There aren’t many NFL draft analysts clued into the annual event better than Daniel Jeremiah, who has risen to prominence with NFL Network. This week he met with members of the media for a sprawling conference call ahead of the 2023 NFL scouting combine, touching on this year’s talented crop of college prospects.
And he shared some insight into three players that New Orleans Saints fans should be watching carefully once they hit the field at Lucas Oil Stadium next week to go through a series of athletic timing and agility drills. These are some prospects on the rise at, as Jeremiah sees them, New Orleans’ positions of need:
Pitt DT Calijah Kancey
“I know everybody is going to compare him to Aaron Donald because is he at Pitt, and that’s where Aaron Donald played,” Jeremiah said of Kancey, listed at 6-flat and 280 pounds. “He reminds me more of Ed Oliver, but really, really twitchy, really dynamic. He can shoot gaps. You can see him do some freaky stuff with his explosiveness. He is undersized. He gets caught at times and gets washed. He is not going to fit everybody.”
Kancey was officially credited with 16 sacks and 34.5 tackles for loss in 33 games for the Pitt Panthers; Pro Football Focus charting awarded him 47 quarterback pressures last season. Jeremiah pointed to his skills as a pass rusher as something that sets him apart: “But if you are looking for that pure three-technique and you want to play up
the field, he is somebody that he is going to test really well. He will put on a show, and I think you’ll see him start to garner some attention there to move up there into the first round.”
Iowa LB Jack Campbell
Linebacker is more of a tertiary need for the Saints, but if they lose Kaden Elliss and are able to address more pressing concerns in free agency, they could spend a luxury pick on one of them. Right now the only linebackers being projected to go in the first round are Clemson’s Trenton Simpson and Arkansas standout Drew Sanders, but Jeremiah expects Campbell to enter the conversation after a big week in Indianapolis.
“Jack Campbell, linebacker from Iowa, is going to be huge. He is going to be 6-4, 250 pounds. He is going to probably run in the 4.5’s. He could start getting some love and some talk about him up there in the first round,” Jeremiah said. Campbell appeared in 27 games for Iowa the last two years, racking up 9 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. He also forced 3 fumbles, recovered 3 others, and showed excellent hands for a linebacker — he got his hands on 11 passes in college and intercepted 5 of them.
Tennessee WR Cedric Tillman
What about receiving help? The Saints have gone to Tennessee more than most college programs in recent years, adding talents like Alvin Kamara, Alontae Taylor, Marquez Callaway, Shy Tuttle, Bryce Thompson, and Ethan Wolf. They also hired the Vols’ former wide receivers coach Kodi Burns. So Tillman is someone who could already be on their radar.
Jeremiah said of him, “Wide receiver-wise, I don’t think he’ll get all the way to the first round, but I think Cedric Tillman from Tennessee is probably a name people will be talking a lot more about after the combine. He is going to be 215-plus pounds, 6-2-plus. He is going to run really fast. He is somebody I think you’ll see garnering some attention as well.”
A high-ankle sprain sidelined Tillman for four games in 20222, but he blew up in 2021 with 64 receptions for 1,081 yards, scoring a dozen touchdown catches. He’s caught an impressive 21 of 39 contested-catch targets in his college career and dropped just five passes. He could be the big-body compliment the Saints are looking for to team up with Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed.
