SmashMouth

The New Orleans Saints added to their offensive line on the third day of the 2018 NFL Draft, selecting Florida State tackle Rick Leonard.

The 6-foot-7, 314-pound Leonard played right tackle for the Seminoles the past two years after starting his Florida State career as a defensive end.

Leonard shifted from defensive end after his sophomore season and gained about 50 pounds between December 2015 and September 2016 when he started the season opener against Ole Miss.

"This is where I'm supposed to be, on this side of the ball," Leonard said on a teleconference Saturday (April 28).



Although CBS Sports and NFL.com projected Leonard to go undrafted, the Saints were clearly enamored with him to take him 127th overall. Leonard said the Saints came to work him out in Tallahassee during the pre-draft process, and he thought he impressed.

"I'm happy the Saints believe in me like I believe in myself, and they see it in me like I see it in me," he said. "And I'm really excited, man."

Leonard said Florida State offensive line coach Rick Trickett kept pushing him to switch to offensive line after arriving on campus. Finally, after playing minimally as a freshman and sophomore, Leonard agreed and quickly made the transition to start six games as a junior and all 13 as a senior.

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