As a lead-up to the 2024 NFL draft, we've broken down the current depth chart of every NFL team and identified the biggest draft and team needs for the New Orleans Saints.
You can find additional team-by-team draft needs articles and other draft content on our 2024 NFL Draft Hub.
Who Did the New Orleans Saints Select in the 2024 NFL Draft?
The New Orleans Saints selected Taliese Fuaga (OT, Oregon State) with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Saints also drafted:
- Kool–Aid McKinstry (CB, Alabama)
- Spencer Rattler (QB, South Carolina)
- Bub Means (WR, Pitt)
- Jaylan Ford (LB, Texas)
- Khristian Boyd (DT, Northern Iowa)
- Josiah Ezirim (OT, Eastern Kentucky)
New Orleans Saints Needs: Top Positions of Need in 2024
- Offensive Line
- Defensive Line
- Wide Receiver
What Picks Do the New Orleans Saints Have in 2024?
The New Orleans Saints have 9 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, including:
- Round 1 (14)
- Round 2 (45)
- Round 5 (150)
- Round 5 (168)
- Round 5 (170)
- Round 5 (175)
- Round 6 (190)
- Round 6 (199)
- Round 7 (239)
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The preview is unlike anything you have ever seen, featuring stunning visualizations built with the reader in mind.
This preview shares insights into players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal in mind: to prepare you for the 2024 NFL season by delivering the smartest information in the fastest, most direct way possible.
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New Orleans Saints Draft Capital Stats
Our Sharp Draft Value Rank is a valuation of draft capital based on a combination of average performance delivered and average dollars earned on second contracts.
This is based on two public models: performance delivered based on draft slot (the AV model created by Chase Stuart) and contractual earnings in non-rookie deals based upon draft slot (the OTC model created by Brad Spielberger and Jason Fitzgerald).
- Saints Sharp Draft Value Rank: 22 of 32 teams
- Saints AV Model Draft Value Rank: 22 of 32 teams
- Saints OTC Model Draft Value Rank: 18 of 32 teams
New Orleans Saints Draft Value vs. Other Teams:
The Saints ’ draft value is 9% lower than the league average of all 32 teams. 21 other teams have more draft value entering the 2024 NFL Draft.
New Orleans Saints Draft Prediction:
Brendan Donahue has the Saints selecting Olu Fashanu (OT, Penn State) with the 14th overall pick in his most recent 2024 NFL Mock Draft.
Mock draft expert Ryan McCrystal believes the Saints could target an offensive tackle like Olu Fashanu (OT, Penn State) with their top pick at No. 14 overall in the first round.
New Orleans Saints Strength of Schedule, 2024
The New Orleans Saints have the fifth-easiest NFL strength of schedule for the 2024 NFL season.
New Orleans Saints Offense: Depth Chart, Analysis & Draft Needs
Rich Hribar breaks down the offensive depth chart by position for the New Orleans Saints, identifying areas where the team could improve in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft.
Quarterback Depth Chart, Saints:
- Derek Carr
- Nathan Peterman
- Jake Haener
- Kellen Mond
Derek Carr inked a four-year contract with New Orleans last offseason.
In his first year with the Saints, Carr completed 68.4% of his passes (sixth in the league) for 7.1 yards per pass attempt (18th) with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
His 1.5% interception rate was his lowest in a season since 2016.
He finished 14th in touchdown rate (4.6%), 17th in EPA per dropback (0.04), and 16th in success rate (43.4%).
Those rankings align with what we know about Carr.
He is fine. He is not going to kill you but also is below the front end of the position.
Carr is only carrying a $12.7 million cap hit this season, but that spikes to $51.4 million and $61.5 million over the next two seasons.
Mickey Loomis always finds a way to massage restructuring contracts, but the first realistic out year that the Saints currently have with Carr comes after the 2025 season.
Running Back Depth Chart, Saints:
- Alvin Kamara
- Jamaal Williams
- Kendre Miller
- James Robinson
- Zander Horvath
- Jordan Mims
- Adam Prentice (FB)
This running game was one of the worst in the NFL last season.
