H2o

The premise of this mock was based on the idea that we use FA to address the defense with proven, NFL players. Then in the draft we go all offense. I know it will not work out that way, but it's a thought.

This is a draft I would like to see if we decide to address the defense in FA with proven NFL players, one that solely focuses on putting young talent around Josh. Round 1 - #25. Jahan Dotson / WR / Penn St. - Dotson stands at 5'11" weighing about 185-190lbs. He has speed to burn you deep, is solid in his route running with the ability to slip away from defenders, and he has a knack for finding the soft spots in Zone coverage. He improved every year while at Penn State. He knows when to high point the ball and when to use his body to shield off defenders. He can line up on the outside or play out of the slot. He's a versatile playmaker with speed who would immediately find a role in this offense. Round 2 - #57. Zion Johnson / OG / Boston College - The IOL needs some work. The OL really has problems with the more physical front 4's in the league. The only saving grace they have is Josh being so flippin' athletic that he can elude 80-90% of the pressure they allow. Zion goes a long way to fixing that. There was a noticeable uptick in his physicality this year on the field and he showed well in the Senior Bowl practices. This is a good spot to work on upgrading the OL. Round 3 - #89. Kyren Williams / RB / Notre Dame - What kind of world would we live in if I didn't mock a Notre Dame player to us? Seriously though, Williams is an Austin Ekeler clone. Same size, same running style, same speed, same hands out of the backfield, solid blocker, he could be a 3-down RB in the NFL. This would be an upgrade to our backfield that allows Dorsey to open things up even more for Josh. A guy the defense will have to watch out for both running the ball and slipping out into pass routes. Round 4 - #126. - Charlie Kolar / TE / Iowa St. - At 6'6", 260lbs this is another toy for Josh and this offense. He can play in line or he can split out as he did both at Iowa St. He has the size as already noted, reliable hands, enough speed to lose LB's in coverage, is a solid blocker, and has a good sense of where the soft spots in Zone coverage will be. He would be especially hard to handle in the Red Zone for opposing defenses. Definitely an upgrade at the #2 TE position on this roster, with the ability to slide into that #1 role if Knox gets injured or prices himself out of our range in 2023 FA. Round 5 - #166. Obinna Eze / OT / TCU - Eze is another mammoth of a human being at 6'8" and 335lbs. He has a total of 36 starts at LT under his belt between his time at Memphis and at TCU. He could be a versatile piece to backup numerous positions along the OL. Round 6 - #184. Tre Turner / WR / Virginia Tech - Going to the WR well again in Round 6. Turner improved at least some aspect of his game every year while at VT. He's also a 2 sport star for VT playing basketball for them as well. The QB situation at VT really hampered his ability to show what he can do, but he is a smooth route runner, has outstanding ball skills, and good body control. He could end up being a steal in the 6th Round. Round 6 - #203. Daniel Barker / TE / Illinois - Another swing at a TE as we can agree it was one of the weaker positions on the offensive side of the ball. Barker is another guy who possesses talent, but suffered from inconsistent QB play. He's more developmental that Kolar, but he has all the tools to be a #2 TE on an NFL roster. Round 7 - #228. Ryan Wright / P / Tulane - The search for the all elusive consistent punter in the NFL continues, for us anyway. Wright averaged 47.5yds per kick on 51 attempts. Out of those, 16 of those 51 punts went for over 50 yards and 17 of them were pegged inside the 20 yard line. It's worth a 7th to take a shot on a punter at this point. Round 7 - #243. Andrew Stueber / OL / Michigan - This is another OL depth piece as we look to find ways to upgrade the unit. Stueber is another guy who is just a massive human at 6'6" and 340lbs, but he has played all over the OL in his college career. Versatility and some ability to work with is all you can ask for at this point in the draft.

Saints fans right now

This is one I just did on the PFF Simulator.

Nope. Not spending $9M on Levi. Draft a replacement, look for a FA bargains to fill depth, and Dane can play #2 CB after getting some good experience this year as well.

