Here’s another name to file away on our watch list for the upcoming college football season. Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling put together a two-round mock draft ahead of the 2023 NFL draft, and while the New Orleans Saints don’t have a first-round pick next year they do own a second rounder — when Easterling suggests they should spend on South Carolina prospect Zacch Pickens, one of the top defensive tackles in the nation.
It’s easy to see why defensive tackle could be a priority. New Orleans’ top interior lineman, David Onyemata, is playing out the final year of his contract. So are some other familiar names in the rotation behind him, like Shy Tuttle, Malcolm Roach, Albert Huggins, and Jaleel Johnson. Position-flexible linemen like Tanoh Kpassagnon, Kentavius Street, and Taco Charlton are also playing on expiring contracts. The unit could see a lot of turnover next spring.
So it would be nice to add a splashy rookie like Pickens, who enters his senior year having logged a start in 20 of his 35 appearances with the Gamecocks. He fits New Orleans’ prototype for the position at a listed weight of 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds and has been improving year-over-year in the SEC. Here’s what the Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote of Pickens in his own 2023 mock draft, which saw the South Carolina prospect land inside the first round:
