The New Orleans Saints have clearly placed a premium on helping Tyler Shough this offseason. They signed Travis Etienne and David Edwards. The next step is the NFL draft. They hosted their 11th top-30 visit the other day. This time it was Cincinnati tight end Joe Royer that visited the Big Easy.
It wasn't until he transferred from Ohio State that Royer started to shine. After spending his first three years in Columbus, he transferred to Cincinatti and started putting up meaningful numbers. He had 4 catches in 3 years at Ohio State. In his first season as a Bearcat, Royer broke their record for most receptions by a tight end (50), which was previously held by Travis Kelce. Royer ended his college career with 962 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 83 receptions.
Royer's blocking is still a work in progress, and as a tight end, that's half his job. As a result, his draft stock has taken a hit and he's currently expected to be a round four pick at the earliest. Through all their top-30 visits so far, Royer is the only tight end that the team has hosted. Even so, that doesn't mean he's the only guy at the position the Saints are looking at.
Joe Royer adds to the Saints emphasis on making life easier for Tyler Shough
Along with Royer, the New Orleans Saints have also met with Georgia tight end Oscar Delp and Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers. What's interesting, though, is that none of those players are expected to be a high draft pick. Of the three listed, Stowers is the only one who could go on day two, and even that's a late projection.
After the lack of help Chris Olave had last year, it makes sense that they'd want to find another pass catcher who can succeed in the offense. They must've made it a priority as well, since Royer was the seventh pass catcher to meet with the Saints on a top-30 visit.
With the other six offensive skill players visiting being wide receivers, the Saints might add more than one pass catcher this April. With the way the draft board is laid out and the way they've handled their visits, the team has done the homework to come away from the draft with one in each of the first four rounds.
Shough did a good job elevating talent a year ago, but the Saints would be wise to stockpile talent around him. Let's put the hyperbole aside. Drafting one in each of the first four rounds isn't going to happen, but the Saints should aim to double up on pass catchers in the draft. We saw what happened when attrition hit a year ago.
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