I’m inclined to think the Saints would ideally like to leave this draft w/ Bowers

bobad said

We don't have any idea whether Penning is a player or Ram is done, but the Saints staff knows enough to make their draft choices accordingly.

With 7 draft picks and 1 or 2 lucky UDFA signings, I'm optimistic the team can get better this year if they don't trade away their picks.

Bowers? He will be hard to pass on, but I wouldn't want them to trade up to get him.

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Exactly. We have no idea about Penning or Ram. That's worrisome. The Saints staff certainly knows more than us but these are the same people who thought Penning was ready to start last year. If they made a mistake with Penning that's fine. It happens. If he's not a starting LT in the NFL then see what you can get out of him at RT. I don't know if Guard is a viable option because of his height. Leverage would be an issue and throwing over a 6'7" Guard could be challenging. If nothing else trot him out there in Jumbo formations.

Sometimes teams put blinders on when it comes to first round picks. Obviously they don't want to give up on their investment but sometimes they refuse to admit their mistake. I'm hoping that doesn't happen here. I'm hoping the dude can actually play. It's too early to give up on him and if he can be an adequate starter at LT I'd take it. I'm just worried about the Saints putting all of their eggs in the Penning/Ram basket. In a perfect world they draft a Tackle in the 1st or 2nd and he can't even get on the field because Penning becomes decent and Ram's knee regenerates like he's Wolverine. So that highly drafted Tackle becomes depth or they try him at Guard initially. Depth up front is not a bad thing at all.

The Saints have a history of ignoring glaring problems and acting like everything will work out. That's how we end up with so many rando UDFAs starting every year. There's still time but I don't feel great about it right now.