Is it too soon to say the New Orleans Saints made a mistake picking Jordyn Tyson? We're on Week 5 and the team's first-round pick is still on injured reserve, with his return said to be weeks away; we probably won't see him before the Saints travel to Paris for a high-profile international game with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7. And it might be more realistic to expect him back when the Saints return from their bye in Week 8 for a home game with the Cleveland Browns in Week 9.
Patience comes at a premium in the NFL. In this 2026 draft do-over from NFL Draft On SI's Justin Melo, the Saints picked a different wide receiver: productive Cleveland Browns rookie Denzel Boston.
Denzel Boston is the first second-round draftee to make an appearance
in this do-over. He currently leads all rookie wideouts in receiving yards with 284. The New Orleans Saints gambled by selecting the oft-injured Jordyn Tyson here, and well, he's injured. Boston would be a dominant compliment to Chris Olave.
Boston was the second receiver to go off the board in this do-over, with Carnell Tate still joining the Tennessee Titans at fourth overall. That may seem like a knee-jerk decision when Boston wasn't in the topp-10 conversation back in April, but hindsight is 20/20. The Saints haven't gotten anything from Tyson yet. Swapping him for the rookie receiving leader is an understandable call even if you disagree with it.
But wouldn't it make more sense to go defense here? We know the Saints were so high on former LSU Tigers cornerback Mansoor Delane that the Kansas City Chiefs traded ahead of them to pick him. Delane wasn't available in this re-do, but Caleb Downs was. The rookie safety has been a rare defensive bright spot for a struggling Dallas Cowboys defense, and he would probably offer more in the secondary than a replacement-level starter like Julian Blackmon.
Hopefully Tyson gets back on the field after the bye week and quickly proves why the Saints valued him so highly. He looked the part at training camp, but putting together a real highlight reel in the back half of the season would go a long way towards building confidence in the young pro. Until that happens, the decision to pick him where the Saints did will continue to be second-guessed.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints pass on picking Jordyn Tyson in premature 2026 re-draft
