One former NFL general manager predicts the New Orleans Saints will pick a first-round defensive tackle in the 2023 draft. Longtime Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman contributed to a mock draft with The 33rd Team with his peer Mike Tannenbaum, and he likes the Saints to add more depth to their roster at defensive tackle.
Despite having signed a couple of veterans, he sees more snaps to go around, and a rookie like Clemson prospect Bryan Bresee could be a good fit. Spielman wrote of the move:
The New Orleans Saints lost a couple of defensive linemen to free agency this offseason. On 2021 tape, Bresee plays like a top-10 pick. Last season he went through tragedy with his sister passing away and was also coming off an ACL injury. However, he’s athletic and can play multiple positions on the defensive interior.
The Saints did sign Khalen Saunders and Nathan Shepherd, but they’re both guys who will just help as Bresee comes along.
Defensive tackle is very much a position of need for the Saints. They couldn’t field a five-man rotation if they had to play a game today — Saunders and Shepherd are joined on the depth chart by backups Malcolm Roach and Prince Emili, neither of whom have extensive pro experience (Roach played a career-high 315 defensive snaps last season).
As far as that goes, Bresee doesn’t have a ton of reps behind him, either. He missed most of the 2021 season recovering from a torn ACL and was limited to just 330 snaps in Clemson’s rotation last year. It would be worthwhile to sign another veteran like Poona Ford or Matt Ioannidis after the draft to bolster the room even after adding Shepherd and Saunders. Like many other recent Saints draft picks along the defensive line, he has a lot of unrealized potential but a lengthy injury history, too.
