By Ross Jackson
While many are still expecting the New Orleans Saints to draft a quarterback as early as the No. 9 overall selection, that however, continuously looks to get less and less likely.
With momentum between the Saints and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders finally dying down, hopes that New Orleans might reach for a passer like Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart went on the rise. However, based on the comments of Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, reaching for a player at a high positional value, such as quarterback, doesn’t come off as the recipe for success.
“The guys you fall in love with at (quarterback), you feel like are immediate players, are gonna be taken in the top seven or eight to 10 picks,” Loomis said during his pre-draft press conference. “That’s just the nature of it. That doesn’t mean you can’t find a really good quarterback later. Just more often later, it’s more speculative and it’s more development that’s required. So, I think that’s what’s the difference between taking someone in the top five or six versus taking someone later in the draft.”
The question then becomes, are the Saints in love with any particular quarterback? And is that quarterback a player that they believe will be an “immediate player” or a developmental prospect? If Loomis holds true to his thinking, not selecting within the top five could limit the team’s ability to snag that immediate impact player at the position, leaving them instead to wait or trade up later.
The mentality of the Saints’ new head coach Kellen Moore seems to leverage against taking a quarterback high this year as well.
“Kellen’s philosophy is, you build inside out,” Loomis said. “Offensive, defensive line, you’ve got to put resources in those areas. That allows you to be a good football team. So, I think we’re aligned in that regard.”
Moore has expressed a similar sentiment in several of his media availabilities all throughout the offseason.
With that mentality, it sure sounds like the Saints are more likely to invest in their offensive line than at quarterback to start off this year’s draft class. However, teams don’t just give up their draft plans in pre-draft press conferences. So the actions will speak much louder than the words.
This year’s NFL Draft has proven to be a very intriguing one when it comes to the Saints. Uncertainty at the quarterback position is certainly a part of that, but the fact of the matter is that it seems like very few secrets are getting out of the building. Right now, it feels like a reach for a quarterback at No. 9 is unlikely. But that may only truly be opening the door for a surprise.
