Rating: (0 votes - average)

My worst nightmare would have been Atlanta getting young franchise QB who can win in the playoffs without having to do a blockbuster trade that robs them of future first round picks or signing a free agent that nukes their salary cap. Perhaps JJ McCarthy is the real deal or one of the top 3 QBs slips unexpectedly like Aaron Rodgers did or a QB expected to go later is the next Mahomes in the mid 1st round. Now that can't happen. Atlanta may win the division, but I am happy the scenario where they get a ring won't happen. Maybe if they find Kirk Cousins his Daniel Hunter they will go 13-4, but I am not afraid.

K Major

DT - Byron Murphy
Texas

Very good against the run & has quickness.

Strong lower body, gets good positioning on his opponents.

Some have compared his skill set to Grady Jarrett.

2nd round grades.

SmashMouth

SmashMouth

K Major

Mike Triplette is wrong.

The TE experiment with Juwan Johnson should be over.
He does not move the needle. No need to wait 4 years .

Go draft another TE. It’s time.

Copy cat league, go do what the winning organizations are doing.
See Dalton Kincaid, Luke Musgrave & Sam LaPorta. Immediate contributors from the 2023 rookie class.

BakoSaint

LaPorta was not a 1st round pick. Virtually no great tight ends since Tony Gonzalez have been. Most of the greats are middle round guys.

Kincaid did not move the needle for Buffalo. They regressed.

Musgrave had 350 yards receiving.

LaPorta had one good season. Durability is a major risk at TE and he has not stood the test of anything yet nor did he win a ring. A 3rd round TE and a 5th round TE played in the big game.

The best approach at TE is to throw darts in the middle rounds with the best scouts you can find. First round sure things dont work at that position.

saintsfan1976

Hockenson. #8 overall.

K Major

Wait, what?! Brother, I think you missed my point.

If you think the Saints are going places with Juwan or Foster, you are sadly mistaken. Musgrave had 350 yards of production as a rookie, but how many did Foster have in 2023?

As for Kincad, he was a baller in post season & was money vs Pittsburgh opening round of the playoffs & led all WR's in production the following week in the divisional rd vs the Champs.

How is advancing to the divisional rd of the playoffs (Something Saints haven't seen in 4 seasons) regressing?

Would you consider Adam Trautman aka the Fish a middle round target? How well did that go for him in New Orleans? That was a terrible dart throw by the organization.

And lastly, LaPorta was a ROOKIE in 2023 & played up to his draft status. FYI, Sam played in all 17 games (started in 14) boss & had 97 yards of offense vs Niners in the NFC championship game. I can only go by what I see on Sundays. The NFL is production driven league. If you aren't producing, you will get replaced.

We need better talent & production at the TE position.

The draft as a whole is a risk (see Davenport, Payton Turner, Penning and WTFoskey). "No risk it, no biscuit".

"We're a violent team & a tough team. We find ways to put ourselves in position to win. We just have to WIN". Alvin Kamara

K Major

Maybe the Saints scouts should target IOWA Hawkeyes more closely ...

Kittle
Hockenson
LaPorta
Noah Fant

BakoSaint

The 2022 Bills went 13-4 and lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs. The 2023 Bills went 11-6 and lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs. How did Kinkaid make them so amazingly better? Leading all receivers on your team in a playoffs loss is not necessarily a good thing. It means the opposing defenses game plan to focus elsewhere worked.

TE just doesn't work like other positions in the draft. Yes Adam Trautman was a horrible disaster, one of the worst Saints of all time, and he was a mid rounder, but we were Kelce, Kittle, Gronk, Gates, Graham, etc. Just imagine our infinite 4 straight super bowl glory if we took the first TE off the board Cole Kmet instead of waiting to the mid rounds to take a shot on Trautman. In this case Kmet has been decent I grant you, but he has never made a pro bowl and when he was taken the following players were available taken in the next 10 picks: antoine winfield jr, jaylon johnson, trevon diggs, jalen hurts.

The draft is a crapshoot but TE is different because the biggest stars are divided almost evenly between rounds 1-7 in terms of where they were selected. At other positions, like half the big stars come from the first or maybe 2nd round.

We need better talent at TE but the best way to get that is to spend more picks at the position in Rounds 2-7 not to ever waste a 1st round pick on it. If you are going to draft TE it would always be better to trade back out of the first round. The Ravens for example addressed TE with a sure thing HOF lock championship glory 1st round TE in 2018 and then took a flyer on a second rate mid round TE later in the draft. The 1st round TE was Hayden Hurt and the late 3rd rounder was Mark Andrews. This is not the exception at TE this is the rule. This is not the one Brock Purdy miracle story. Most good TE come from later rounds.