that role could transfer to the NFL immediately. — Dylan Sanders
