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Did Saints reach for Florida State's Rick Leonard? Agent: New Orleans outmaneuvered competition

BY JOEL A. ERICKSON | JERICKSON@THEADVOCATE.COM
APR 30, 2018 - 1:52 PM



The New Orleans Saints drew some criticism for drafting Florida State offensive tackle Rick Leonard in the fourth round on Saturday, primarily because several scouting services had tagged Leonard as a late-round prospect.

The NFL apparently disagreed with those rankings.

According to Brett Tessler, the agent who represents Leonard, the Saints' decision to draft Leonard at the end of the fourth round left a few teams at the top of the fifth taking his name off the board in frustration.

"The New Orleans Saints knew exactly what they were doing taking Rick Leonard... in the 4th round, because I spoke to a couple teams today who told me they definitely would have taken him in the 5th round if he was still there," Tessler wrote on his Twitter account on Monday.

Leonard, who opened his career at Florida State as a defensive end, has only played tackle for two seasons, and he started 19 games in that span.

New Orleans believes he can help right away.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill