7-Round NFL Mock Draft: How the Saints can contend… with a new quarterback

Since Drew Brees’ retirement on March 14, 2021, the quarterbacks playing in Brees’ stead have completed 1,377 passes in 2,173 attempts (63.4%) for 14,356 yards (6.6 yards per attempt). 102 touchdowns, 50 interceptions, and a passer rating of 90.4, 17th-best in the NFL.

In those four seasons, the Saints have a combined record of 30-38, and they haven’t made the playoffs once.

So when we got the news that a shoulder injury might affect Derek Carr’s availability for the 2025 season, it begs the question: How much does (and should) that affect the team’s plans at the position? The four-year, $150 million contract Carr signed in 2023 really comes due in a salary cap sense in 2026, when his cap number rises from $20,462 million to $69,207 million. There are three void years after that, and beyond the contractual issues, the Saints are looking to move past the void you have when you’re stuck with purgatory quarterbacks.

Carr has been a perfectly average player throughout his career; he’s not the guy who’s going to tank your team with his limitations, but he’s not going to raise the level with his attributes. He’s the kind of quarterback you can deal with if everything else is right, and the Saints have not been in a position recently where everything is right.

In 2024, they ranked 22nd in Total DVOA – 23rd on offense, and 21st on defense. In 2023, they ranked 15th – 17th on offense, and 15th on defense. The point is, where are we going with this? How can the Saints elevate things beyond the norm to anything remotely resembling their salad days with Brees and Sean Payton?

The franchise has nine picks in the 2025 draft to help turn that around, including four in the Top 100. So, here’s one mock (per the PFF Mock Draft Simulator) that might get things on a better foot – including the quarterback who could have the chops and scheme fit to speed the process along more than some may think.

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus, Sports Info Solutions, and NFL+).

Round 1

1.9 Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State

When you set a mock draft simulator to auto except for the team you’re “running,” you never know what will be left on the board when you’re up. Which is why I do it that way for individual team mocks.

In this case, the Saints can spend the ninth pick on the guy who might be the best non-Travis Hunter player in the entire draft class.

Yes, the quarterback need is still there, but come ON, man. Getting Ashton Jeanty here would be a franchise-altering move. When a running back prospect is habitually compared to Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson, you may think it’s hyperbole, but tape don’t lie. Last season, Jeanty led college football with 2,595 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns on 375 carries. Impressive enough, but consider that he also had more rushing yards after contact than any other FBS back had total rushing yards – 1,970, while Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo had 1,712 total rushing yards.

Much is made of Jeanty’s contact balance, and you may have heard about it until it reduces in your head. It shouldn’t. Over and over, Jeanty will either bull through or evade potential tacklers and just keep on trucking. He forced 152 missed tackles last season (which led college football) and he had 36 runs of 15 or more yards (which also led college football). Add in his skills as a receiver, and you have your true franchise back right there.

And how happy would Kellen Moore be to have a fellow Boise State alum as his first Saints draft pick?

Round 2

2.40 Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss

Fun fact: The last time the Saints selected a quarterback in the first or second round of a non-supplemental draft*, they did so with the second overall pick in 1971, and that got them Archie Manning. So since we’re heading into the Wayback Machine here, why not attach the past to the present with another Ole Miss guy?

This is an easier pick for me than it might be for some, because I’m pretty high overall on Dart’s NFL potential – and his ability to fit into what Moore has historically preferred with his quarterbacks. Whether it’s Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, or Jalen Hurts, Moore has a long and estimable history of working with signal-callers whose running ability is more than an accessory to their passing skills.

At the scouting combine, Dart was asked which NFL quarterback he’d compare himself to.

“I feel like it’s a little bit of a cop-out because he just won the Super Bowl, but I love Jalen Hurts and what he does,” Dart said. “I feel like I’m very similar in my play style to him. I feel like we can do a lot of the same things. Obviously, he’s an elite player, and I’m trying to reach that level.

“But he’s been somebody that I’ve tried to resemble in my game just because of his versatility, being able to run and throw the ball, and just how strong he is in the pocket. I think that’s something that I’ve had a lot of fun watching and observing his play style.”

There you have it. Last season, the 6’2, 221-pound Dart completed 276 of 399 passes for 4,276 yards, 29 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a passer rating of 122.3. With that, Dart just about met the criteria for what I call the “Robert Griffin Rule” – if a college quarterback completes at least 70% of his passes with at least 10 yards per attempt, I’m paying attention. In his final season at Baylor, RGIII had a 72.4% completion rate, and averaged 10.7 yards per attempt. In 2025, Dart had a 69.2% completion rate, and averaged 10.7 yards per attempt. And as a runner, Dart gained 648 yards and scored three touchdowns on 100 carries.

