(continued from article above)
Pick 1: The Saints are slated to pick at choice 9. Already gone, according to the board as I write this on 4/15, are Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty, Mason Graham, Tyler Warren, Armand Membou, Jalon Walker, and Will Johnson. Of course, the draft won’t play out like this, because a quarterback or two already will be gone, so I will assume that QB Cam Ward is not available even though the board says he is. To repeat, of two players I have particular interest in, I think there is absolutely no way that both Jahdae Barron (DB-Texas) and Nick Emmanwori (DB-South Carolina) get drafted within the next five picks, so I entertain trade-down offers. The Colts are in desperate need of an offensive lineman and can’t afford to miss out — and LSU’s Will Campbell is still available.
So: The Saints trade the ninth pick to Indianapolis, along with a third rounder (pick 71), and in return Indy gives choice 17, plus a second rounder (pick 45) and a fifth rounder (151). In essence, the Saints move back five spots in the first round but move up a whopping 26 spots (71 to 45) plus get a fifth rounder.
If Jahdae Barron is still around at 14, I would draft him. Alas, the big board shows him listed 13th, so the Saints just miss out. I would then trade down again, three more spots, knowing that at least two of my top targets are still available. This time the trade goes to Cincy, who desperately need another pass rusher and see Edge rusher Jihaad Campbell of Alabama still available. The Saints give up round 1, pick 14 and round 3 (93) in exchange for Cincy’s 1 (17), 3 (81), and two more picks, at 4 (119) and 5 (153).
By this time, the Saints have moved down eight spots, in return for three full extra picks PLUS massive moves up in the second and third rounds. And all done according exactly to the official trade value chart.
All of which leads to me finally making
My first-round choice: Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina. Especially with first-round choices
Here’s why: Especially with first-round choices, what I want are players with the highest “floors,” and I want extra-athletic guys who also produced on the field, preferably against tough competition. I do not want guys who may have high “ceilings” for performance, meaning high potential upside, but who haven’t actually shown they can produce on the field. (See: Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner.) High ceiling but lower floors are what the fourth round is for, not the first round.
Well, Emmanwori is a freakishly good athlete who also has shown superb collegiate production. He’s not just an athlete; he’s a proven football player.
At 6’3”, 220 pounds, with a 4.38 40-yd-dash and huge jumping abilities, he literally tested as the most athletic safety prospect since 1987 (38 years!). For those who pay attention to such esoterica, Emmanwori has a “Relative Athletic Score” of 10 out of 10 – the first player I have ever seen with a perfect score.
And his production was nearly spectacular. He led his team with 88 tackles. He had four interceptions (two of them leaping), with two returned for TDs, while he gave up no TD passes to opponents. (He had another Pick 6 for a 100-yard TD — !—negated by a penalty on one of his teammates during the return.) I watched a lot of highlight tapes: When he tackles, he hits hard, almost like a linebacker, and he wraps up the ball-carrier rather than just hitting with a shoulder but no follow-through to actually bring the guy down. Scouting reports note his physicality, tirelessness, his football smarts (“does a nice job reading route concepts in underneath coverages”), leadership (team captain), and lack of injuries (missed only one game in three seasons).
He also plays a position of need for the Saints. Yeah, I know the Saints have two excellent starting safeties in Honey Badger and Reid, but the former is getting up in years and has slowed a step, so having a third option back there is important. But more important, the Saints need a guy to play slot corner, which is basically how Emmanwori played in college even though labeled a safety. With him as the starting nickel back (when the Saints are playing a nickel ‘D,’), Alontae Taylor could move back outside (which Taylor prefers) full-time. The Saints DBs, then, would be awesome: Mathieu, Reid, McKinstry, Taylor, Emmanwori and, in reserve, Jordan Howden and special teamer J.T. Gray at safety and Ugo Amadi, Isaac Yiadom, and Rico Payton at CB.
Overall, Emmanwori’s floor is excellent, his ceiling almost limitless, and his fit for the Saints is strong. He would be a great first-round pick, especially after two trade-downs that secured additional high picks for the Saints.
