With the 9th Pick in the 2025 draft, who should the Saints select? (merged)

I think the disconnect with this entire conversation is that it is being almost straw-manned into a “Should you draft any RB in the top 10,” or “a RB in general” if you’re a team with our needs.

To me, the focus needs to be on the specific scenario of “If this player grades out extremely high, like generational back high, do you take him at 9?”

If that’s the case and he’s the best available player on your board, you run to the podium and worry about the other needs later.

And that’s another thing, why are so many people speaking as though the team will only have one single opportunity to address other needs this off-season (and next for that matter), and that only opportunity is going to come at pick 9 of this specific draft?

Hell, by the time we get to the draft, for all we know, a free agency period signing may take drafting a RB completely off the table regardless of anything.
It's our first top ten pick in a long time so I get why all the focus is on it. I also see why people don't like Jeanty at 9, whether they don't think he'll be the best guy there or any back is worth a pick that high. To me this is a more top heavy draft so 9 is an important pick for us. Gotta go with who the best guy overall there.

Not only as a general philosophy but also where this team is. Yea we have a lot of needs because this team is at the beginning of a rebuild. The identity we've had for the past 20 years is gone. To me just filling gaps in the roster based on where we're at now isn't gonna help us in the long run.