Their running backs closed the year ranking 29th in yards per rush (3.5 YPC) and 28th in the rate of runs to gain 10 or more yards (7.1%).
The Saints were the only team in the NFL that did not have a run of 20 or more yards from a running back last season.
New Orleans’ running backs were dead last in the NFL in yards after contact per rush (2.44).
Alvin Kamara averaged a career-low 4.5 yards per touch in 2023.
He caught 75 passes in just 13 games, one fewer than Breece Hall.
But Kamara also averaged a career-low 6.2 yards per reception.
As a runner, Kamara was 35th out of 49 running backs with 100 or more rushes with 3.9 yards per carry.
The explosive runs for Kamara have disappeared in recent seasons.
Kamara had a run of 10 or more yards on 8.3% of his runs, 34th in the league.
Over the past three seasons, his 8.7% explosive run rate ranks 65th at the position after he posted a 13.6% rate earlier in his career.
Kamara’s 2.51 yards after contact per rush were the fewest of his career, a number that has gone down from the season prior in five consecutive seasons.
Kamara will turn 29 this summer.
The team added Jamaal Williams last offseason, but Williams only managed 2.9 yards per rush on his 106 runs last season.
His 23.6% success rate as a runner ranked ahead of only Dameon Pierce out of 49 qualifying running backs.
The Saints did select Kendre Miller in the third round last year in an effort to infuse some explosion in the run game.
Miller was snakebit as a rookie.
He injured his knee in August and then suffered an ankle injury in the middle of the season.
By the time the dust settled, he played just 112 offensive snaps, turning 51 touches into 273 yards (5.4 yards per touch).
The struggles of this run game extend beyond the backfield, but the Saints need more from their backfield moving forward.
The team has a lot of immediate investment into these three running backs, so it is going to have to come from the front of this unit before they can start to rebuild things down the line.
Wide Receiver Depth Chart, Saints:
- Chris Olave
- Rashid Shaheed
- Cedrick Wilson
- A.T. Perry
- Stanley Morgan
- Equanimeous St. Brown
After a strong rookie season, Chris Olave took another step forward in year two.
Olave improved his receptions (5.4) and receiving yardage (70.2) per game as a sophomore, catching one more touchdown (five) than his rookie season.
Olave ranked 15th at the position in target rate per route run (25.5%).
Only five wide receivers who ran as many routes as Olave averaged more yards per route run.
New Orleans still has plenty of runway remaining on Olave’s rookie contract paired with a potential fifth-year option.
The depth here is more of a question mark big picture.
Rashid Shaheed has been a solid asset whenever called on.
After coming on at the end of his rookie season in 2022, Shaheed caught 46-of-75 targets for 719 yards and five touchdowns in 2023.
He has averaged 17.4 and 15.6 yards per reception in his first two years in the NFL.
Shaheed was targeted on 21.2% of his routes run without Michael Thomas on the field last season (193 routes) compared to only a 14.3% rate when Thomas was on the field (238 routes).
With Thomas now officially gone, Shaheed will be tasked with a consistent role in the lineup.
Shaheed is only under contract for this season, but the Saints have restricted free agent rights on him following 2024.
A.T. Perry was selected in the sixth round last season.
He only caught 12 passes as a rookie, but four of those went for touchdowns while averaging 20.5 yards per catch.
That completely aligns with Perry’s profile exiting Wake Forest.
No wide receiver in last year’s draft class had more collegiate air yards in their final season than Perry (928). He turned 16.4% of his career receptions into touchdowns, which was fourth in that class.
The Saints added Cedrick Wilson here as veteran competition and depth, but he has caught more than 22 passes in just one of his five seasons in the league.
This team still only has six wideouts currently under contract.
We should expect another Day 3 pick here at minimum.
Pre Order the Best Analytical 2024 Football Preview
Don't miss out on Warren Sharp's 500+ page preview of the 2024 NFL season.
The preview is unlike anything you have ever seen, featuring stunning visualizations built with the reader in mind.
This preview shares insights into players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal in mind: to prepare you for the 2024 NFL season by delivering the smartest information in the fastest, most direct way possible.