Pick two:
The Saints have pick number 40. By pick 37 (in case I want to trade up), three players that really interest me are available, along with two others (Ohio State offensive lineman Donovan Jackson and LSU tight end Mason Taylor) that I think would be fine additions. I am extremely tempted to move up to pick RB Treveyon Henderson of Ohio State, who I think is one of the best all-around players in the draft. But because I would be very, very happy with any of four other players (if Henderson is picked before slot 40), I resist the temptation to trade up. Alas, by the big board, Henderson goes at 37, Jackson at 38, and Taylor at 39. It looks as if my patience rather than lack of aggressiveness cost me here, but I still am left with my other two “really” strong targets. They are Texas A&M Edge Nic Scourton and UCLA LB Carson Schwesinger. I really want both of them, and I know that thanks to my earlier trades, I also have pick 45. The question is, which one do I think will be snapped up first by anyone else while the other might last until 45? And which, if I can’t otherwise decide between them, is at a position that can do the Saints the most good?
My choice, by the slimmest margin, is Nick Scourton.
Why? Well, the fans are right that the Saints desperately need another Edge rusher. And Scourton’s strengths blew me away. So while I still am kicking myself for not trading up three spots to ensure I could get the running back Henderson (trading up in the second round is far less costly than in the first round), I am thrilled to get Scourton.
Scourton is 6’3”, 257 pounder who somehow moves fast enough for a stunning 4.43 in the 40 yard dash. That’s premier wide-receiver speed. It’s mind-boggling. And he produces big-time. At the Big Ten’s Purdue as a sophomore in 2023, he nabbed 10 sacks in 11 games. He transferred to the SEC’s Texas A&M for 2024 where, against premier competition, he had 14 tackles for loss, including 5 sacks, plus a forced fumble. He was a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy (top defensive player who exhibits Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity). NFL analyst Lance Zeirlein writes: “He’s an eclectic rusher with a mature rush plan and rarely shows opponents the same look on consecutive plays. He won’t outrace or bulldoze tackles, but he utilizes tempo alterations and a bag full of moves and counters.” An AFC regional scout said to Zeirlein that Scourton “plays his tail off and he’s always in the middle of everything. He’s a force player like George Karlaftis was coming out, but Scourton has a little more rush.” When I watched video of him, his ability to elude blocks and get rapidly into the backfield on both pass plays and running plays is, well, breathtaking. Put him into a rotation at edge with Cam Jordan, Chase Young, and Carl Granderson – and maybe with Isaiah Foskey, if he finally shows something – and the Saints’ worries about backfield pressures and sacks will be a thing of the past.
Pick Three:
Because of my first-round trades, the Saints also have another second round pick, at overall spot 45. But after taking Scourton at 40 and seeing one more pick go off the board, I am desperate to get LB Schwesinger of UCLA. Having seen RB Henderson get away when I didn’t trade up from 40 to 37, I won’t make the same mistake again. So I make a trade up to the Jets at spot 42, giving up the 45th spot and the fifth rounder (spot 151) that I secured in the first-round trade with Indy.
My choice, Carson Schwesinger, fills a big need of the Saints, who reportedly want their base defense to be a 3-4 but who just, flat-out, don’t have four top-quality linebackers, even if the line up Chase Young in a hybrid Edge role. Even if the Saints weren’t thin at LB, I would want Schwesinger, but the Saints are woefully thin at that position.
Thirty teams attended Schwesinger’s private Pro Day, but he met privately with only three, one of which was the Saints. His athletic testing there was superb. And his production in 2024 was off the charts: 90 solo tackles, 136 total tackles. Team captain. Eight tackles for loss, including four sacks (remember, he is a regular LB, not a specialized Edge rusher), two interceptions, three pass break-ups, and a forced fumble. NFL analyst Zeirlein describes him as “a human bloodhound, pairing elite instincts with an understanding of blocking schemes and run tracks…. also a sound technician as an open-field tackler and bona fide standout on special teams.”
When I watched video, what astonished me was his ability to “read” the play in front of him and snake through tiny gaps to disrupt the ball carrier. Rarely have I ever seen somebody so able to figure out the best way through blocking traffic to meet the runner quickly and with good tackling form. Sure enough, Zeirline writes that Schwesinger has “rare instincts for maneuvering inside and avoiding blocks” and his “body control and agility in short spaces is first class.”
Famed and well-respected analyst Dane Brugler (of The Athletic publication) writes: “He has the instincts, demeanor and cover talent to be a four-down NFL starter early in his NFL career.” A first-team All-American, he also is whip-smart, as he “was an eight-time Honor Roll member as a bioengineering major.” The Saints need him.
