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The Athletic's Dianna Russini and former New Orleans Saints backup quarterback Chase Daniel spent a lot of time talking about Derek Carr's fishy situationon their Scoop City podcast, but Russini shared one quick aside that stood out from the rest of their conversation. If the Saints don't draft a quarterback with the ninth pick in next week's NFL draft, where might they go instead?
"I had someone in football tell me that this is a team that could be changing to an odd front, and edge rusher is a premium need for New Orleans. So you have that," Russini said, "(Cameron Jordan's) a star on television, but he's not getting any younger."
At the same time, Jeff Duncan reports for the Times-Picayune that the Saints plan on sending "a contingent of scouts/coaches/execs" to Athens, Ga. for a high-profile private workout on Thursday, where potential top-10 picks Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams will go through drills and field work in front of NFL personnel. Walker is ranked No. 5 among the top 50 players in this draft class by NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah, with Williams further down at No. 22. Either one of them could be on the board when the Saints pick at No. 9, adding another piece to the rotation with Jordan, Chase Young, and Carl Granderson.
So it shouldn't shock anyone if one of those Bulldogs ends up in New Orleans. The Saints have also been a popular team fit for Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart in mock drafts, but while he has prodigious athleticism (Stewart earned the coveted 10.0 Relative Athletic Score) he produced only 1.5 sacks in each of the last three years. Sacks aren't everything, but Stewart didn't produce many quarterback pressures, either, and Jeremiah ranks him at No. 27. Drafting him would be a bigger gamble than the Saints lost in trading up for Marcus Davenport back in 2018. They could go in another direction at the top of the draft, but it's clear that this position group is hot on their radar.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: NFL draft: Saints scouting UGA stars Jalon Walker, Mykel Williams
Continue reading...
"I had someone in football tell me that this is a team that could be changing to an odd front, and edge rusher is a premium need for New Orleans. So you have that," Russini said, "(Cameron Jordan's) a star on television, but he's not getting any younger."
At the same time, Jeff Duncan reports for the Times-Picayune that the Saints plan on sending "a contingent of scouts/coaches/execs" to Athens, Ga. for a high-profile private workout on Thursday, where potential top-10 picks Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams will go through drills and field work in front of NFL personnel. Walker is ranked No. 5 among the top 50 players in this draft class by NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah, with Williams further down at No. 22. Either one of them could be on the board when the Saints pick at No. 9, adding another piece to the rotation with Jordan, Chase Young, and Carl Granderson.
So it shouldn't shock anyone if one of those Bulldogs ends up in New Orleans. The Saints have also been a popular team fit for Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart in mock drafts, but while he has prodigious athleticism (Stewart earned the coveted 10.0 Relative Athletic Score) he produced only 1.5 sacks in each of the last three years. Sacks aren't everything, but Stewart didn't produce many quarterback pressures, either, and Jeremiah ranks him at No. 27. Drafting him would be a bigger gamble than the Saints lost in trading up for Marcus Davenport back in 2018. They could go in another direction at the top of the draft, but it's clear that this position group is hot on their radar.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: NFL draft: Saints scouting UGA stars Jalon Walker, Mykel Williams
Continue reading...
