Projecting New Orleans Saints rookie roles in 2022 season

The New Orleans Saints drafted five players this year. What will those five rookies’ roles be during the 2022 season? 

When the dust of the 2022 NFL Draft had settled, the New Orleans Saints had five new players on their roster. They entered the draft armed with more picks but traded a few of them to move up in the first round in order to nab Chris Olave with the 11th overall pick.

Eight picks later, the Saints selected UNI’s Trevor Penning to help beef up their offensive line. On Day 2, they only added Alontae Taylor out of Tennessee to their squad with the hope that he could compete for a big role in the secondary.

On Day 3, the Saints drafted two gentlemen with the last name Jackson, adding D’Marco Jackson out of Appalachian State in the fifth round and Jordan Jackson out of Air Force in the sixth round. We’ll hopefully see more from these guys in training camp.

What will each of these five rookies’ jobs be during the 2022 season?

All stats courtesy of ESPN

Jordan Jackson: Rotational DL Depth/Special Teams

With their final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Saints selected Jordan Jackson, who had 11 tackles for loss and six sacks during his final season with Air Force. The Saints love adding defensive line help and Jackson was proof of that.

The Air Force product more than likely will be competing for a job as a third-string defensive lineman and will also help out on special teams. He’ll have to compete with Kentavius Street and Jaleel Johnson for the backup job so we’ll see if the rookie has what it takes to end up with a bigger role.

For a sixth-round pick, however, a third-string job that entails him to occasionally step in on defense as a rotational piece while also contributing on special teams is pretty on point.