This was a hard exercise. Take a look at the last five New Orleans Saints draft classes and it's pretty easy to see how this team has underperformed recently—especially the 5-12 2024 season. They just haven't drafted well. Seemingly every class is lifted by one lone individual—a gladiator if you will.
So this exercise essentially turned into a one-on-one tournament. No time to waste, let's jump right into our rankings of the Saints' past five draft hauls. Woof.
Power ranking Saints last five draft classes
No. 5: 2024 draft class
- Round 1: Taliese Fuaga (OL, Oregon St.)
- Round 2: Kool-Aid McKinstry (CB, Alabama)
- Round 5: Spencer Rattler (QB, South Carolina), Bub Means (WR, Pittsburgh), Jaylan Ford (LB, Texas)
- Round 6: Khristian Boyd (DL, Northern Iowa)
- Round 7: Josiah Ezirim (OT, Eastern Kentucky)
This decision was tough. And honestly, it could go either way. Tali Fuaga looks like an interesting piece for the Saints. So does Kool-Aid McKinstry. Spencer Rattler looked terrible when he played, which is going to weigh this class down a bit. There just isn't anyone who popped last year. It was only one season, but it just didn't do enough to earn a higher ranking.
No. 4: 2023 draft class
- Round 1: Bryan Bresee (DT, Clemson)
- Round 2: Isaiah Foskey (DL, Notre Dame)
- Round 3: Kendre Miller (RB, TCU)
- Round 4: Nick Saldiveri (OL, Old Dominion), Jake Haener (Fresno St.)
- Round 5: Jordan Howden (DB, Minnesota)
- Round 6: A.T. Perry (WR, Wake Forest)
Bryan Bresee plays football. He doesn't necessarily do everything well, but he had 7.5 sacks last year. So here we are. Really. There isn't much to say about this class that's special. Kendre Miller is an interesting piece, but he'll probably never be anything more than a third-down back.
Jordan Howden did have a solid 2024 campaign, which helped the rankings, but Foskey, Saldiveri, and Perry were all bad or irrelevant.
No. 3: 2021 draft class
- Round 1: Payton Turner (DE, Houston)
- Round 2: Pete Werner (LB, Ohio St.)
- Round 3: Paulson Adebo (CB, Stanford)
- Round 4: Ian Book (QB, Notre Dame)
- Round 6: Landon Young (OT, Kentucky)
- Round 7: Kawaan Baker (WR, South Alabama)
Another year, another weak Saints draft class. This time it's Paulson Adebo shouldering the burden of dragging this class to moderate relevancy. Adebo just signed a four-year deal with the New York Giants, making the remaining Saints in this class look even worse. He has legitimate CB1 potential, which helps secure the middle spot in these rankings.
Payton Turner and Pete Werner are getting dinged a bit here. You might look at the next class and tell yourself this class is better, but it really isn't. They essentially wasted their top-two picks, making it impossible to move them up any more than they already have. This class is Adebo.
No. 2: 2022 draft class
- Round 1: Chris Olave (WR, Ohio St.) Trevor Penning (OT, Northern Iowa)
- Round 2: Alontae Taylor (CB, Tennessee)
- Round 5: D'Marco Jackson (LB, App St.)
- Round 6: Jordan Jackson (LB, Air Force)
Chris Olave made things interesting. Like I said before, this ultimately turned into a matchup of each class' No. 1 guy. For the 2022 class, that was easily Olave. He's battled injuries, but he started his career with back-to-back 1,000-plus receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns.
Any way you slice it, the rest of the class leaves a lot to be desired. Trevor Penning just isn't a good lineman. Alontae Taylor isn't a good corner. And the Jacksons aren't anything to write home about either. This class is carried by one man and one man only. The '22 class has Olave to thank.
No. 1: 2020 draft class
- Round 1: Cesar Ruiz (C, Michigan)
- Round 3: Zack Baun (LB, Wisconsin), Adam Trautman (TE, Dayton)
- Round 7: Tommy Stevens (QB, Mississippi St.)
This class is No. 1 for one reason, which just so happens to be a pretty terrible reason. Zack Baun carries this class. It's not even close. If it weren't for his out-of-nowhere Defensive Player of the Year campaign with the Philadelphia Eagles, this class would probably be last. But here we are.
Cesar Ruiz is still on the team. Trautman was traded to the Denver Broncos along with a seventh-rounder to move up. He consistently brings in 200 receiving yards a season. And that's about it. Your first place draft class folks. Party time.