Ranking the New Orleans Saints' top draft needs. At No. 6 is wide receiver:
Current depth chart:
Brandin Cooks, age 22
Willie Snead, age 23
Brandon Coleman, age 23
Reggie Bell, age 23
R.J. Harris, age 23
Kyle Prater, age 23
Shane Wynn, age 23
Outlook: I tend to agree with ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, who said he would fall out of his chair if the Saints don’t draft a defensive player with the No. 12 pick in the draft. But wide receiver is the one offensive position that I could possibly forgive the Saints for taking in that spot.
I’ll never call receiver a glaring need for the Saints, since they have proven time and again that they can plug in unheralded players and thrive with them -- Snead being the latest example. But the Saints will truly put that theory to the test this year if they don’t add a premier draft pick or veteran free agent.
As it stands today, New Orleans doesn’t have a single receiver over 23 years old, and it has only one draft pick in the entire bunch (a pretty special one in Cooks, who was their 2014 first-round draft choice).
So it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Saints consider a big-bodied receiver like Mississppi’s Laquon Treadwell or TCU’s Josh Doctson in Round 1, especially after they released big man Marques Colston earlier this offseason.
Ohio State’s Michael Thomas and Braxton Miller could both help fill that void in the middle rounds, or maybe Tulsa’s Keyarris Garrett on Day 3.
Previous rankings:
