New Orleans Saints: Ranking the 3 best first-round picks this decade

Since the New Orleans Saints were founded in 1967, the Saints have picked 52 players in the NFL Draft’s first round — some of them busts, some of them stars.

Of the 52 total first-round picks, the New Orleans Saints have selected 20 Pro Bowlers and one Hall of Famer. That’s pretty good success as many of their picks have been later in the first round, especially recently.

The Saints currently own the number 24 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and will look to continue their trend of successful talent acquired in the first round.

Dating back to 2009, and if you count Malcolm Jenkins, eight of the team’s 12 first-round picks still suit up for the black and gold. That’s the type of retention we like to see, showing how the Saints have molded their franchise into a player-friendly organization.

That said, the 2020 NFL Draft class has some of the best talents that I have ever seen and it will be exciting to see if the Saints will choose to select the best player available, a wide receiver to join the impressive corps, or a defensive player to help add depth.

With that, let’s dive into the three best first-round picks the team has had in the last decade.