RB Ashton Jeanty as the Saints 1st pick? (2 Viewers)

[SonOfNOLA]

Yet you're saying we need to take a playmaker in the first round and OL in the next two rounds and avoid DL in the early rounds....

Saints badly need a playmaker at all positions with the 1st pick. I’m saying draft BPA regardless of position. The original post stated pass on BPA, or the best player on the board if its a skill player, because of linemen needs. Do not draft strictly based on a positional need when its not drafting for the team’s top starter at the position.

Good linemen can be found in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounds, especially Guards and the 2nd starter at a Defensive Line position. All options are on the table in the 1st round. The team shouldn’t handcuff their 1st rd draft strategy by position.

 

[Mamba]

It’s only possible to address OL/DL depth with your rookie first round pick and there are no other options…who knew????

Don't be so dense. Improving depth doesn't necessarily mean drafting for depth, but drafting starters who push current starters down the depth chart. That's what you expect for a top 15 pick.

Get the best playmaker (BPA) in the 1st round, whether it’s Jeanty or someone else. Then draft OL and DL with the next 3 picks in the 2nd and 3rd round. OL and DL can also be the easiest position groups to find immediate starters in the 2nd-3rd round when they’re properly scouted.

Saints are in prime position to possibly get 4 immediate contributors in the first 3 rounds since they have the Commanders 3rd. Its not mandatory to draft a lineman in round 1 just because its the 1st round.

I would argue it's easier to find immediate starters at RB and WR in the 2nd & 3rd rounds. IMO, the Saints need a true difference maker either on the edge or inside next to Bresee. Much more likely to find that with a premium pick in the top 15.

 

[Infoman]

I'm just not sure that we will be running the same offense next year so it's hard to know what a new OC would want. And while he is a good fit for the Taysom role (minus Wildcat and throwing ability), I'm not sure that a lot of teams will see as much value in that so I think he might be a guy you can get much later. But, I guess it only takes one team to see the value and he goes early.

He can run from the QB position and throw... He did both this year. Agreed on the OC situation going forward... I think he's top 15 in this draft...

 

[Elvis]

No way. Our running game is fine when the line holds up. So fix the line. If we want a 3rd RB look later in the draft or UDFAs.

 

[St. Widge]

He can run from the QB position and throw... He did both this year. Agreed on the OC situation going forward... I think he's top 15 in this draft...

Anyone can run from the position and throw. The question is are they good enough at it to be allowed to do it or to be a credible threat to the defense?

I mean Taysom may have been the best Wildcat guy ever and was at least a good enough thrower to get a few starts at QB in the NFL. I don't think Warren is close to that level. He also lacks Taysom's elite speed as a runner. But we obviously disagree on Warren in which is cool.

 

[Stalwart385]

RB is a replaceable position that has a low average salary. It's similar to TE, OG, or DT. You lose value if you draft one that high because they aren't very expensive anyway. If you do draft one that high, they better be a market setting generational talent so they can compete with the value of an average starting OT.

Maybe Jeanty is a market setting generational talent, I have my doubts behind this o-line.

 

[Infoman]

I mean Taysom may have been the best Wildcat guy ever and was at least a good enough thrower to get a few starts at QB in the NFL. I don't think Warren is close to that level. He also lacks Taysom's elite speed as a runner. But we obviously disagree on in which is cool.

I'm not saying he's Taysom, or his full time replacement... I am saying if and when Taysom goes down for 4 - 6 games a season... Warren can reasonably fill his role, while also adding more value than Taysom as a true TE, Contested catch guy, and Slot / Matchup player. Taysom is a one of one player... we are not replacing him in that aspect. Taysom's ceiling is Taysom... Warren's ceiling is Kittle with some Taysom abilities sprinkled in.

 

[St. Geezy]

Don't be so dense. Improving depth doesn't necessarily mean drafting for depth, but drafting starters who push current starters down the depth chart. That's what you expect for a top 15 pick.

I would argue it's easier to find immediate starters at RB and WR in the 2nd & 3rd rounds. IMO, the Saints need a true difference maker either on the edge or inside next to Bresee. Much more likely to find that with a premium pick in the top 15.

Don’t think I’m being “dense” at all. The point remains that there are many ways to address needs. You draft BPA and don’t reach for needs; that’s how you get into trouble.

We aren’t just drafting for the 2025 season. This whole thing is predicated on the hypothetical that Jeanty is deemed BPA by our grades.

 

[St. Widge]

I'm not saying he's Taysom, or his full time replacement... I am saying if and when Taysom goes down for 4 - 6 games a season... Warren can reasonably fill his role, while also adding more value than Taysom as a true TE, Contested catch guy, and Slot / Matchup player. Taysom is a one of one player... we are not replacing him in that aspect. Taysom's ceiling is Taysom... Warren's ceiling is Kittle with some Taysom abilities sprinkled in.

