NFL Mock Draft 2024: Saints Day 1 predictions

Draft day has finally arrived for the NFL. After an a year of speculation, mock drafts, visits, and reports, the 2024 NFL Draft will finally start Thursday night. As always, it will be a three-day event with seven total rounds. The first round will take place on Thursday, the second and third rounds will happen on Friday, and things will conclude on Saturday with rounds four through seven.

The New Orleans Saints are set to enter the draft with nine total picks. Considering where the team is as a franchise, this draft will be important for New Orleans. The Saints need to put together a really good class, as they have several holes that can seemingly only be filled by talented players on their rookie contract. That’s exactly what the draft can give you. So how will New Orleans get things started off?

Who will the Saints select in the first round of the 2024 Draft?

All signs point to New Orleans taking an offensive tackle in the first round. As far as the specific tackle, Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga seems like the most likely option to end up in New Orleans Saturday.

Throughout the pre-draft process, all of the top tackles have been selected by the Saints in various mock drafts. The one tackle that wasnt frequently mocked to New Orleans is Notre Dame’s Joe Alt. That’s only because Alt is expected to come of the board in the top 10. Aside from Alt, Olu Fashanu, Taliese Fuaga, Troy Fautanu, and J.C. Latham have all ended up with the Saints in multiple mock drafts.

The reason Fuaga seems like the pick for the Saints is because of when the team is set to pick. Barring a trade, New Orleans won’t be on the clock until pick 14. By that time, two tackles will likely already be off the board. Those two tackles will be Alt, and probably Fashanu. That opens the door for New Orleans to draft Taliese Fuaga.

Fuaga isn’t some consolation pick, though. He’s an elite prospect that some consider the second-best lineman in the class. He can play both tackle and guard, and that benefits a Saints team that has question makes at both tackle spots and the left guard position. Drafting Fuaga at 14 makes a ton of sense for New Orleans.

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