NFL.com’s Adam Rank put together one of the more unique mock drafts you’ll see this offseason — rather than trying to predict what every team will do in the first round, he made recommendations for each of them, which put the New Orleans Saints in a curious spot.
With two of the top five quarterback prospects tumbling down the board (including Florida’s Anthony Richardson, a candidate to go off the board at No. 1 overall), he has the Saints putting their confidence in Derek Carr and investing in their defensive line instead. Rank is a big fan of getting Clemson defensive end Myles Murphy to New Orleans at No. 29:
Look, I was thinking of taking a quarterback here. I know everyone’s freaking out that Anthony Richardson and Will Levis are still on the board. You could look to move down, too. But with so much offseason attrition on the defensive line, this is way too good a value to pass up. Murphy would immediately come in and make your team better. Keep the phone lines open, in case someone’s trying to get back into Round 1 for a QB, but I think you’re good.
Richardson and Levis fell out of the first round entirely, which is almost certainly not going to happen in reality. But Murphy is an exciting defender. He played well in college and impressed scouts in attendance at his private pro day (a hamstring injury limited his availability at the NFL scouting combine, and he wasn’t cleared to work out at Clemson’s regular pro day) and looks like a surefire first-round pick. If the Saints really covet him, they’ll probably have to make a trade up.