Pick four:
This is my fourth pick, but only midway through round 3, at pick 81. I was hoping either OL Tate Ratledge or QB Tyler Shough would fall this far (although I have other plans for QB if Shough doesn’t, so I’m not too concerned), but both of them turn out to go in the 70s on the big board. WR Isaiah Bond of Texas is really, really promising, and still available, but he has legal troubles I don’t want the Saints to risk dealing with. Meanwhile, I have a quarterback in mind, one whom many analysts think would be a “reach” at pick 81, but for whom I am not willing to wait at pick 112. The Saints need a QB. I am tempted to reach anyway, but also looking at several other prospects, when I get an offer to trade down just a few spots. Sean Payton is eager to get a player for Denver who he thinks someone else will snatch up, so, ever aggressive, he trades us pick 85 and a 2026 fourth rounder for our pick 81 and our seventh round compensatory pick, number 254, this year.
That gives me more time to debate several other reasonably highly rated players, against the QB I covet but who probably won’t otherwise go before pick 100. Probably. But I can’t afford to risk the chance that he could be gone, even though I would be happy for the Saints to sign Teddy Bridgewater as a stop-gap if they don’t draft a QB. Anyway, I don’t think the analysts are right, and I don’t think it is a reach. I think the most underrated player in the whole draft, and the one I take at spot 85, is QB Kyle McCord from Syracuse.
Here’s why: McCord has superb size (6’3, 218), touch, accuracy, smarts, and long, long history as a winner. He led all of major college football last year with 4,779 yards passing, with a 66% completion percentage and 34 TD passes. After leading Ohio State to 11 straight wins to start the season before a tough loss (he played well) to Michigan, he transferred to Syracuse (where he had numerous personal ties) and led it – a much less talented team — to only the third ten-win season in the school’s history. This came on the heels of quarterbacking his high school team to three straight state championships in football-rich Pennsylvania. He wins everywhere he goes – including leading an absolute shoot-out of a 42-38 win in a comeback from 21 points down (!) against then Sixth-ranked Miami in which McCord out-passed Miami’s Cam Ward, 380 yards and three TDs to 349 yards and two TDs. In a huge Holiday Bowl win (52-35 over Wash St.), he threw for 453 yards and five TDs.
All scouts say he has solid arm talent. The Athletic’s says he “displays outstanding poise to execute in a crowd” and praises his toughness. Budding superstar WR Marvin Harrison Jr., who played on his team both in high school and at Ohio State, said he “prepares better than anyone else.”
But, in addition to being a winner and leader, there are key intangibles I want in a QB. They are the intangibles Drew Brees and Payton Manning had in abundance. Namely, I want superb and quick diagnostic ability, a work ethic, good pocket awareness, and an unquenchable competitiveness. And I want the smarts and the ability to throw passes at different speeds and with thoughtful arc and touch, not just sling the ball. McCord checks all those boxes. Indeed, the Athletic’s first analytical comment on McCord is that (like Brees and Manning) he has an “excellent pre-snap process to decipher looks and understand where to go with football.” He also “anticipates well” and “puts ball in prime locations.”
Then I watched significant video. I am NOT saying he is the next Drew Brees – nobody is – but McCord looks to be the single best collegian I’ve seen in years at one particular skill in which Brees excelled. Namely, the back-shoulder pass. Again and again McCord threw quite beautiful back-shoulder passes, clearly by design, flustering DBs who thought they had receivers covered. It was uncanny. Yet when he needed to throw bullets, he threw bullets. When he needed to arc outside on fade routes, he did that well, too.
And then there was how he ran. He’s not fast. He’s not elusive. But my gosh, he fights for yardage. I saw one play where he did an Elway-like helicopter launch into the endzone. I saw a series of QB sneaks where he kept fighting for the necessary yards (and got them) despite initially successful defensive pushes. If Saints Coach Kellen Moore want to bring the “tush push” sneak from Philly to New Orleans, McCord is the guy big and strong and determined enough to execute it.
