Draft season is in full swing, with the latest 2023 NFL mock draft coming from Doug Farrar over at Touchdown Wire. We’ve got three rounds of picks to sort through from this projection — including some nice gets for the New Orleans Saints.
But one benefit of having a full model to work with is we can consider all of the available options and alternatives for the Saints. Maybe there are other prospects on the board who make more sense for New Orleans than the players picked for them. Let’s dig in:
Round 1, Pick 29: DE Lukas Van Ness, Iowa
Farrar’s take:
Dennis Allen’s defense lost edge-rusher Marcus Davenport, defensive lineman David Onyemata, linebacker Kaden Elliss, and defensive tackles Kentavius Street and Shy Tuttle in free agency, and didn’t do much to replace any of them. So, it’s time for the Saints to get some line help in this draft with the pick they got from the Broncos for Sean Payton. Van Ness isn’t the most flexible edge defender, but he brings power and production to the table, and at 6-foot-5 and 272 pounds, he can kick inside and wreak additional havoc.
Van Ness is trending higher and higher, and he could go in the top 15 or 20 picks rather than the end of Round 1 as in this scenario — that’s why we had the Saints trading up for him in our staff mock draft a week ago. He’d be a great addition if New Orleans can land him, but it feels unlikely that he’ll make it all the way to their pick.
Other prospects from this mock that we’d consider at No. 29: Florida RG O’Cyrus Torrence (32), Clemson DE Myles Murphy (34), North Carolina WR Josh Downs (35)
Round 2, Pick 40: WR Cedric Tillman, Tennessee
Tillman is another player we had the Saints picking in our collaborative staff mock draft, and it’s easy to see how he could fit in New Orleans as an easy separator with reliable hands and great size at 6-foot-3, 213 pounds with 32.3-inch arms, which he uses to win on contested catches. He outplayed his teammate Jalin Hyatt in 2021 and the first two weeks of 2022 until an injury slowed him down. This looks like a great pick.
But if the Saints want to go in another direction in the second round, some prospects who were available at this point include Northwestern DL Adetomiwa Adebawore (42), Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer (45), and Iowa LB Jack Campbell (52)
Round 3, Pick 71: CB Kelee Ringo, Georgia
This is kind of a weird pick. Ringo is projected to go much higher on draft day — some projections have him getting into the first round — so from a pure value standpoint this is a nice get. But as far as the prospect goes, Ringo is a bit of a penalty magnet (9 fouls last year alone) and he can be beaten off the line of scrimmage by quality route runners. He’s also prone to getting turned around downfield and allowing big receptions into his coverage.
More importantly for the Saints’ concerns, he has very little experience lining up in the slot (just 50 career snaps). He wouldn’t start over Marshon Lattimore or Alontae Taylor as a rookie, and if the Saints hold onto Paulson Adebo (as they should) he won’t get in the lineup at all for a year or two. That may not be the worst thing given how much work he needs to do on his coverage techniques, but it’s not the best use of this pick.
Other prospects available at No. 71 who better fit the Saints needs in this mock draft: Florida DT Gervon Dexter Sr. (74), Illinois S Sydney Brown (76), Tulane RB Tyjae Spears (83)
