The New Orleans Saints hold the ninth pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, and they have a seemingly endless buffet of options laid in front of them.
Last season, the Saints went 5-12 with one of the plainest, least exciting rosters in recent franchise history. They made some marginal upgrades to that roster in free agency (continuing to ignore their cap problem in the process), but the draft is what really matters.
It's been a while since the Saints had a good enough draft to improve their future roster outlook amid all their cap woes. They've got roster holes galore, and starting with the ninth pick in round one, general manager Mickey Loomis will be tasked with filling them.
While the safe pick at number nine might be an offensive tackle, which the Saints definitely need, one NFL writer also believes their lack of offensive weapons will spur them to grab the top wideout left on the board.
In a Wednesday mock draft, SB Nation's Tina Howell predicted that the Saints would draft Arizona wideout Tetairoa McMillan, fresh off a 1,319-yard, eight touchdown season, with their first-round selection.
"Last season, (the Saints) were plagued with injuries, especially at the WR position," Howell wrote. "With Rashid Shaheed returning from a torn meniscus, Chris Olave suffering his fourth NFL and fifth career concussion, Taysom Hill’s torn ACL and Marquez Valdes-Scantling leaving in free agency, there are still some questions lingering over the stability of that receiving group.
While the Saints did just sign Brandin Cooks, McMillan is a big-bodied receiver who can use his size to make contested catches and big plays that we haven’t seen in a while from the offense."
McMillan, 22, is a 6-foot-5, 212-pound specimen with perhaps the best catch radius in the draft class. He's also got great hands, and he played through a lower-leg injury this past season, so he might be even more explosive when he's at full strength.
If McMillan falls to nine, he'll be an extremely enticing option for Loomis and the Saints. But there's no telling what a team that needs everything might do until the day arrives.
