How did the NFL Scouting Combine shake up everyone’s plans for the 2024 draft? In this post-combine mock draft from Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, the New Orleans Saints picked a new tag-team partner for Bryan Bresee in Illinois defensive tackle Johnny Newton at No. 14 overall.
Newton, who went by Jer’Zhan in college, didn’t participate in athletic testing at the combine while recovering from Jones fracture surgery in his foot — he’s expected to work out at his pro day in April — but he did meet with teams and by all accounts left a good impression.
And he checked every box at weigh-ins, which matters for a team that sticks to its athletic prototypes like the Saints. Newton weighed in 6-foot-1 5/8 and 304 pounds, with 32 3/8-inch arms and 9 1/2-inch hands. For comparison, at last year’s combine Bresee weighed in at 6-foot-5 and 298 pounds with 32 1/2-inch arms and 10 1/4-inch hands (though the Saints listed his weight at 305 pounds during the season). Netwon is shorter than Bresee with a slightly lighter frame (75-inch wingspan versus Bresee’s 78) but he passes the thresholds the Saints have maintained since Jeff Ireland took over their scouting department.
More than any of that, Newton is an outstanding football player. He appeared in 47 games at Illinois and finished his career with 27.5 tackles for loss and 18 tackles for loss, batting down 5 passes at the line of scrimmage while forcing 3 fumbles (recovering 2 of them). Pro Football Focus charting found he generated 43 quarterback pressures in 2023 after posting 59 of them in 2022. He’s highly disruptive and gets into the backfield in a hurry.
So he could be a good addition in New Orleans. Newton anchors better with his lower body than Bresee did coming out of college, so he could play more heavily on running downs while they both get on the field in obvious passing situations. If Malcolm Roach leaves in free agency there should be plenty of snaps to go around for the two of them, plus veteran defensive tackles Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders.
The complicating factor: Newton has played the same three-technique alignment that Bresee fills in New Orleans, so he’d be trying new things and moving around the formation more often than he did in college. The Saints do need to look for another upgrade on the interior line after allowed the 11th-most rushing yards per carry and per game last season, but they might be looking for a different type of player than Newton, given his many similarities to Bresee. But if he’s the best available prospect when they’re on the clock in April, the coaching staff can figure out a way for everyone to coexist.
