Rueben Bain or Caleb Downs being on the board for the New Orleans Saints would be a dream scenario, or at least that's what I thought. Draft analyst Chad Reuter just unlocked a new NFL Draft dream: Bain and Downs both being on the board when the Saints pick. Now, Brandon Staley gets his pick of difference maker.
This is the best kind of tough decision. Each player would be a slam dunk selection. Do the Saints go with the versatile chess piece in Downs, or do they significantly raise the ceiling for their pass rush?
It's really no wrong answer here. Downs has been a favorite among Saints fans for a while, and the noise only increased with the departure of Alontae Taylor. Reuter picked Downs in his mock draft and compared him to Derwin James. Staley coached James in his time with the Chargers. If Downs can play like James, all that positional value talk won't matter.
Saints having to pick between Rueben Bain and Caleb Downs could be a reality
It's obviously just a hypothetical situation, but it's not one that feels too far fetched. Teams love premiere positions early in the draft, and that could benefit the offensive tackles in the class. They haven't received the most love in the pre-draft process from media. That honor has gone to the top edge players and nonpremier positions like linebacker, safety and running back.
A team could easily decide they'd rather go with a traditional approach of grabbing an offensive lineman instead of those positions laid out earlier. In this mock draft, Reuter had two offensive tackles go in the first six picks.
Both were to logical and possible destinations, but you don't have to put all your eggs in the lineman basket to make this scenario make sense.
Sonny Styles wasn't picked before the Saints. No wide receivers were picked before the Saints. You could easily see Styles and any of the top three receivers picked in the first 7 selections. Take out one of the offensive tackles and replace him with Styles or Carnell Tate, you come to the same conclusion.
Sure, the names could be different. Instead of Bain, maybe it's David Bailey. Bailey and Downs on the board gives the same feeling as Bain and Downs. Sure, it's far from the most likely scenario, but Reuter's mock draft showed a route to having to pick between two dream prospects. If nothing else, it increases optimism around one of them being available for New Orleans.