Saints: 2018 draft class considered one of the worst in the NFL

Armed with seven picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints swung and missed pretty hard with the players they took three years. Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked every 2018 draft class (must have a subscription to read the article) and he put the Saints at No. 30, giving them the third-worst draft class that year.

It’s hard to argue with Brugler for his opinion on the Saints’ 2018 draft class, as the group has left a lot to be desired. Marcus Davenport, their first-round pick, hasn’t been worth the trade up to the No. 14 overall pick despite the team’s decision to pick up his fifth-year option. As a result, Brugler listed him as the biggest miss of the Saints’ draft.

Here are the players New Orleans took in the 2018 NFL Draft:

• R1(14): Marcus Davenport, EDGE (UTSA)
• R3(91): Tre’Quan Smith, WR (UCF)
• R4(127): Rick Leonard, OT (Florida State)
• R5(164): Natrell Jamerson, S (Wisconsin)
• R6(189): Kamrin Moore, CB (Boston College)
• R6(201): Boston Scott, RB (Louisiana Tech)
• R7(245): Will Clapp, IOL (LSU)

Brugler said the best player from this draft was Tre’Quan Smith and he also listed him as the best value pick. He was really the only choice for both of these options, as Davenport hasn’t panned out to this point and none of the other players are currently on the roster (well, Clapp still is).

The Saints did not have a good draft in 2018.

The Davenport whiff would hurt this draft enough. Throw in that the team got very little out of their Day 3 picks and their best player was a third-round receiver who hasn’t been anything more than a WR3 and yeah, this draft class was disappointing.

The rest of the NFC South all had successful drafts and finished in the top half of Brugler’s rankings. The Buccaneers had the best class of the division, coming in at No. 5 on the list. The Falcons ranked eighth while the Panthers earned the No. 15 spot.

Now that Drew Brees is retired and the Saints are on to a new era in the Superdome, they’ll have to start drafting better. They made a similar pick to Davenport in this year’s draft with Payton Turner (and once again, reached to get him) and hopefully, Turner isn’t a replica of Davenport and his lackluster performance so far.

At the end of the day, the New Orleans Saints had seven picks in the 2018 NFL Draft and their best player was a wide receiver who has yet to amass more than 450 yards in a single season. Not ideal.