Canal Street Chronicles
Let’s analyze these picks.
The New Orleans Saints entered the 2025 NFL Draft with extreme roster needs. With nine selections, the Saints had enough opportunities to select prospects that met their needs or even go with the best player available to upgrade the roster.
Now that the draft is complete, it is time to grade these selections!
With their first selection in the NFL Draft, the Saints went with Kelvin Banks Jr. from Texas. On draft night, this pick may have been a bit underwhelming, but now that the class is complete, this was a home run selection. RT Trevor Penning is not getting his fifth-year option picked up, and if the Saints ended up not attacking offensive line early in this draft, New Orleans could have gone into the 2026 season with an extremely weak O-line group. That is not what you want to happen 1 year into a “rebuild” with a new head coach, so attacking this issue early is very smart. Also, connecting this selection with the Saints’ second round pick QB Tyler Shough, offensive line is going to be vital to the success of a young QB prospect, specifically one who does not deal with pressure well. This selection was the perfect mix of going with one of the Saints’ best available players and fixing a need.
Grade: A+
Okay.... here is the controversial selection of the Saints draft. New Orleans chose Tyler Shough with pick 40 in the second round, and it caused some waves. Many believed this was the wrong selection, and that the Saints should have either gone with Shedeur Sanders/Jalen Milroe or just go with the best player available. Those QB prospects ended up falling far, and although I understand the argument of going with a less risky selection, I cannot fault the team for getting their QB. Clearly Kellen Moore loves what he sees in Shough’s game, and that is understandable. Shough has a good arm, mobility, throws at different arm angles, accurate, steps up in the pocket, and seems to have great character/leadership. The issue is going to be dealing with pressure, which he is very frantic when that happens. He loves to throw the ball away when faced with pressure, and although it is good to not force a play, there are times where he throws the ugliest interceptions ever. This is going to be something he needs to work on, and at 25 years old, it will be interesting to see if Tyler Shough can do that.
Grade: B-
This is the first, and honestly only, more questionable selection for me in the draft. I get the Saints’ reasoning for this pick, but it is still questionable. With their first selection in the third round, the Saints picked Texas DT Vernon Broughton. He was a late riser in the draft process,...
