So much attention on the annual NFL draft centers on which prospects are the best fits for different teams, but there’s another approach you can take — which matches are unlikely to work out? Which players should some teams avoid?
That’s a question Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay tackled this week, now that the 2023 draft is in sight. And they highlighted one prospect the New Orleans Saints should pass on: Clemson Tigers defensive tackle Bryan Bresee, projected to be a first-round pick. While that position is the Saints’ top team need, there are some items on Bresee’s scouting report that raise concern:
Getting an interior pass-rusher who can also assist against the run would be the best possible outcome for New Orleans with the No. 29 pick. There are a few prospects who fit the bill who could still be available late in the first round, including a recent riser in Clemson’s Bryan Bresee.
Bresee’s promising college football career was derailed by a series of health issues — on top of that torn ACL and surgically-repaired shoulder, he was hospitalized last September with a serious kidney infection and strep throat. Players have overcome those hurdles to achieve great things in the pros before, but the Saints don’t have a great track record when working with prospects who have already been put through the wringer at the college level.
And, yeah, Bresee is someone I’ve downplayed as a potential Saints draft target before. He’s very inconsistent from one snap to the next and doesn’t have many hand-fighting techniques to work with as a pass rusher. He gets pushed off the line of scrimmage and doesn’t make enough of an impact on passing downs as someone with his athleticism ought to. He’s far from a finished product despite coming out of a program run by an all-star coaching staff. The Saints do need a big-time defensive tackle, but there should be better prospects available for them than Bresee.
