The New Orleans Saints had a draft that left many pundits pondering.
The Carolina Panthers had a draft that made most Panthers fans happy. The Atlanta Falcons did the same, as we talked about here. The New Orleans Saints? Maybe not so much. They’ve developed a bit of a reputation for odd draft strategies; think trading up to reach for Marcus Davenport in 2018. They didn’t do anything to fight that perception in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Their picks:
- 9: Kelvin Banks, OT, Texas
- 40: Tyler Shough, QB, Louisville
- 71: Vernon Broughton, DT, Texas
- 93: Jonas Sanker, S, Virginia
- 112: Danny Stutsman, LB, Oklahoma
- 131: Quincy Riley, CB, Louisville
- 184: Devin Neal, RB, Kansas
- 248: Moliki Matavo, TE, UCLA
- 254: Fadil Diggs, Edge, Syracuse
The Saints went tackle with their first pick. Offensive linemen are usually a solid pick at worst, and that should pertain to Banks in a vacuum. He was projected as the third tackle off the board, and that’s where he went, even if it was a bit sooner than a lot of people projected. He’ll battle with 2022 first round pick Trevor Penning for a starting spot opposite 2024 first round pick Taliese Fuaga. All that said, using a first round pick on the same position three out of four years probably isn’t the best way to build a well rounded team.
The middle rounds don’t seem to do much for the short term. They took a swing at a quarterback of the future and picked the one that seemingly has the least amount of future. They went with seventh year senior Tyler Shough, who will turn 26 within a month of the start of the season. He backed up Justin Herbert at Oregon and was in the same high school class as Trevor Lawrence. He’s coming off his lone good collegiate season (that came at age 24/25). It’s fair to wonder how he’ll translate to the NFL.
Vernon Broughton will be tasked with shoring up the run defense and helping with interior push. He was taken 71st, which is higher than just about any mock draft had him. He was the 125th ranked player according to this mock draft consensus. Safety Jonas Sanker was a similar reach compared to media consensus. The day three picks look better on paper, but they’re still day three picks.
Instant reactions to the Saints’ draft have generally been poor. They didn’t address any of their most pressing needs and reached for players at positions that are either of lower value or less pressing of a need. I don’t see any of their picks helping their team make drastic improvements this season. There’s just not a lot there to get really excited about, and that’s not good for a team that’s been mediocre for several years despite being one of the oldest and most cash strapped team in the league. If there’s any team that badly needs to hit on a draft class, it’s the Saints, and they didn’t give themselves a great chance of that happening.