The New Orleans Saints didn't waste any opportunities in the 2025 draft, landing their largest crop of players since 2015 (9), which also doubles as the most rookie draft picks made during the Mickey Loomis GM era.
Those picks also came at nine different positions, meaning the potential for new, impact players up and down the roster. Expectations for the team might have fallen a bit during a run of four straight playoff misses, as Super Bowl champion and former Saints LB Scott Shanle said on WWL Radio recently, but the recent emphasis on young talent and a changing of the guard at head coach should offer plenty of optimism.
"While there’s a lot to be concerned about, it’s almost a soft reset, I think there's a lot to be excited about, because there is a lot of change, and it needed some change," Shanle said. "We saw the last couple of years, it just wasn't good enough, it wasn’t trending in the right direction. So I think a lot of unknown, but I think there’s also a lot of excitement because there’s a lot of new blood in the building.”
Listen to the full breakdown from former Saints linebacker Scott Shanle in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
That new blood was picked to the Saints as follows:
- 1.9: Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas
- 2.40: Tyler Shough, QB, Louisville
- 3.71: Vernon Broughton II, DT, Texas
- 3.93: Jonas Sanker, S, Virginia
- 4.112: Danny Stutsman, LB, Oklahoma
- 4.131: Quincy Riley, CB, Louisville
- 6.184: Devin Neal, RB, Kansas
- 7.248: Moliki Matavao, TE, UCLA
- 7.253: Fadil Diggs, DE, Syracuse
That list includes a new quarterback and players who can fit into the new schemes on offense and defense that the Saints will be employing under head coach Kellen Moore and defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. One of the most intriguing for Shanle is Broughton, who was coached at Cypress Ridge High School by Shanle's brother, Andrew.
"When you talk about going from a 4-3 to a 3-4, you need those body types. You need those big bodies up front," Shanle said. "Those guys are going to get double-teamed. They’re going to have to 2-gap. They’re going to have to keep the linebackers clean, so I definitely like what they did and you talk about Godchaux. You need those big body types because the run defense just was not good enough. It hasn’t been good enough the last couple years, and really, they lost a handful of games just based on how bad their run defense was, so I love the big bodies they’re getting on the defensive line.”
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More from Shanle
On S Jonas Sanker/background in 8-man football
“It’s basically arena football without the arena and it’s fun and it’s a lot of people. You don’t even need bleachers because everyone just stands around the rope and watches the game. The field is 80 yards long, it’s narrower, probably 40 yards wide, but it’s a fun game to play and when you go to those small towns and grow up as some of us guys do, it’s what you do and you don’t know any different.
"I think with Jonas, you watch his tape from Virginia and I thought he closed fast, he tackled, he was physical. When you look at, obviously where Tyrann is. ... You’ve got to start building depth behind these guys. I liked the Reid signing in the offseason. I think he’s really going to help at the safety position, so yea, you’ve got to start getting some of these young guys and start getting them to learn under these veterans while the veterans are there and that’s how you kind of pass the torch, so hopefully Jonas turns out to be a great safety. He’s definitely going to be a great special teams player his first year.”
On LB Danny Stutsman
“I watched Danny a ton. My son’s Boomer Sooner, he’s at OU, so I watched a ton of Oklahoma football and you’re right, Bobby, if there's one thing Danny does, he plays downhill. He shoots gaps, he reads, diagnoses well and I’ll tell you what, he was the captain of their defense, a leader, a guy who was the extension of the coaching staff on the field, got everybody lined up. He did an outstanding job. He just, he did little things that constantly showed the leadership. He had NIL money and he was buying his teammates different gifts, things like that. He was well respected in the locker room and he pays with passion. He loves the game.
"When you watch Danny play, some guys are just built to be linebackers and that’s the way he was. My one concern when I was watching Danny at Oklahoma is how’s he gonna run, because the hardest thing to project guys from college to the NFL is can they cover running backs, can they cover tight ends, can they be isolated in space and Danny went and ran a great 40 time and I think that alleviated a lot of concern for people, because he was highly, highly productive at OU and I think that there was great value for the New Orleans Saints and getting depth and hopefully Danny turns into a starter some day, because he certainly was an outstanding player in college.”
On CB Quincy Riley
“Everybody wants to draft the guys that you think that speed equates to the football field, and there’s a cutoff for it, certainly. ... But a lot of that, you give me a 4.3 corner who has no instincts and can’t diagnose things or doesn’t know who they’re matching up with in a zone versus a 4.55 corner who knows exactly what he’s doing. He looks at the splits of the receiver and he’s like, oh, I know exactly what I’m getting. That guy will make more plays all day, so it’s always hard to dissect a 40-yard dash and we all want the fastest guy, but there’s instincts. There’s understanding of the game that can shave a 10th or two 10ths off in a lot of cases.
"I like the pick, and I like the pick because it’s another position that … you can never have too many guys who can cover, especially with the way the league is now. Heck, it almost doesn’t matter if you rush a 4.3 … it’s a nickel league, so you've got to have five DBs. You’ve got to have three really corners on the field at all times who can cover, and the one thing I like a lot about this matchup with Quincy is he played a lot of match zone at Louisville, and that’s exactly what Brandon Staley does a lot, so I think it’s a good fit as far as that goes and it’ll be interesting to see where they play him, like you said, as well as Alontae, because I think Alontae really excelled in the slot, but can you afford to have two slot guys. Somebody has got to play outside, so it’ll be interesting to see how that lines up.”