NOLA Saints go all in on offense in 2-round mock draft

Round 1: Pick 16 – Kenny Pickett

You want a quarterback of the future? We’ll give you one.

The Saints grab Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett without making any trades, and all other quarterbacks considered he’s got one of the best arms in his draft class.

Picket played at Pittsburgh for five seasons and started the final four years, breaking Dan Marino’s school records along the way as the young signal-caller racked up 12,303 passing yards and 81 touchdowns.

Admittedly, history is not on Pickett’s side. The Saints haven’t used a first-round pick on a quarterback since Archie Manning in 1971, nor have they ever used a second-round pick on one.

NOLA has used a third-round pick on a quarterback just once in 2015 when the team selected Garrett Grayson. So taking Pickett would definitely be franchise-altering — for all the right reasons, we hope.

With Jameis Winston under contract with the team for the next two years, we personally don’t love the QB class this year and wouldn’t reach for one. Had USC receiver Drake London been available, we would take him in a heartbeat, but the Philadelphia Eagles took him off the board at No. 15 in this mock.

If nothing else, adding Pickett in the quarterback room spices things up this season, as Pickett has the all-around ability to outperform Winston and potentially demote him to QB2. Pickett will want to earn a better nickname than “Mr. 30-30”, though.