Draft News

NewOrleansSaints.com

New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced that the club has signed their 2019 draft class to four-year contracts; center Erik McCoy, defensive backs Chauncey Gardner-Johnsonand Saquan Hampton, tight end Alizé Mack, and linebacker Kaden Elliss.

McCoy was the Saint’s second round draft choice (48th overall) out of Texas A&M and the club’ first pick overall. The 6-foot-4, 315-pound Lufkin, Tex. native started all 39 games he appeared in during his three seasons (37 starts at center, two at guard). Blocking for the Southeastern Conference’s leading rusher in 2018 and for an offense that rushed for over 2,000 yards each of the last three seasons, McCoy declared for the NFL Draft following his redshirt junior season after graduating...

By Lance Zierlein | NFL.com Media draft analyst

Teams tend to treasure draft picks like gold, and compensatory draft picks aren't treated any differently. In fact, the idea of allowing a top free agent to walk in exchange for a compensatory draft pick has picked up steam in recent years as teams look for the best way to construct their rosters for sustained success. Organizations have parlayed compensatory picks into some highly valuable selections -- the Dallas Cowboys' Dak Prescott and Pittsburgh Steelers' James Conner are a couple of recent examples.

So, how do compensatory picks work?

The number of compensatory picks allotted each year is limited to the number of teams in the league (32). However, compensatory picks are not divvied up equally among the teams, and no team can receive more than four compensatory picks in a single year. To qualify for compensatory picks, teams must end up with more compensatory...

The Saints 6th round safety hopes to get some starting snaps on defense in 2019.

By Chris Dunnels | Canal Street Chronicles

The New Orleans Saints drafted Saquan Hampton out of Rutgers late in the 2019 NFL Draft. While he’s not expected to contribute right away on defense, he could be a huge value pick as a third safety.

David Anderson of SB Nation’s page for Rutgers, On the Banks, took some quick time to answer a few questions for Saints to get to know one of their late-round 2019 draft picks.

Let’s get this out of the way first: the Saints were able to grab Hampton in the 6th round, with the 177th overall pick. Do you think this is good value, a reach, or just right? When did you anticipate Hampton would go off the board?

The 6th round was an appropriate spot for Hampton to have been selected. At that point in the draft NFL teams are looking for players with upside and during the second half of the 2018 season, Hampton was as good a safety as there was in the Big Ten.
For years every head coach, defensive coordinator, and position coach raved about Hampton’s NFL potential but we never really saw it...

Click to expand...

By John Sigler | Saintswire

The New Orleans Saints were hammered by the 2019 NFL Draft report card from Football Outsiders. A composite score averaging each draft expert’s grade found the 2019 Saints draft class badly lacking compared to their peers, ranking New Orleans 28th among the 32 NFL teams.

Grades were sourced from a panel of 11 draft analysts including Evan Silva of Rotoworld, Mel Kiper of ESPN, Nate Davis of USA TODAY, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire.

We should pause before taking these grades as gospel: they’re spur-of-the-moment reactions, completely projecting how each team’s new additions will turn out. The draft has proven to be a near-impossible process to predict, and these analysts could end up being far off the mark.

Full Story - Saintswire - USA Today

A closer look at the Saints second 7th round selection.

By Bob Rose | Canal Street Chronicles

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has always had an affinity for players with NFL bloodlines. The father of defensive end Cameron Jordan is Steve Jordan, a Pro Bowl tight end for the Minnesota Vikings from 1982-94. Keyshawn Johnson, a Pro Bowl wideout for three different teams from 1996-2006, is the uncle of Saints All-Pro receiver Michael Thomas. Former Saints running back Mark Ingram is the son of former standout receiver for the Giants and Dolphins Mark Sr. Al Toon, All-Pro wideout for the New York...

By James Parks | 247 Sports

The New Orleans Saints really, really liked Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.

They moved up in the draft, for the 17th time since 2007, by way of a trade with the Miami Dolphins to take the former Florida defensive back with the third pick in the fourth round.

In the process, they came away with one of the biggest steals in this year’s class.

“With the current state of the Saints’ secondary, they could use some talent anywhere they can get it,” Pro Football Focus’ Mike Renner noted in naming him one of the biggest steals this year. “Gardner-Johnson brings that in a versatile package. He played a slot/safety role at Florida this past season.”

Full Story - 247 Sports

By KingNene | SaintsReport.com member

Every year, Mike Detillier does a fantastic draft guide, going over hundreds of prospects before the draft. This is the first year I bought it, and I have to say I am pleased with my purchase.

