Having a regret about a past draft pick is not something that is unique to New Orleans Saints fans, but these past few years have felt especially questionable. Given the chance to go back, would Mickey Loomis change any of his decisions? The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner took a look at this possibility with his 2021 NFL redraft.
Of course, the Saints drafted defensive end Payton Turner out of Houston with the No. 28 overall. That hasn’t exactly worked out, so Baumgardner went with another defensive end in Joe Tryon-Shoyinka out of Washington. Tryon-Shoyinka originally went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the end of the first round. Here is Baumgardner’s reasoning for the change:
The Bucs are still looking for that breakout-type season from Tryon-Shoyinka, after taking him at the end of the first round (No. 32). However, he’s been awfully close to delivering, and so much of why he hasn’t yet boils down to technique and time on task. Tryon-Shoyinka has been disruptive through two years with Tampa Bay, but he’s struggled to finish. If (or when) it clicks, it’ll be great.
Tryon-Shoyinka hasn’t had an explosive start to his career either but he has been much more reliable than Turner, who fell out of the first round completely in this redraft. Tryon-Shoyinka has eight sacks and has yet to miss a game in his career, while Turner has three sacks in 21 fewer appearances. Tryon-Shoyinka would make more sense for New Orleans in this scenario, so I think the decision here by Baumgardner was a good one.
