Everyone has an opinion on what the New Orleans Saints should do to get better in the 2025 NFL draft -- and it's a safe bet that there are a ton of different opinions inside the Saints' building, too. And some analysts are better at gauging the team's needs and how they could best address them than others. Others fall short.
No shade to ESPN's Field Yates, but the mock draft he put together would almost be a worst-case scenario for the Saints. Fans have seen these moves happen and flame out before. Yates put in the work to predict the first two rounds of picks, but his choices for the Saints would be a hard sell.
To begin with, Yates has the Saints drafting an athletic defensive end who didn't produce in college at the ninth overall pick. Here's his case for Texas A&M product Shemar Stewart:
"I've said this about Stewart throughout the predraft process: The general manager who uses a high pick on him will need a lot of cachet. Stewart is a risky pick with exactly 1.5 sacks in each of his three collegiate seasons. Mickey Loomis fits that GM bill perfectly, though, and the Saints haven't been afraid of taking toolsy pass rushers in the first round in the past (including Payton Turner in 2021 and Marcus Davenport in 2018). This would be the ultimate big swing given Stewart's upside at the position. I see acceleration and power when I watch him play."
That isn't very compelling. Yates pointing to previous busts like Turner and Davenport as reasons for the Saints to roll the dice again on Stewart, rather than cautionary tales to learn from, is worrisome. The Saints have swung and missed on this archetype of player before. Stewart might develop into a star but that isn't a bet the Saints ought to be making. It doesn't matter if he has all the talent in the world if he can't use it to make plays. A total of 4.5 sacks and a dozen tackles for loss in 37 career games just isn't worth a first round pick.
Yates' next pick, at No. 40 overall in Round 2, was much better. He likes them to draft Iowa State wide receiver Jayden Higgins, who would bring a lot to the receivers room:
"The Saints need a receiver who brings more size and speed to the table than their current corps, and Higgins has plenty of both. He's 6-foot-4 and ran a 4.47 in the 40-yard dash at the combine, traits that helped him to 1,183 yards and nine scores last season."
Like Stewart, Higgins has sky-high athletic potential. Where they split is that Higgins shows he knows how to use it. He can run past defensive backs or box them out at the catch point when they do match his stride. Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Brandin Cooks all weigh in at or under 6-foot-0 and about 190 pounds. Getting the significantly-taller Higgins into the mix would go a long way towards opening up the offense.
But now we've gone off the rails. Yates has the Saints trading up into Round 2 for a quarterback: Ohio State Buckeyes signal-caller Will Howard. Here's why Yates argues the Saints should send a fourth-round choice (No. 112, which Yates mistakenly said was a fifth rounder the Saints don't own) to the Washington Commanders so they can move up from No. 71 to No. 61:
