The New Orleans Saints are feeling some serious pressure to address their defensive tackles depth chart after most of the players from last year’s team left in free agency, but they need help at defensive end, too. They haven’t gotten anything out of their 2021 first-round pick Payton Turner and, right now, it looks like the starting ends will be a 34-year-old Cameron Jordan on one side and career backup Carl Granderson on the other — and both players are entering the final year of their contracts.
Turner and Tanoh Kpassagnon round out the depth chart, which doesn’t inspire great confidence after a couple of blitzing linebackers outproduced them as pass rushers last year. The Saints didn’t lose much in Marcus Davenport but they still need a big boost at defensive end.
It’ll be tough for the Saints to address all of their priorities in the opening rounds, though, so it’s worth taking a look at the 2023 draft through a wider lens. We’re going to spend the next few days highlighting prospects who fit New Orleans’ prototypes at positions of need in the early rounds, the middle of the draft, and the dark horses expected to be available later on. Let’s start at defensive end:
Early rounds: Lukas Van Ness, Iowa
Van Ness isn’t a complete prospect (he only has two years of experience) but he’s a tremendously gifted athlete for his size (6-foot-5, 272 pounds with 34-inch arms and a 9.39 Relative Athletic Score) with quality college production. He’s commonly projected to be picked in the top 20 selections but could be someone the Saints target in an on-brand trade up if he gets within reach.
Early rounds: Myles Murphy, Clemson
Murphy is a lot like Van Ness, though he has greater college experience and not quite as many highlight reel-worthy plays, though he’s a consistent producer. He’s also a top-shelf athlete with a Relative Athletic Score of 9.71 at 6-foot-4 and 268 pounds, with 33.7-inch arms. It’s unlikely he makes it all the way to No. 29 but the Saints could probably leapfrog a couple of teams and get him without losing too much draft capital.
Middle rounds: Isaiah Foskey, Notre Dame
Foskey is being weirdly underrated given his impressive college production (31.5 tackles for loss and 26.5 sacks in 41 games, with 7 forced fumbles) and rare movement skills, having posted a 9.61 Relative Athletic Score at 6-foot-5 and 264 pounds with 34-inch arms. That’s right in line with the Saints’ standards for the position. He feels like someone with a high floor who will outplay his draft slot.
Middle rounds: Zach Harrison, Ohio State
Harrison never ran the 40-yard dash but he still earned a respectable 8.73 Relative Athletic Score at 6-foot-5 and 274 pounds, with his 36.2-inch arms giving him the widest wingspan (85.5 inches) of this draft class at defensive end. He only racked up 11.5 sacks in 46 games but he found other ways to make an impact with 25.5 tackles for loss, 5 forced fumbles, and 11 passes batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Late rounds: Junior Fehoko, San Jose State
Fehoko doesn’t bring high-level movement skills (he posted a Relative Athletic Score of just 5.36) but he nails the prototype the Saints look for at 6-foot-3 and 276 pounds with 33-inch arms. He’s also already more polished and better-experienced than Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner were coming out of college — combined, maybe. He’s dominated his level of competition, is technically-refined, and could be a real diamond in the rough despite being “just good enough” athletically as opposed to someone with elite agility and flexibility.
Late rounds: Thomas Incoom, Central Michigan
Incoom is right on the edge of the Saints’ standards at defensive end at 6-foot-2 and 262 pounds, with 33.2-inch arms and an 8.54 Relative Athletic Score. He excelled at Valdosta State before transferring to Central Michigan, where he continued to play at a high level. His resume includes 44.5 tackles for loss in 50 career games (plus 28.5 sacks and 5 forced fumbles). He’s strong and plays with heavy hands, but he’s fast enough to take advantage of unblocked looks.
