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New Orleans Saints: Analyzing the 2021 NFL Draft by position

By Justin Dunbar

MIAMI, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 05: Caleb Farley #3 of the Virginia Tech Hokies celebrates with teammates against the Miami Hurricanes during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 05: Caleb Farley #3 of the Virginia Tech Hokies celebrates with teammates against the Miami Hurricanes during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
(Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

Safety

Long-Term Need at Position: Relatively High

Although safeties aren’t highly paid, they’re at the top of the list in terms of positional value. Thus, having as much depth as possible.

I expect Marcus Williams, currently on the franchise tag, to eventually be extended, but 33-year-old Malcolm Jenkins isn’t exactly a long-term piece for them. With the number of dime packages being utilized, you need more than two safeties anyways.

First-Round Value

  • Trevon Moehrig, TCU (Rank: 20)

Moehrig is one of the most linked players to the Saints in mock drafts, and fitting him into the secondary is exciting. From a production standpoint, he checks every box, and also has the versatility with a 6-foot-2, 203-pound frame — he can line up as a free safety but is more than comfortable in the box.

He’d mesh very well with Williams for a very long time.

Other Options

  • Jevon Holland, Oregon (Rank: 29)
  • Richie Grant, UCF (Rank: 41)
  • Elijah Molden, Washington (Rank: 65)
  • Andre Cisco, Syracuse (Rank: 66)
  • Jamar Johnson, Indiana (Rank: 67)
  • Hamsah Nasirildeen, Florida State (Rank: 85)
  • Shawn Davis, Florida (Rank: 110)
  • Darrik Forrest, Cincinnati (Rank: 123)

There are SO MANY options for the Saints if they want to add a safety outside of the first round. I personally would covet Holland, who can play as a deep safety or defend the slot, with Molden and Johnson also profiling well as coverage players.

Meanwhile, Grant, Cisco, and Nasirldeen have more versatile frames, whereas Davis and Forrest are potential day-three depth deep safety prospects for them to consider.

Buyer Beware

  • None

Valuable positions mean less “buyer bewares”, and that is very true with such a deep safety class.

Overview

Safety is certainly an area the Saints can look to address for the future. Dime defense is the future, so having another option is important, and they obviously need to be looking to replace Jenkins.

A lot of signs would point to Moehrig, though there are plenty of prospects that are intriguing later on. They’d be silly not to seriously investigate adding from this group, even if they historically haven’t drafted safeties highly in the past.

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