The New Orleans Saints stayed, mostly, within their means and selected seven players in the 2024 draft, but they should still walk away excited about their new crop of rookies.
That's because, as WWL Radio's Mike Detillier explained, they landed a strong group of high character players, two rookies who should have an impact right away and a lottery ticket in quarterback Spencer Rattler in the 5th round.
"If Spencer turns out to be anything above the backup, man, you’ve hit gold here with Rattler," Detillier said. "It remains to be seen on how his development goes, but I’m a big fan of Spencer Rattler, I was before the draft process started and I am today."
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THE CLASS
- 1.14: Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State
- 2.41: Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama (trade up from 45)
- 5.150: Spencer Rattler, QB, South Carolina
- 5.170: Bub Means, WR, Pittsburgh
- 5.175: Jaylan Ford, LB, Texas
- 6.199: Khristian Boyd, DT, Northern Iowa
- 7.239: Josiah Ezirim, OT, Eastern Kentucky
There's quality depth potential in players like WR Bub Means and LB Jaylan Ford, but the true quality should come at the top. There's no question of the expectations for No. 14 overall selection Taliese Fuaga, but Detillier also expects a significant rookie impact from Kool-Aid McKinstry.
“He would’ve been a first-round pick had it not been for the foot injury, and he falls and you had to make a little maneuver to go up and get him. I think Kool-Aid, if he’s healthy, he’s not watching, he’s playing," Detillier said," and I’m saying a lot, as a rookie, and I wouldn’t say that about too many others.”
The leadership potential in the players drafted also exists, with older players who were voted captains on their teams, like Ford. That's long been a Saints strategy, and it's clearly not changing with the new coaching regime.
“That has been something that I think Sean brought to the table years ago, and Dennis Allen has kept that up," Detillier continued. "So you want to have a guy with talent, now. OK, you can be a team captain, that don’t mean you can play, but you want to have a guy that can play and fill a specific role and you have the vision for that player, where he’s gonna play on my team, offensively, defensively, special teams.”
