New Orleans Saints: Cornerback, linebacker should be the move with No. 24

The star-studded New Orleans Saints have options with the No. 24 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and they should opt to go with a cornerback or linebacker.

The New Orleans Saints will have the ability to pick the best player on the board with their first-round pick.

Whether it be running back, quarterback, linebacker or cornerback — the Saints have the depth at every position to be safe with any pick.

While running back Jonathan Taylor and quarterback Jordan Love should at least be considered and are intriguing prospects, the Saints need to be a bit safer and pick a player based on a position that they may potentially need to fill in the near future.

Those two must-fill positions are linebacker and cornerback.

Why cornerback?

Well, the team lost their No. 2 cornerback Eli Apple. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders before seeing that deal fall through and becoming a free agent once again.

Star corner Marshon Lattimore will have a fifth-year option so he may be locked up for at least two more seasons, but regardless, they’ll eventually have to pay him. Along with the aging Janoris Jenkins at No. 2 and then a toss-up at No. 3, the Saints could use some depth at the position.

C.J. Henderson and Trevon Diggs will be the two prospects the Saints should give a good look at to increase their corner depth. Jeff Okudah, the third-year Ohio State cornerback, is expected to be a top-three pick and is the draft’s best cornerback.

As for linebacker, that’s arguably the more important of the two.

Demario Davis, Alex Anzalone, and Kiko Alonso may all be starting for the Saints this season AND they’re all set to be free agents this next offseason.

Add in the fact that the team lost AJ Klein and really has yet to replenished their coverage in the middle, and it’s clear the Saints could use some linebacker help to ensure a dominant defense is in their future.

That said, there are two key targets at linebacker.

Patrick Queen, the speedy and hard-hitting linebacker from LSU, and Kenneth Murray, the Oklahoma product that stands a large 6-foot-3, are the two elite cornerbacks ranked second and third in most positional rankings following Isaiah Simmons, another top-five projected prospect.

The lack of depth at cornerback and the lack of assured long-term depth at linebacker make them the two positions that must gain some attention from Sean Payton and his elite scouting staff.