With Ohio State’s triumph over Notre Dame in the title game, the 2024-2025 college football season came to an end on Monday night. With that, the football world moves one step closer to the 2025 NFL Draft on April 24th. Still in the midst of a head coaching search, a search delayed by historic snowfall on Tuesday, the New Orleans Saints remain with the ninth pick in the draft.
With the help of NFLMockDraftDatabase.com, let’s look at fourteen mock drafts posted since the National Championship Game to see who draft experts have the Saints selecting with pick number nine.
Half of the mock drafts have the Saints selecting an edge rusher with their pick. The most popular choice is Mykel Williams, the standout from Georgia. Brock Vierra of Sports Illustrated, Keith Lott of Fantasy Six Pack, and Brad Menendez of Draft Countdown all have the Saints selecting the 6’5”, 265-pound junior who recorded five sacks and two forced fumbles in his junior season.
Another popular choice at EDGE was James Pearce Jr., the 6’5, 243-pound Bednarik Award semi-finalist out of Tennessee. Seth Woolcock of Fantasy Pros and Sam Russell of Bleacher Nation have the Saints selecting Pearce, who led the SEC in sacks as a sophomore with 10 before recording 7.5 sacks and 23 solo tackles in his junior year.
Two of the mock drafts have the Saints selecting Texas A&M defensive linemen. Lou Scataglia of NFL Spin Zone has the Saints picking EDGE Nic Scourton, who recorded five sacks and 27 tackles in 2024. SB Nation’s JP Acosta has his teammate Shemar Stewart going to the Black & Gold, whose numbers don’t jump off the page – 1.5 sacks, 14 tackles – but according to Acosta, “is a terrifying blend of size, burst, and blend.”
The other seven mock drafts have the Saints going offense with their choice. The most popular of the bunch is Arizona wideout Tetairoa McMillan, who recorded 84 catches for over 1,300 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024. Jack Aaron of Last Word on Sports, Dylan Chappine of Wolf Sports, and Joe Schad of The Palm Beach Post have New Orleans taking the 6’5”, 212-pounder to possibly pair with Chris Olave in the Saints receiver room.
Daniel Flick of Sports Illustrated and Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports also have the Saints going wide receiver; however, they have New Orleans taking Luther Burden III out of Missouri. The 5’11”, 208-pounder recorded over 1,200 yards as a sophomore before averaging 11.1 yards per reception in his junior year.
Brandon Deutsch of The Sporting Tribune has the Saints solidifying their offensive line with Kelvin Banks, the OT out of Texas. With Ryan Ramczyk all but confirmed to retire after spending the entirety of last season on the Injured Reserve, New Orleans can use any help it can get with its offensive line that was ranked 23rd in the league by Pro Football Network.
Finally, the most surprising prediction of all of the mocks goes to FantasyLife’s Thor Nystrom, who has the Saints selecting Alabama QB Jalen Milroe at nine. Nystrom believes that due to the disastrous salary cap situation handicapping their ability to truly compete, it would be worth shooting the moon on Milroe’s upside. He compared Milroe to Anthony Richardson, while noting that Milroe has nearly 200 more pass attempts and was nearly ten percentage points more accurate than Richardson in college.
The 2025 NFL Combine begins on February 27 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft will kick off in Green Bay, Wisconsin on April 24.