What would an ideal draft look like for the Saints through the first two rounds?

The New Orleans Saints will enter the 2024 NFL Draft with some interesting circumstances. They will only have two picks in the first four rounds. Of course, that could all change with a trade, but as things currently stand, New Orleans isn’t going to be making too many early picks. The good news is, the two picks the Saints do have are relatively early.

The Saints currently have the 14th-overall pick and the 45th-overall pick, giving them one pick in each of the first two rounds. After that, New Orleans isn’t set to be on the clock until the fifth round. That means the team must make their first two picks count.

What exactly does that look like? What would be ideal for the Saints in the first two rounds of the draft? Draft analyst Chad Reuter answered that in a recent piece, looking at the ideal top two picks for all 32 teams. For New Orleans, the answer was Olumuyiwa Fashanu and Keon Coleman.

Olumuyiwa Fashanu and Keon Coleman named ideal selections for Saints

With Olumuyiwa Fashanu being a tackle and Keon Coleman being a receiver, this is definitely a plan that a lot of fans can get on board with, as it addresses two of the team’s most important needs. Reuter believes New Orleans drafting Fashanu at 14 and Coleman at 45 would be the perfect first two picks.

Detailing Trevor Penning’s struggles, and Ryan Ramczyk’s knee injuries, Reuter says it only makes sense that the Saints will be looking for offensive line help. That seems to be the consensus with the draft so close. Fashanu is viewed as one of the best tackles in the draft class, and he could be a day-one starter if selected by New Orleans.

As far as drafting Keon Coleman, Michael Thomas is now gone and the Saints must have a competent receiver group in today’s NFL. Coleman would be the perfect weapon to add to a room that already has Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. In three years in college, Coleman caught 115 passes for 1,506 yards and 19 touchdowns. He’s a physical receiver with big-play ability, and he’d be a great addition to the Saints.

While selecting these two players in the first two rounds would be ideal for New Orleans, there will be 31 other teams that could mess things up. We’ll see how things will unfold for the Saints during draft weekend.

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