A position-by-position look at the New Orleans Saints' draft needs, ranked in order of importance from 1-14:
Current depth chart:
G Jahri Evans. Age 31. Signed through 2017.
C Max Unger. Age 29. Signed through 2016.
G/C Tim Lelito. Age 25. Scheduled to be restricted free agent in 2016.
G Senio Kelemete. Age 24. Scheduled to be restricted free agent in 2016.
C Michael Brewster. Age 25. Scheduled to be restricted free agent in 2016.
G Andrew Miller. Age 24. Scheduled to be exclusive rights free agent in 2016.
Draft possibilities: This position is no longer an absolute “must” for the Saints this offseason after they acquired Unger in the blockbuster Jimmy Graham trade and worked out a more affordable contract extension with Evans. So the Saints don't have to reach for a guard or center during the draft if the grades don't match up. But I still expect it to be a high priority.
The Saints will eventually need to replace both Evans and right tackle Zach Strief, so they could be very intrigued by one of the many top prospects with the versatility to play tackle or guard in the NFL (like Iowa's Brandon Scherff, LSU's La'el Collins, Miami's Ereck Flowers and Florida's D.J. Humphries) or even Florida State center/tackle Cameron Erving. If defensive players fly off the board early, there's a chance that one of those guys could be the highest-rated player on New Orleans' board at pick No. 13. It's also possible one of them could fall to the Saints' other first-round pick at No. 31.
In Rounds 2 or 3, South Carolina's A.J. Cann, Duke's Laken Tomlinson and Hobart's Ali Marpet are possibilities. Marpet could allow the Saints to continue their tradition of mining for offensive-line gems from small schools.
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