With the New Orleans Saints deciding against moving up into the first round of the NFL Draft yesterday, they'll look to enter the fray today in the second round. The Saints still have some waiting to do, however, as they don't select until pick #62, or the 30th pick in the second round.
Most of the selections on the opening day were used on offensive and defensive lineman, leaving many of the best skill position players still on the board. Those are positions the Saints have needs at including wide receiver, cornerback, and tight end.
One such player is former LSU cornerback Greedy Williams who surprisingly fell out of the first round and remains available. WWL draft analyst Mike Detillier likes Williams and a few others at the position who could immediately help the Saints.
"You've got Greedy Williams, Byron Murphy, Rock Ya-Sin, Justin Layne from Michigan State, Julian Love from Notre Dame . . . That's a ton of corners," Detillier said.
Williams is likely to come off the board early in the second round and the Saints will need to make a big trade up to select him. With a wealth of cornerbacks still available though it might not make sense to make that kind of trade when plenty of other comparable corners could be on the board later in the round. That might not make LSU fans happy but, once again, the Saints should focus on maximizing their picks and draft assets rather than sacrificing value to take the lovable local product.
Another position of need for the franchise is wide receiver. The Saints decided against signing a receiver in free agency, and currently would bring back the same group of players they had last season. That's not necessarily an indictment of the talent currently on the roster, as a group including Michael Thomas, Ted Ginn Jr., Tre'Quan Smith, Cameron Meredith, and Keith Kirkwood would be the envy of a lot of NFL franchises. Still, there's a chance to upgrade in round two.
Other receivers still on the board include Deebo Samuel of South Carolina and JJ Arcega-Whiteside of Stanford.
With the Saints signing tight end Jared Cook in the offseason some people believe there's no need at the position any longer. However, Cook is 32 years old and has a tendency to see his production decline the year after signing a new contract. If Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis believe they could still use an upgrade at the spot, then perhaps Irv Smith Jr. of Alabama would make sense. Smith Jr. would give the Saints their first intriguing young tight end prospect since they drafted Jimmy Graham in 2010.
Finally, there's the possibility the Saints decide to eschew the skill position talent in favor of bolstering their offensive or defensive lines. Max Unger's retirement left a gaping hole at center for the team and the signing of Nick Easton, one of the worst-rated centers according to Pro Football Focus, doesn't exactly plug that hole. Neither does Cameron Tom, a third-year center who was also poorly rated by PFF.
Erik McCoy of Texas A&M and Elgton Jenkins of Mississippi State are the two highest-rated centers remaining on the board, and both are expected to be drafted sometime today. Saints fans wouldn't be jumping for joy if the team uses their first pick on an offensive lineman -- when are fans ever happy a team drafts an offensive lineman -- but if the value is right then McCoy or Jenkins could make sense. Remember the Ryan Ramczyk pick just two years ago? Most casual observers thought that was a wasted pick, and now Ramczyk is al All-Pro.
Whether it's at a skill position or on the interior, the Saints will have an opportunity to improve their roster today. In just a few hours we'll find out where that improvement will come.