Canal Street Chronicles
Went heavy on offense in honor of the new head coach.
It’s been official for a couple of days now, but former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator and Super Bowl LIX champion, Kellen Moore, is the new head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
The hire signals a new era of New Orleans football, with all ties to Sean Payton officially severed. The focus for the next week or two will be building a new staff, but shortly after that, they will put all their time and energy into free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft.
It’s no secret that the Saints roster isn’t the best and has some massive holes, but luckily for Moore, he has a lot of draft capital to work with, including a top 10 pick and two first rounders.
Today, I’ll be doing my second three-round mock draft of the offseason, but I’m going to focus on the offensive side of the ball and building an ideal offense around Moore.
With the ninth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints select...Ashton Jeanty, running back, Boise State.
Listen, is this the smartest move in the world for a team that won five games this past season? Probably not, but we saw what Moore did for Saquon Barkley in Philly. Barkley is one of the best running backs in the league, but Moore completely elevated his game this past season, which saw him rush for over 2,000 yards.
The Saints offensive line is not near what Philly’s is, so I was tempted to grab someone like Will Campbell here, but Jeanty is probably the best running back prospect since Saquon Barkley, and if you pair him with Alvin Kamara, it could be a lethal rushing attack.
Depending on if you view Will Campbell as an offensive guard or tackle, I think it’s safe to say that Tyler Booker is a top 2 or top 3 offensive guard in this year’s class. The former Alabama standout started three seasons for the Tide and has over 2,000 snaps of experience in college.
1,035 of Booker’s 2,007 collegiate snaps came as a pass blocker, and he gave up a total of 30 pressures and two sacks during his career. This past year, he gave up just 10 pressures and zero sacks in 395 pass blocking snaps.
The Saints offensive line is coming along. They’ve added Taliese Fuaga last year, Eric McCoy is one of the best centers in the league when healthy and Trevor Penning has shown signs of improvement, so they really need some help at their two guard spots. Booker can provide that and hopefully give the Saints a starting guard for years to come.
Philly’s offense and Saquon’s success were predicated on having a dominant offensive line. The Saints aren’t there yet and won’t be with just the addition of Booker, but I...