I'm not sure that Warren's ceiling is Kittle. I tend to think it's more somewhere between Juszczyk and Kittle, but I get the value of the role. But, I also think the value of that role depends on what offense you run and we don't know the answer to that. I also don't think Warren has the kind of talent that you build an offense around him which is what KK more or less did with Taysom.

 

[Judge_Smails]

If Jeanty’s available when we pick you definitely draft him. He has the potential to be an all-time great.

He is the best offensive playmaker in this draft. He’s also a back like Jamyr Gibbs that can make tons of explosive plays while also getting those “dirty yards.”

 

[Mamba]

Don’t think I’m being “dense” at all. The point remains that there are many ways to address needs. You draft BPA and don’t reach for needs; that’s how you get into trouble.

We aren’t just drafting for the 2025 season. This whole thing is predicated on the hypothetical that Jeanty is deemed BPA by our grades.

BPA is the annual subject of draft time debates every year. No team actually drafts that way. They all draft for needs and pick players who they have slotted around that spot. Sometimes they might draft a better player at a position of lesser need over a lesser player at a position of greater need. But no one ignores need.

And there will likely be several players on the OL & DL whose value fits the slot where the Saints will be picking. No one said anything about "reaching."

 

[Snakehead]

If Jeanty’s available when we pick you definitely draft him. He has the potential to be an all-time great.

He is the best offensive playmaker in this draft. He’s also a back like Jamyr Gibbs that can make tons of explosive plays while also getting those “dirty yards.”

He's a cross between AK/Gibbs/Bijan with some King Henry tackle breaking ability. AK with homerun speed. There are clips of defensive lineman hitting him and falling down due to his strength, that is nuts. I don't think a lot of people realize that he can catch out of the backfield. He did it a lot last season, but this season they've used him primarily to run the ball.

 

[Judge_Smails]

We need to trade down and stockpile picks. A RB isn't going to fix this team. Barry Sanders didn't fix Detroit. We need too many pieces and we desperately need to develop depth at nearly every position. We just haven't had a lot of picks the last several years due to Loomis draft pretzeling. And it shows. We lack quality, and we lack quality depth. 1 guy gets injured, we are turning to UDFAs and signing people off the street. Whereas other teams are turning to 3rd, 4th round picks to step in and develop into quality starters.

This draft is a depth draft. Its not a top end heavy draft. We need to sucker someone in to trading up and get more mid round picks.

Sanders dragged the Lions to what was at that time their only NFC championship game appearance ever in 1991, with a backup QB starting all but the first couple of games that season and Wayne Fontes at HC.

It was the terrible owners and management that made Detroit bad for decades, but Sanders was so good in his prime that he made them a contender for a brief window, as a RB.

The NFL values RBs differently now, but if you have a chance to draft a guy (even at RB) that is most likely to be the best player on field every week, you do it.

 

[44slayer]

Sanders dragged the Lions to what was at that time their only NFC championship game appearance ever in 1991, with a backup QB starting all but the first couple of games that season and Wayne Fontes at HC.

It was the terrible owners and management that made Detroit bad for decades, but Sanders was so good in his prime that he made them a contender for a brief window, as a RB.

The NFL values RBs differently now, but if you have a chance to draft a guy (even at RB) that is most likely to be the best player on field every week, you do it.

Fair enough there. I question our management these days as well though. I just don't think we are a RB away from being relevant. And I don't think the NFL is the same NFL as when Sanders Emmitt and Walter Payton were on the field. I put a post about SB champs, and none of them had elite RBs, or at least RBs that were top 10 in rushing yards. You need options on offense across the board.

We sort of tried this by trading an entire draft for Ricky Williams.

If we were KC, sure its a no brainer to take Jeanty. And we wont be worse off if we did draft him. Im not opposed to it. I just think we can find RBs easier than we can fill the massive amount of holes we have across the board and the depth we need to create.

 

[Mamba]

He's a cross between AK/Gibbs/Bijan with some King Henry tackle breaking ability. AK with homerun speed. There are clips of defensive lineman hitting him and falling down due to his strength, that is nuts. I don't think a lot of people realize that he can catch out of the backfield. He did it a lot last season, but this season they've used him primarily to run the ball.

I'm not seeing the homerun speed you're talking about. I think he has good speed (like Kamara), but it's deceptive when you're watching his highlights because he's playing against teams like Portland State and Geogia Southern. But to my untrained eye, I don't see the explosion that someone like Bijan or Gibbs has.

Now, I'll grant you the tackle-breaking ability. And I think that will definitely translate.