After a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the New Orleans Saints’ draft pick position has shifted significantly. Instead of selecting near the playoff section, they are back in the top-10, right where they selected two seasons ago.
Here are two prospects that the Saints could select at pick 9:
Georgia CB Ellis Robinson IV
The first player we will talk about is Ellis Robinson IV. If the Saints are unable to upgrade the edge position early in the draft, CB has to be the next best option. These two position groups benefit from each
other the most on defense. If the DBs cover well, it allows an average pass rush to get to the QB, but if you have a great pass rush, it stops the pass defense from getting picked apart. The Saints do not have a good pass rush or a good CB room.
Kool-Aid McKinstry has played pretty well so far, and Quincy Riley has made some plays, but this team does not have a clear CB1. Robinson can be that player. He is great in both man and zone coverage, is physical, and has his eyes on the ball for a turnover. The issue is that his focus on getting an interception can cause him to get beat, which is a worry.
Georgia SAF KJ Bolden
Sticking with the DBs and Georgia, another player that would make sense is safety KJ Bolden, but some things need to happen first. If the Saints want to keep Jonas Sanker at slot, which hasn’t been horrible, then safety can become a major position of need. So far, since signing Justin Reid, it hasn’t been great. Not bad, but not the level of safety that I think many of us expected. His leadership has been great, and I do think that’s important, but is it crazy to say the Saints could move on from him this offseason? A post-June 1st cut would be a low dead cap hit and save some money.
Even if the Saints do not move on from Reid, they will need to add a safety this season, but if they release their captain, Bolden would make a ton of sense. At Georgia, Bolden has been an incredible run defender and tackler, while also providing flexibility around the defense, and has become a leader for the Bulldogs. Bolden is a clear upgrade who could be sitting there at pick 9.