My full Dart scouting report can be seen below; pay special attention to the fact that Dart did what he did with receivers who really couldn’t separate. This is a case where I think player attributes and fit with a coaching staff could pay off in special ways over time.

(*The Saints took Illinois’ Dave WIlson with the first pick in the 1981 Supplemental Draft; the results were less than spectacular, mostly due to injuries).

Round 3

3.71 Andrew Mukuba, Safety, Texas

Last season, Tyrann Mathieu led the Saints with 895 snaps at free safety, whether in single-high or two-deep coverage. That was 13th most for any player in the NFL, and given that Mathieu’s deep reps keep climbing from season to season as he progresses in age (the Honey Badger will turn 33 on May 13), maybe it’s time to get another guy in the room who can also attack the deep third with aptitude and attitude.

Texas safety Andrew Mukuba would be a perfect fit, and you wouldn’t have had a ton of people saying that before the season began. After three years at Clemson in which he was decent at best, Mukuba transferred to the Longhorns before the 2024 season, and SOMETHING kicked in with serious force. Mukuba was a total eraser, allowing 10 catches on 23 targets for 74 yards, 16 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, five interceptions, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 12.1. Not bad at all.

Yes, the Saints signed Justin Reid to a three-year, $31.5 million deal this offseason, but Reid has generally been more of a free/box hybrid player. Mukuba played 593 of his 712 snaps at free safety last season. That’s where he’s at his best, and that’s where Texas put him most of the time when they got hold of him, which Clemson didn’t. This move would allow both Mathieu and Reid to be their best and most versatile selves.

Round 3

3.93 Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Bowling Green

Between Foster Moreau and Juwan Johnson, the Saints had a pretty good tight end group in 2024, and they still do. But while receiving volume hit the mark, receiving explosiveness with the tight ends was less of a thing. Moreau and Johnson combined for seven catches on 11 targets on passes of 20 or more air yards for 195 yards and two touchdowns.

If Moore and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier want to get more big plays going from that position, Harold Fannin Jr. would be a nice fit – and it’s not as if Fannin isn’t overly familiar with being a volume target, either. He led the FBS with 117 receptions (that’s overall, not just for tight ends), he led all of college football with 1,555 receiving yards, he caught 10 touchdown passes, and when his quarterback was chucking it deep, Fannin caught nine of 17 targets for 333 yards and three touchdowns.

And if you’re wondering whether a guy from Bowling Green can stand up to the rigors of the NFL, go watch Fannin’s 11-catch, 131-yard, one-touchdown performance against Penn State, where the Nittany Lions had no answers for him. Fannin could amplify the position from the moment he hits the field.

Round 4

4.112 Jamaree Caldwell, DI, Oregon

If there’s one thing we know about new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, it’s that he’s going to run a lot of light boxes, and his defenses had better be able to hold up in a personnel sense as a result. When Staley was the Chargers’ head coach from 2021-2023 (he was an assistant head coach for the 49ers last year), those lighter fronts tended to get L.A.’s run defense in trouble. The 2023 Chargers had six or fewer defenders in the box 51% of the time, they stacked the box with eight or more defenders 15.6% of the time, and they allowed 4.1 yards per carry. And while Staley’s Chargers did blitz on 31.5% of their pass defense snaps, their pressure rate of 19.9% indicated that the work put in wasn’t always worth it in a results sense.

Staley’s defenses are more execution-based, which means that again, the personnel has to be in place. The Saints did sign veteran tackle Davon Godchaux for some additional meat in the middle, and at 6’3 and 330 pounds, Godchaux qualifies. But I would like a bit more spice in the rice, and at 6’2 and 332 pounds, Oregon’s Jamaree Caldwell is all the way there.

Caldwell isn’t just a big fat dude designed to soak up blocks. The 2024 transfer from Houston had one sack and 25 total pressures last season, and he posted six quarterback takedowns in 2023 for the Cougars. Caldwell is impressively light on his feet for his size, he’s constantly looking to knife through double teams with hand-fighting, and he has the agility to jump a gap or two in a big hurry. Caldwell does need some technique refinements, which is why we’re not talking about him like we talk about Michigan behemoth Kenneth Grant, but the upside here could be ferocious.

Round 4

4.131 Kyle Williams, WR, Washington State

New Orleans’ quarterback of choice in 2025 and beyond will need more dynamic receivers, and the addition of Brandin Cooks on a two-year, $13 million deal with $7.75 million guaranteed is a Band-Aid at best. As was the case with the Saints’ tight ends, there weren’t a lot of explosive plays happening with the receivers – 10 catches of 20 or more air yards in the entire group, and four of them went away when Marquez Valdes-Scantling signed with the Seattle Seahawks.

