The New Orleans Saints are putting the final touches on their big board of prospects for the 2023 NFL draft, and they’ll soon begin their own series of in-house projections and mock drafts to get a feel for what their competitors around the league might do.
Here’s a look at how things might go wrong. Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar put together an expansive three-round mock draft with the real thing just days away, and it’s a grim look for the Saints. Whether they’re getting away from their athletic prototypes or drafting prospects with injury concerns, this kind of haul would be disappointing after the first three rounds:
Round 1, Pick 29: TE Luke Musgrave, Oregon State
Farrar’s take on the pick:
This is simple math for me. The Saints signed former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to a four-year, $150 million contract with $100 million guaranteed. If you look back at Carr’s time with the Raiders, tight end Darren Waller was often his most explosive target. When I watched Luke Musgrave play tight end, he reminded me a ton of Waller with his ability to win at the intermediate and deep levels, and occasional issues with blocking and drops. Carr might feel right at home with Musgrave as an addendum for his passing concepts.
Musgrave is a decent prospect, but he isn’t going to take targets away from Juwan Johnson — another Darren Waller-style tight end who the Saints rewarded with a two-year extension after he broke out last season. For someone heralded as a phenomenal receiving tight end, he’s only caught 47 passes in his 34-game college career, with 9 drops against 2 touchdown receptions. He also missed 11 games with a knee injury last year. He blocks well but it’s tough to see the Saints trusting him right away over a veteran in Adam Trautman. He doesn’t have the resume of someone who should be picked this highly. The player taken one slot after the Saints in this mock draft, Clemson defensive end Myles Murphy, would have been a better pick for New Orleans.
Round 2, Pick 40: WR Kayshon Boutte, LSU
Yuck. Boutte has bombed his pre-draft process and would almost certainly be eliminated from the Saints’ draft board given his poor testing results — despite weighing in at just 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, he timed the 40-yard dash in a disappointing 4.5 seconds with mediocre results in the agility drills and bottom-percentile explosive numbers in the jumps. And that’s after his final season at LSU ended with the most drops (7) in his career, along with off-field issues and immaturity concerns voiced by his head coach. The Saints rarely draft LSU prospects anyway, and Boutte doesn’t seem like someone who would be on their radar — or on the radar of many teams picking the top three rounds. This is another case where the Saints passed on a better player, with Tennessee receiver Cedric Tillman going off the board just one pick later.
Round 3, Pick 71: DT Gervon Dexter Sr., Florida
The Saints may have gotten it wrong with their first two picks, but this one looks like a match. Dexter is a highly athletic prospect at their greatest position of need. He was a team leader at Florida, where he never missed a game, and he plays with great violence all over the defensive line. He’s also very familiar with Todd Grantham, his old college coach who would be his position coach in New Orleans. He’s still filling out his frame after focusing on basketball in high school but Dexter’s best snaps are still ahead of him.
Analysis
So this was kind of a dud. Musgrave can develop into a very good player if he stays healthy, but it’s tough to see how he gets on the field right away as a rookie. Boutte doesn’t bring any of the traits the Saints value at wide receiver and he could struggle to displace guys like Tre’Quan Smith and Keith Kirkwood for snaps in practice. At least Dexter adds athleticism and accountability to a position group that wasn’t productive enough last season.
