The New Orleans Saints came into the 2021 NFL Draft with a couple of needs spread out. They didn’t have anything to gaping to address and ended up going best player available a couple of times. In the first round, the Saints took athletic freak Payton Turner who will get to learn behind Cameron Jordan for a year or two and will look to develop into a star pass-rusher. The Saints were also fairly busy in the trade market over the weekend and traded up multiple times on days two and three.
Make sure to check out all of our 2021 NFL Draft Team Recaps.
Best Pick: Paulson Adebo (Round 3, Pick 76)
This was one of the best picks in the entire draft. The biggest area the Saints had to address was finding a second cornerback opposite Marshon Lattimore and they did just that. Adebo is a sticky coverage guy who is really fluid and locates the ball extremely well. He has the potential to turn into a superstar if he just gets involved a bit more in every play. For a third-round pick, this is an incredible value, and Saints fans should be jumping for joy with this one.
Grade: A+
For more on Adebo, check out our scouting report here.
Worst Pick: Ian Book (Round 4, Pick 133)
This was an absolutely horrendous pick by Mickey Loomis and the Saints front office. The Saints are in the right to address the quarterback future, but Book is just not the answer. He’s not a talented quarterback and it doesn’t seem like they would’ve selected him for a Taysom Hill-type role. In last year’s draft, the Saints selected Tommy Stevens who was expected to be the next Hill so now they just have three quarterbacks on the roster who don’t throw the football well. This pick is just all-around confusing and was not the right choice at all by the front office.
Grade: F
For more on Book, check out our scouting report here.
Sleeper Pick: Landon Young (Round 6, Pick 206)
This is a really solid selection for the Saints here. While tackle is not too much of a need, it will be really nice to have a guy to develop for the future. Young has got some incredible experience under his belt. He started 30 games for Kentucky in the SEC and has a mammoth frame of 6’7″. While he won’t get reps right away, Young will be able to develop his game behind all-pro Ryan Ramczyk and eventually look to start on that line.
Grade: B+
Summary
The Saints had a very solid draft. It was also one that was filled with a good bit of controversy. The jury seems split on the Turner selection at pick 28 but he was one of my guys in this draft and his athletic testing alone makes him a very good selection. The selection of Book in the fourth really hurts their grade but it comes almost right up again with the selection of Pete Werner in the second. Warner is a guy who should start right away for the Saints and was the runner-up for sleeper pick. Overall, this was a draft that Saints fans should be happy about, even with a couple of misses here and there.
Overall Grade: B+
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