I like McKenzie. Whenever his number has been called he has produced. At the same time, I think he's kind of ready to move on. Like many others have said, I think he ends up on the Giants with Daboll.

Josh, though he runs quite a bit now, has proven he can be elite as a pocket passer. He's also showing he knows when to slide or get out of bounds the further along in his career we get. Look at Ben Ro. Look at Russell Wilson. There's no reason to think he can't do this for 15 years or more as long as they build properly around him.

Josh Allen? No. Willis 6'1" and 215lbs. Josh is 6'5" and 240lbs+. I see a slower version of Lamar if anything. He has some ability for sure. He will need to land in the right spot where they can coach him up and get the most out of him.

Yeah, this would suck. Putting Rodgers with Derrick Henry? Then they have Julio and AJ Brown @ WR. It would be one of the best offenses he's ever had around him.

I'm not saying there is zero credibility to what Flores is claiming, but I do feel that he's salty for numerous things that took place while he was coach in Miami. One of the biggest things I believe that burnt him up was wanting Herbert instead of Tua and being overridden by Ross. It was reported before the draft that Flores wanted Herbert over Tua, but Ross wanted Tua and the pick was made. That's gotta sting a little bit. I also believe that he was likely told to start Tua over Fitz, even when Fitz was playing well as the starter for them. Any time you have a meddling owner/GM that won't let you run your team the way you want then you know there is going to be some animosity. He probably felt like his rep was tarnished to the point that he didn't give a crap and said within himself he was going to stick it to them all. Here we are.

Many LB's have deficiencies. Edmunds has deficiencies that are obvious to most of us. The problem with that is the fact Edmunds' deficiencies now are the same deficiencies he had when we drafted him. He hasn't really matured as a player the way we thought or hoped he would imo. The game still hasn't clicked for him mentally and at times he has been a liability out there guessing the wrong gaps or getting lost in coverage.

I guess ArtVandalay doesn't have to worry about Harbaugh getting the Dolphins job now?

The familiarity he and Josh have with one another is the key dynamic here. Dorsey doesn't have to come in and learn anything about Josh, not as a new OC would have, because he already knows. I think this bodes well for the offense and team as a whole. It was the most obvious, but also the right move to make in this instance.

Not really. He's just from the "Coaching Tree" like McVay, like Taylor, like LeFleur.

Yep, not scared of Mike McDaniel being at the helm of the Dolphins either.

^^^ This ^^^ Brady would have suffered a career ending injury behind an OL like ours. Josh masks so much of this team's deficiencies it's unreal.

No, Harbaugh is not a bad coach. He was a good coach in SF. At the same time it's not like Miami is instantly a contender with him at the helm. The question will be can he succeed with Tua? In SF he had two very athletic QB's in Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick. He also had Frank Gore in his prime. The offense he ran has since had a blueprint laid out for defending it. So what offense is he going to run? Is he going to run the Andrew Luck style of offense from Stanford or the gimmicky SF 49ers offense he ran before. Miami doesn't have an Andrew Luck. They also still need OL help and a couple of decent RB's for that SF offense. Personally, I believe it will take him a couple of years to get the offense set up the way he wants it. By then the defense will be a couple of years older and they'll be having to make some personnel decisions on that side of the ball. Then he may be trying to find a Franchise QB as well. There are a lot of determining factors and he's not stepping into the same old AFCE from two or three years ago. NE is still solid and now we are right on the cusp of having a team winning it all. I'm not scared of Harbaugh by any means.

Hendrickson, a key FA signing for them from the Saints, had 14 sacks during the regular season. And yes, Hendrickson IS a stud on defense. Eli Apple was drafted 10th overall by the Giants, but didn't pan out there. Sam Hubbard was a 3rd Rd pick. Tre Flowers was solid in Seattle before he ended up in Cincy. B.J Hill was a 3rd Round pick. Logan Wilson was a 3rd.

Could care less really. Just glad the Chiefs lost and we don't have to deal with the Mahomes slobbing for the next two weeks.

Yeah, Idk. I think both defenses on the field right now are better than anything they've faced thus far