NOLA Saints make the most of early-round picks in 7-round mock draft

Round 4: Pick 120 – Zyon McCollum, CB (Sam Houston State)

For the first time in forever, New Orleans is well-set-up at the cornerback position with the trio of Marshon Lattimore, Bradley Roby, and Paulson Adebo ready to start when the season gets underway. Even with that being the case, the Saints need to add another cornerback at some point in the draft because the depth behind these guys isn’t great.

Zyon McCollum of Sam Houston State provides New Orleans with a developmental option as their outside cornerback. He won’t be an immediate option to start but could help out on special teams and maybe eventually find his way into the starting secondary.

Round 5: Pick 161 – Reed Blankenship, S (Middle Tennessee)

Sticking with the secondary, the Saints add Reed Blankenship in the fifth round. The losses of Marcus Williams and Malcolm Jenkins definitely hurt the team moving forward and even though Marcus Maye was signed, Daniel Sorensen cannot be a serious option for this team moving forward.

Blankenship was a tackling machine at Middle Tennessee and that’s what pops off the page when viewing his stats from his collegiate career. The guy had an astounding 110 tackles for the Blue Raiders during the 2021 season while also defending eight passes, forcing two fumbles, and picking off one pass.

Blankenship could be a sneaky good addition to the secondary and might be looked at as a steal years down the road.

Round 6: Pick 194 – Zach Tom, OT (Wake Forest) 

The Saints were wise to sign James Hurst a few years ago with the intent of having him serve as a swing lineman. That’s exactly what the plan could be with sixth-round pick, Zach Tom out of Wake Forest.

Tom spent time at both left tackle and center during his time with the Demon Deacons and these are two positions that the Saints could be looking for key depth at. He’s probably not starting-caliber long-term but his ideal role could be as a backup at multiple different spots on the o-line.

Getting a versatile player in the sixth round is a slam dunk and the Saints could greatly benefit from drafting a guy like Zach Tom.

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And there you have it, Saints fans! Which of these picks did you like the most? Which of these picks did you like the least?