Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
This year’s NFL Draft achieved a very important goal for the New Orleans Saints: building around quarterback Tyler Shough. They did so in a variety of ways. Adding weapons, bolstering protection and limiting the need for big play generation to fall solely on his shoulders.
Here’s a look at how the Saints got it done and what to expect from the New Orleans offense moving forward.
Adding Weapons to Shough’s Offense
This one goes without much mystery. When a team leaves a draft with three dynamic wide receivers and an athletic tight end, it’s clear that there was a focus put on surrounding a quarterback with pieces. In an offense that already featured wide receiver Chris Olave, tight end Juwan Johnson and running backs Alvin Kamara and Travis Etienne Jr., the Saints drafted the top wide receiver in the draft class in Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson, a dynamic and twitched-up route runner that can make incredible plays on the football and more speedy, athletic options that can bolster the offensive arsenal.
A player like LSU wideout Barion Brown does so from a variety of avenues. He could be a large part of setting the Saints’ offense up with plus field position and could also develop his returner skills into a yards after catch threat on offense.
New Orleans also invested in a quarterback’s best friend, drafting Georgia tight end Oscar Delp, who has a lot of untapped potential as a receiver.
Bolstering Protection
The Saints continued a trend from free agency, investing in building not just weaponry around Shough, but protection. Drafting 6-foot-5, 331-pound right guard Jeremiah Wright out of Auburn in the fourth round gives the team a developmental and promisingly strong player to backup on the interior.
Teams are going to deal with injury on the offensive line. Bringing in promising young talent to help lessen the dropoff from starter to second-string is a keen investment.
Shough Doesn’t Have to be the Hero
Catch and run opportunities will be able to now have a larger part to play in the Saints’ offense. Tyson is a speedy enough wideout to turn short grabs into larger gains, Delp is impressive with the ball in his hands thanks to his 4.49 second 40-yard dash speed, Brown’s return prowess can translate to the offense and NDSU wide receiver Bryce Lance’s 4.34 speed should be able to help take the top off of some defenses once he enters the rotation.
Along with a beefed up run game, Shough won’t be in position to have to make desperation plays. Instead, he can rely on his ability to extend plays while relying on his pass-catchers closer to the line of scrimmage to make an impact.
