Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
John Sigler

Saints make a mind-boggling pick in Peter Schrager’s first 2023 mock draft

Say what? NFL Network’s Peter Schrager debuted his first 2023 mock draft on Tuesday with a curious pick for the New Orleans Saints: Ole Miss wide receiver Jonathan Mingo, who is currently projected to go late in the second round or midway through the third round. Schrager likes him to New Orleans at No. 29 overall.

Look, Mingo isn’t a bad prospect. Far from it. But his scouting report describes a prospect who typically goes off the board later in the draft. He’s athletic and brings good size, timing the 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, with 32.1-inch arms and a decent catch radius. He’s a well-rounded athlete but he doesn’t separate easily from opposing defensive backs and lacks a high success rate on contested catches. He needs more experience and was targeted only 206 times in his four-year college career.

He also missed seven games with a broken foot in 2021 and had to undergo a second surgery in April 2022 after it failed to heal properly. Mingo rebounded well from that to post career highs in receptions (51), receiving yards (861), first-down conversions (35) and touchdown catches (5) last season, but he still doesn’t have the resume of a first-round pick.

But teams sometimes pick players in the first round whom they don’t grade as first-rounders. The Saints have certainly done that. Still, you’d like to see them address a more pressing need along the defensive line than reach on a receiver to open the draft. We’ll see if Schrager knows something we don’t come draft day.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.