PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

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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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Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Asante Samuel Jr doesn’t fit the prototype we like at CB and he isn’t good enough to ignore that fact. Jamin Davis will be a fringe first round pick.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

#28 is proving to be a difficult spot to draft from. We'll just have to see who drops to us.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

It really is a terrible spot to be in. I have no idea what we’re going to do. This is the most fascinating draft for us in quite a while.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

I’m going to give it shot too- three rounds as well. Hold on.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Think that's a poor draft from them to be honest. CGJ is already in the position that you'd want Samuel to play. He doesn't seem big enough to play outside.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

That crap is terrible. I tried multiple times and got laughable results every time. Draft simulators are garbage.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

It's because it is driven by picks from other using their franchises. They may be taking everything you want, or are you just going with the default selections?

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Well... in all honesty, complaining about a draft simulator is a little absurd in the first place because I’m complaining about my perception of how it should unfold which is never how it actually does.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

This is their draft, btw, to be clear. Did they use their own simulator ?

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

I like Samuel. Not in the 1st, but I like him.

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Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

What would've made this my ideal draft, another target, Northern Iowa OT Spencer Brown, went one pick (Ravens) before my 2nd pick in the 3rd Rd...

I'd still taken OT Tommy Doyle later as a LG candidate...

Also I'd traded back into the fourth round with a 2022 3rd Rd pick and taken Brown, so I took him as a great consolation...

Farley and Cox falling would be a coup de grâce, the rest would be lagniappe...


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Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

^^ Real world, I wouldn't touch Caleb @ 28.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

You homer you.... Can't believe you drafted an LSU player. SP would disown you and ban you from the Saints facility. You sure there weren't any Ohio St players available ?

:bng:

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Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

How often does it actually work out to draft players with a history of injuries? Bill Walsh seemed to be successful with that, we think. What's SP's winning percentage with those types here? 50/50? Brees is the ultimate in terms of working out. But we didn't draft him.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Facts.

At #28, my realistic expectation for a 1st rounder is to draft a quality/long term starter (see Cam Jordan/Ramz). If we are looking at talented guys who fall to Day 2 or 3 due to medicals… different story.

Bill Walsh, Drew Brees of the world are rare breeds. They don't come along often.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Do you think Ochsner might be culpable? I do. At the very least I question their qualifications. I used to sell medical equipment to Ochsner and that is a filthy hospital! The only one that was worse than them was the VA, which was filthy and dark and they were the bottom of the barrel when I was still in sales.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Could be real happy with this haul...

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Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Don't we usually pick late in the round because of our record? The Saints have a formula in place for drafting in this range. Depending on who is available at a position of need we will either move up for falling players or stay pat and go BPA at a position of need. We have eight picks and several large holes to fill along with 30 or so more new spots to fill out the roster.

We could trade back and get more picks like when Sean was stabilizing the foundation in '06 as a rookie head coach or we could use those late picks to package in a deal to move up for one of the players that drop close to us. I predict two to three trades up in the first three or four rounds for that player. We have been highly efficient picking there and have produced good to great players.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

I'm not mad at this. Don't forget Sean Payton is still the coach. WR for our first.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Ok I guess I don't know how to attach the image.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Yes please.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

https://blackandgold.com/attachment....p;d=1619473841Here you go, Turbo.

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Thanks, AG! I did an attachment because when I click on the insert image, it asks for a URL. I'm a software engineer for a silicon valley company and still couldn't get it right. :banana::beer:

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Been there. I started out with BASIC and COBAL almost fifty years ago. Went through generations over the years, but still struggle figuring out how to print from my phone on my home network. Yes, that was the dilemma today.

:p

Re: PFF Latest Mock Draft - Three Rounds
 

Just some fun.
Gave up next years first.

Not gonna happen but would be fun