I absolutely have Kyle WIlliams ranked higher than PFF does; he’s more of a second-round graded guy than his fourth-round standing here. Last season, the 2023 UNLV transfer caught 70 passes on 101 targets for 1,196 yards and 14 touchdowns. And when he was 20 or more yards downfield as a target, he bagged 14 catches on 24 chances for 454 yards and six touchdowns. That made him one of the most productive deep targets in this draft class.

There are specific reasons for this, and they’re all over Williams’ tape. His ability to accelerate from 0 to 60 from the line of scrimmage is truly special, and he’s not just running in straight lines at full speed; Williams can work through routes at full speed, and he’s agile enough to retain that accelerant speed while he’s making his cuts. He’d be a major asset in a receiver group in transition.

Round 6

6.184 Zah Frazier, CB, UTSA

The loss of Paulson Adebo to the New York Giants is going to hurt the Saints secondary; there are no two ways about it. When healthy, Adebo has been one of the NFL’s most underrated cornerbacks over the last two seasons. Getting veteran Isaac Yiadom to fill out the depth chart is a decent move, but not a lot more than that. Brandon Staley is fairly coverage-agnostic, and he’ll alternate between press and off coverage pretty equally. So, let’s get Staley and the Saints an available long-term replacement as Kool-Aid McKinstry’s bookend.

UTSA’s Zah Frazier could be the next Roadrunners cornerback to gain a good footing in the NFL, following Seattle’s Riq Woolen, selected in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. Woolen was Frazier’s host at UTSA when he went there in 2022 after one season at Southern Illinois. Both cornerbacks are long and rangy, and both had great scouting combines, though Frazier didn’t quite hit the 4.29-second 40-yard dash Woolen did, and Frazier might need a few protein shakes at 186 pounds.

Regardless, and while Frazier looks like a press cornerback right off the bus at his size, he’s also very good in off coverage. Last season, he allowed 18 catches on 38 targets for 246 yards, 58 yards after the catch, one touchdown, six interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 37.7. Four of his picks, and four of his deflections, came in off coverage.

I got to watch tape with Frazier at the scouting combine, and I was highly impressed with the ways in which he puts coverage together. My guess is, the Saints would be as well.

Round 7

7.248 Jared Harrison-Hunte, DL, SMU

Harrison-Hunte was another combine star, and the tape backs up all the athleticism. In 2024 for the Mustangs, the Miami transfer had eight sacks and 44 total pressures – at 6’3 and 290 pounds. Hunte can play on the edge at that size – he did so 12% of the time, and six of his pressures came from outside – but this is another guy you want blowing things up inside the tackles. As a pure three-tech pass-rushing tackle, he can bully guards right back into the quarterback, he’ll snatch and displace them out of the play, and he can be a real problem for any blockers when rolling with stunts and games.

Cam Jordan can’t play forever; it just seems like he could. Maybe over time, Harrison-Hunte has the tools to become the Jordan replacement as the big end who can also demolish everybody when he’s mixing things up against guards and centers who really wish he wouldn’t.

7.254 Jalen Travis, OT, Iowa State

The Saints selected Trevor Penning with the 19th overall pick in the 2022 draft out of Northern Iowa, and with all due respect, it really hasn’t worked out so well. All signs point to the team passing on Penning’s fifth-year option (they have until May 1 to do so), especially when they also have to consider Chris Olave’s fifth-year option as the 11th overall pick in 2022. Penning’s blocking has been problematic at best – he allowed five sacks and 54 total pressures last season, and though you can point to minimal improvements, it’s hard to argue in favor of Penning anchoring the right tackle position over the next few seasons unless he upgrades himself massively in 2025.

With that in mind, let’s go back to the great state of Iowa and get a developmental tackle at a far more reasonable draft spot for that kind of player. At 6’8 and 339 pounds, Iowa State’s Jalen Travis is an absolute hoss, but he’s nowhere near as logey as his size profile would indicate. Last season for the Cyclones, the 2024 Princeton transfer allowed one sack, two quarterback hits, and eight quarterback hurries in 475 pass-blocking reps. And when it’s time to run block, Travis’ size shows up with some surprising agility mixed in.

Travis was a full-time left tackle at Iowa State, but he did play 500 snaps at right tackle in 2022, so moving him across the line wouldn’t be a culture shock. Give him a year to get the hang of things in the NFL, and Travis could make the Saints look pretty smart over time.

Do you agree with this approach? Do you hate these picks? Talk it out with your fellow fans in the comments!