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Here's another visit for the New Orleans Saints ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft: Penn State safety Zakee Wheatley, per Nick Farabaugh for PennLive.com. Wheatley is seen as a top-five safety in this draft class with real strength in run defense. He's appeared in 58 games with the Nittany Lions, logging 223 combined tackles (145 solo) along with six interceptions, three fumble recoveries, and two forced fumbles. Wheatley also had five tackles for loss and a sack.
In our pre-free agency, post-combine mock draft, we identified Wheatley as a potential Alontae Taylor replacement in the slot: "He's a big safety at 6-foot-3 and 203 pounds with 31-inch arms giving him natural size to compete with any receiver. He covered the slot on nearly 400 snaps at Penn State in his career while logging more than 2,100 total defensive snaps in the Big Ten." Wheatley joins the Saints' list of reported pre-draft visits along with cornerback Mansoor Delane (LSU), plus wide receivers Chris Bell (Louisville) and Makai Lemon (USC).
The "star" position is important in Brandon Staley's secondary; before Taylor parlayed his experience in that role into a $58 million contract, Staley's previous teams invested premium resources in guys like Derwin James and Jalen Ramsey to hold it down. Besides covering slot receivers when in nickel personnel, the "star" cornerback is asked to blitz the quarterback and reliably make tackles in the open field. Pro Football Focus charting found that Wheatley only rushed the QB 21 times in his Penn State career, but he generated six pressures and batted a pass down at the line of scrimmage. That'll play.
Wheatley could be in play when the Saints pick on the second day of the draft, in Round 2 (No. 42 overall) or Round 3 (No. 73). The fifth-year safety has played a lot of snaps at both corner and safety (and in the slot), and that experience matters. He could help New Orleans out right away if they call his name in the 2026 draft.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 2026 NFL Draft: Saints to host Penn State DB Zakee Wheatley on visit
Continue reading...
In our pre-free agency, post-combine mock draft, we identified Wheatley as a potential Alontae Taylor replacement in the slot: "He's a big safety at 6-foot-3 and 203 pounds with 31-inch arms giving him natural size to compete with any receiver. He covered the slot on nearly 400 snaps at Penn State in his career while logging more than 2,100 total defensive snaps in the Big Ten." Wheatley joins the Saints' list of reported pre-draft visits along with cornerback Mansoor Delane (LSU), plus wide receivers Chris Bell (Louisville) and Makai Lemon (USC).
The "star" position is important in Brandon Staley's secondary; before Taylor parlayed his experience in that role into a $58 million contract, Staley's previous teams invested premium resources in guys like Derwin James and Jalen Ramsey to hold it down. Besides covering slot receivers when in nickel personnel, the "star" cornerback is asked to blitz the quarterback and reliably make tackles in the open field. Pro Football Focus charting found that Wheatley only rushed the QB 21 times in his Penn State career, but he generated six pressures and batted a pass down at the line of scrimmage. That'll play.
Wheatley could be in play when the Saints pick on the second day of the draft, in Round 2 (No. 42 overall) or Round 3 (No. 73). The fifth-year safety has played a lot of snaps at both corner and safety (and in the slot), and that experience matters. He could help New Orleans out right away if they call his name in the 2026 draft.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 2026 NFL Draft: Saints to host Penn State DB Zakee Wheatley on visit
Continue reading...