After the draft, I wondered how every team did in terms of the players they got, so I decided to find out. I spent a few hours on a spreadsheet going over every pick from every team and averaging out the drafted players' grade in Mike D's Draft Report.

I first want to say I think draft grades are dumb. Judging a player before they even play is dumb. There is no way to know how good a team's draft is. I just thought it would be interesting.

First a few things:

• I will not be giving any of the grades of any prospects, only the overall average. I do this because I don't want to give you information that you should be buying from Mike D.
• Some players I could not find in his guide. This does not mean those players are not in there, but I could not find them. It is a huge guide. If you find them, please say the page number and I will update the grade. DO NOT GIVE THEIR GRADE. If I could not find a player, they automatically got a 16.00 grade. Here are the players I could not find:
  • WR - Marcus Green - Louisiana-Monroe (Falcons)
  • CB - Duke Shelley - Kansas State (Bears)
  • WR - Juwann Winfree - Colorado (Broncos)
  • RB -...

By Rod Walker | The Advocate

The New Orleans Saints coveted Erik McCoy.

It's why they chose to trade up and jump 14 spots to select the center out of Texas A&M in the second round of the NFL draft Friday.

But with the team having just signed center Nick Easton in free agency, presumably filling the void of retired center Max Unger, how soon will McCoy be able to contribute?

"All these guys have a transition to make," coach Sean Payton said. "It is hard to predict that sometimes. He is smart, and yet I think in fairness to the process and the veterans that are here, there's a lot that has to happen for young players to come in."

Full Story - The Advocate

By James Parks | 247 Sports

Alize Mack came to the New Orleans Saints by way of their first draft pick in the seventh round this year, and the former Notre Dame tight end says he was overjoyed to hear the news.

“It’s a dream come true,” Mack said. “I am going to take full responsibility and full advantage of this opportunity and I can’t wait. I can’t wait. I am so happy. I am so thankful.

“I just want to thank the Saints organization, Coach Payton, and the rest of the organization for taking a chance on me. They definitely will not regret it. A hundred percent.”

The Las Vegas native says he enjoyed his trip to New Orleans to meet the Saints and see not only their facilities, but the city itself.

“I loved it. It felt like home honestly,” Mack said.

Full Story - 247 Sports

By John Sigler | Saintswire

The New Orleans Saints took a flyer on former Rutgers Scarlet Knights safety Saquan Hampton, and the sixth-round draft pick is eager to show the team what he can do. During a conference call with local reporters following his announced selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, Hampton declared that he’ll do whatever it takes to help his new team.

“Special teams is always emphasized at Rutgers and when the Saints came in they emphasized special teams as well,” Hampton said, referencing a private workout at Rutgers’ campus conducted by assistant defensive backs coach Peter Giunta. “For me, special teams is something I started on all four years at Rutgers. It would be an honor to play on special teams.”

Full Story - Saintswire - USA Today

John DeShazier | Senior Writer - NewOrleansSaints.com

By all accounts, the New Orleans Saints entered the 2019 NFL Draft from an advantageous position: The two-time defending NFC South Division champions, with relatively few (if any) absolutely pressing needs, having positioned themselves through free agency to be able to select the best available players.

That said, the Saints still appeared to help themselves via the draft, with quality overshadowing quantity (just five picks in the seven-round draft), and continued draft-day aggression allowing them to snap up players they view as bargains and believe will be contributors.

New Orleans welcomed Texas A&M center Erik McCoy (second round, No. 48 overall), Florida safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (fourth round, No. 105), Rutgers safety Saquan Hampton (sixth round, No. 177), Notre Dame tight end Alize’ Mack (seventh round, No. 231) and Idaho linebacker Kaden Elliss (seventh round, No. 244) to the franchise over the weekend.

The Saints traded up in the second (from No. 62 to 48) and fourth (from 116 to 105) rounds in order to select McCoy and Gardner-Johnson. And, along with Hampton, New Orleans believes it was able to draft players in a lower spot than where the Saints had them graded. ...

By Josh Katzenstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

It’s not necessarily fair to judge an entire draft class on one player.

Yet knowing how infrequently late-round picks pan out, that’s the logical conclusion after the New Orleans Saints’ drafts the past two years.

In 2018, the Saints took Marcus Davenport in the first round. He was considered the second-best defensive end in the class, behind Bradley Chubb, and the Saints traded a future first-round pick to move up and take him.

In 2019, the Saints took Erik McCoy in the second round. He was considered the second-best center in the class, behind Garrett Bradbury, and the Saints traded a future second-round pick to move up and take him. ...

Full Story - NOLA.com