SmashMouth

Pick 28: CB Asante Samuel, Jr. Florida State

The Saints will be ecstatic if Samuel Jr. falls to them at Pick 28. He fits what they want to do schematically with their cornerbacks. He can read the game at a high level and jump routes but also has the requisite man coverage skills in a predominantly single-high league. He played mostly outside in 2020 but saw 267 snaps inside the two years prior, so there’s some versatility to his game.

Samuel is not the quickest or faster player, and that’s probably why you can find him available late in the first round, but his brain might be the quickest of the whole group. He loves to bait quarterbacks into throwing on him before breaking up the pass. He forced 22 incompletions over the past two seasons, the second-most in the ACC among cornerbacks.

PFF lead draft analyst Mike Renner ranked him as the fifth-best cornerback in the class, saying, “He undoubtedly got his instincts from his old man as well, as he produced three picks and five pass breakups in eight games this season. What he didn’t get was the elder’s tackling aversion — the Florida State prospect will come up and lay a lick if asked to.”

Pick 60: CB Ifeatu Melifonwu, Syracuse

The Saints double-dip with another cornerback here. Melifonwu is huge at 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds and would provide New Orleans a very different type of cornerback than it's used to. Unfortunately for Melifonwu, his size and athleticism haven’t translated into much production for the Syracuse product.

PFF's Ben Linsey believes he could be one of those reaches all the way into the first round because even with the lack of production, teams are going to love his build.

“Melifonwu doesn’t play with the physicality his size would suggest and allowed a career-worst 66.0% completion rate and 94.9 passer rating on throws into his coverage in 2020. Those aren’t the same kind of lockdown coverage numbers that several other cornerbacks in this class boast.

His combination of size and movement skills is rare, though. NFL teams don’t often reach for below-average athletes. They reach for the physical outliers who have high ceilings if they develop properly. Melifonwu fits that bill.”

Pick 98: LB Jamin Davis, Kentucky

After failing to find the right player to position next to Demario Davis at linebacker, the Saints try to locate one in the draft, doing so with Jamin Davis falling to them at Pick 98 here. The former Kentucky Wildcat is what teams want their linebackers to look like, and with a lack of defensive snaps on his resume, he is certain to go in the top three rounds of the draft.

Davis' issue, as PFF's Anthony Treash notes, is inexperience in coverage.

“His role in the Wildcats' defense wasn’t nearly as difficult as some of the other top linebackers in this class, as he played a lot of spot-drop zone and virtually no man coverage. Davis did make a few plays on the ball, but that’s not fully indicative of the hill he has to climb to become a reliable player in coverage at the NFL level.”

If the Saints pick him, they can play Demario Davis at Will and insulate Jamin Davis at Mike until they feel comfortable with the latter covering running backs and tight ends in man coverage.

Pick 105: WR Amari Rodgers, Clemson

The Saints are always looking for extra offensive weapons, and they get one in Amari Rodgers, who comps best to current Saint Ty Montgomery, according to PFF's Kevin Cole:

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