By Ross Jackson
Many trends have been noted about the New Orleans Saints’ NFL Draft habits. Some examples include being an aggressive team, trading up during general manager Mickey Loomis’s tenure. They have also been willing to gamble on small-school prospects with promising traits early and rarely select quarterbacks early.
The Saints bucked all three of those trends in this year’s NFL Draft. They didn’t trade up for the first time in 13 seasons and took a quarterback at No. 40 overall. That was he team’s highest quarterback selection in the NFL Draft (excluding the supplemental draft) since Archie Manning was selected in 1971. On top of that, instead of taking a developmental player from a small school, they selected Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., a ready-made prospect with Big-12 and SEC experience.
ESPN Analyst @LRiddickESPN is a fan of the #Saints top two draft picks 👀
He discusses both on the @SaintsPod with @ErinESummers: https://t.co/ju38opxXqY pic.twitter.com/IHLavVDkbX
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) May 2, 2025
While the Saints were busy breaking habits, one habit they will hope not to break is the success they have consistently found drafting tackle in the top-10.
Banks becomes the Saints’ fourth top-10 selection that looks primed to play tackle at the next level.
The other selections include:
- Jim Dombrowski – selected No. 6 overall in 1986
- Willie Roaf – selected No. 8 overall in 1993
- Kyle Turley – selected No. 7 overall in 1998.
Each of these three players would go on to play tackle for the Saints and appeared in at least 109 career NFL games. Dombrowski was classified as a guard coming into the league, but manned the left tackle spot for New Orleans all throughout his early career.
Roaf was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2012, four years after landing in the Saints Hall of Fame in 2008. Dombrowski was inducted into Saints Hall of Fame in 2003. While Turley is not in a Hall of Famer, he did finish his 2000 season with a First-Team All-Pro nod.
Banks may start for the Saints immediately at either right or left tackle. But there is also a world in which he begins at guard and then moves outside at a later time. Either way, the Saints are hoping to have added a long-term cornerstone on their offensive line. If their track record holds, that may just be the case.
