The New Orleans Saints took a bit of a calculated risk with the decision to select Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson with the No. 8 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The injury concerns scared teams away, and the budding star showed the Saints why such skepticism was warranted.
Tyson left practice early on Thursday with what many believe is a hamstring injury. Nick Underhill has reported that the injury "isn't super serious" for Tyson, but is still not what fans wanted to hear for a player who came into the NFL with concerns about his ability to stay healthy.
No one doubts Tyson's talent. The key was making sure that he could stay healthy long enough to flex those talents. While reports make it seem like this may not cost him a ton of game time, New Orleans will have only itself to blame if Tyson's body becomes an obstacle to his success in the NFL.
Saints rookie WR Jordyn Tyson picks up another injury during training camp
Had Tyson not had the injury concerns, there's a very good chance that he would have been a mortal lock for the hypothetical WR1 title in a fairly below-par class at the top of the pack. Even with those concerns, he was still a top-10 pick after averaging 86 yards per game in two seasons with the Sun Devils.
The thought of what Tyson could be alongside the recently extended Chris Olave in an offense designed by Kellen Moore is mouth-watering, especially if Tyler Shough continues to take steps forward in his development. With great speed down the field, elite ball skills, and very crafty route-running, Tyson comes pre-loaded with all the traits a coach could as for.
However, he was banged up throughout his college career. These are not minor knocks either; Tyson suffered a torn ACL and MCL at Colorado in 2022 and also broke his clavicle. With soft tissue injuries also entering the mix later, the Saints now have someone who could be a physical ticking time bomb early in his career.
Tyson is assuredly going to dust himself off and eventually get back on track as he starts to flex the same jaw-dropping collection of physical gifts that made him a top pick, but his path to failure in the NFL is paved almost entirely by missed games due to injuries, and he isn't doing a great job of showing the Saints he has overcome that bump in the road.
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