Draft analysts too often fall in love with the “rocket arms” of QBs while too often downplaying merely “good, solid” arms belonging to QBs who are otherwise better at using their brain and poise to manage games well. They want the “athleticism” of speed and quickness, but miss the importance of good pocket movement and balance. They failed to see the winner that Tom Brady was. They missed on Brock Purdy. They missed on Kirk Cousins (whose profile was remarkably similar, including exact size, as McCord, except that Cousins didn’t win as much as McCord has). And so on, again and again for the same excuses (“not as athletic, blah blah blah”).
I tell you, McCord will be a playoff starter in the NFL. Absolutely. Other solid QBs Will Howard and Quinn Ewers (the one with the most distinguished name, of course) also are available at pick 85, but both would be reaches there. McCord is much better than a reach. He has a firm grasp on winning.
Pick five:
So, you ask, if McCord is so good, why did I risk waiting four more picks to get him? Several answers. First, because the reigning national championship QB, Will Howard, also is available and is a solid player to consider if McCord were, surprisingly, picked, and second, because if I don’t get a QB in the draft I already am talking to Teddy Bridgewater and Tyler Huntley as potential stopgaps. Third, and equally important, while I really do subscribe to the “best player available” approach, I also am getting increasingly nervous about having not yet drafted an offensive lineman, and there is one available with a huge upside. I usually don’t like to go “boom or bust” until the fourth round, but I can fudge that preference a half-round earlier.
As it happens, the Saints have a great history in the past 20 years of finding excellent offensive linemen in the middle rounds, sometimes from smaller schools. Think Jahri Evans and Terron Armstead, and (from a larger school) Carl Nicks in the fifth round.
I have my eye on one this year too. When Sean Payton offered the trade, I figured that would give me more trade capital, and more time, to try to trade up again to get my man. As it happens, I immediately found a taker in Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers. The Chargers had a good year last year and already have filled more holes by being aggressive in free agency. Plus, they are sitting on seven more choices in the last four rounds of the draft this year, so forfeiting a third rounder, if the price is right, is far from unsensible for them.
My price is right. For pick 86, immediately after I just took McCord, I give the Chargers both of my 2026 fourth rounders (the Saints’ own plus the one we just got from Denver), plus, to sweeten the pot, our other 2025 seventh rounder, pick 248. In return, I pick a lineman with a concern that he didn’t play against the toughest competition, but otherwise with extremely high upside. The choice is OL Charles Grant of William & Mary.
The Athletic’s Brugler calls him “a nimble big man with outstanding range, length and movement twitch” and “exceptional foot quickness.” NFL analyst Zeirlein writes that Grant has “better technique than many prospects coming from a higher level of competition.”
An All-State wrestler in high school, he also is a good human being: He underwent a day-long procedure donating bone marrow to a lymphoma patient he didn’t know but for whom he had a “match.” He also was a regular on his college’s academic honor roll.
…..
…..
So, to review so far, after a flurry of trades, I already have chosen DB Emmanwori, Edge rusher Scourton, LB Schwesinger, QB McCord, and OL Grant. And while I have given up a 2026 fourth rounder plus both of this year’s 7th rounders, I still have remaining the following choices this year (with picks listed by round-hyphen-position): 4-112, 4-119, 4-131, 5-153, and 6-184.
Without nearly as much explanation (but with links so you can read about them yourself, my choices for those spots are:
4-112: I wanted WR Tory Horton, but he went (according to the big board) at 107, so I gladly choose RB Damien Martinez of U-Miami.
4-119: DT Vernon Broughton, Texas.
4-131: WR Tai Felton, Maryland.
5-153: Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Edge, Virginia Tech
6-184: Cody Simon, LB, Ohio State
…..
All in all, and not by design, this is a draft heavily weighted to the defense. That’s just how things fell when I was choosing the best players available. Then again, I accumulated so many picks that I still got four players (usually a good number) with excellent potential on the offensive side: A QB, an OL, a RB, and a WR. I would have liked to grab a TE, and I almost grabbed Luke Lachey of Iowa, son of three-time All-Pro OL Jim Lachey, but in the end the athletic traits and slender production didn’t quite add up as strongly as they did for Simon. (I also strongly considered Tulane safety Caleb Ransaw there (he has 4.33 speed!), but this late in the draft I really am more cognizant of positional needs, and after drafting Emmanwori and signing Reid, the Saints are already stacked at safety.
To see how I would draft if I couldn’t make trades, go here.
