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Over the course of the last two draft classes, the New Orleans Saints have made clear their priority, selecting two offensive tackles in the first round. With Taliese Fuaga in 2024 and Kelvin Banks Jr. in 2025, they should have both corners of the offensive line set for some time now, after 2022 first-rounder Trevor Penning did not work out.
2024, in retrospect, is now viewed much more positively than it was coming in, as there certainly was excitement at the time about the talent, but no one could have expected just how truly impressive it really was. With hindsight being available, NFL re-drafts are often a topic of discussion around this time each year, and Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report recently put out his version of one for 2024.
In this, offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga, whom the Saints selected at No. 14 that year, falls all the way down to No. 31 to the San Francisco 49ers, which is enormously surprising. While he has by no means been perfect in his early career, he has shown immense flashes of being a quality offensive lineman at a position that teams covet.
Interestingly enough, Saints second-round pick Kool-Aid McKinstry moved up to No. 29 here to the Dallas Cowboys, making it even more fascinating.
Instead, Ballentine has the Saints choosing defensive end Laiatu Latu, currently of the Indianapolis Colts, for the following reasons:
Logically defensive line makes sense, but at the same time, 2025 showcased that Cam Jordan still has gas in the tank, Chase Young is rapidly developing into a premier piece, and 2026 has plenty of defensive end talents to choose from, so it may not be the best fit. In this writer's opinion, a more logical choice would be someone like Byron Murphy II, who remains on the board in this hypothetical until No. 16.
Murphy has rapidly turned into one of the most prominent run defenders in the game, and would immensely help a Saints run-defense unit that has been very poor around Bryan Bresee. He also produces some quality pass-rush, putting up seven sacks and 21 pressures in 2025, so he would bring some of that anyway, alongside an already somewhat good defensive end pairing. But what's done is done. If all goes as planned, Fuaga will anchor the New Orleans offensive line for years to come.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Where would Saints right tackle Taliese Fuaga go in a 2024 re-draft?
Continue reading...
2024, in retrospect, is now viewed much more positively than it was coming in, as there certainly was excitement at the time about the talent, but no one could have expected just how truly impressive it really was. With hindsight being available, NFL re-drafts are often a topic of discussion around this time each year, and Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report recently put out his version of one for 2024.
In this, offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga, whom the Saints selected at No. 14 that year, falls all the way down to No. 31 to the San Francisco 49ers, which is enormously surprising. While he has by no means been perfect in his early career, he has shown immense flashes of being a quality offensive lineman at a position that teams covet.
Interestingly enough, Saints second-round pick Kool-Aid McKinstry moved up to No. 29 here to the Dallas Cowboys, making it even more fascinating.
Instead, Ballentine has the Saints choosing defensive end Laiatu Latu, currently of the Indianapolis Colts, for the following reasons:
Logically defensive line makes sense, but at the same time, 2025 showcased that Cam Jordan still has gas in the tank, Chase Young is rapidly developing into a premier piece, and 2026 has plenty of defensive end talents to choose from, so it may not be the best fit. In this writer's opinion, a more logical choice would be someone like Byron Murphy II, who remains on the board in this hypothetical until No. 16.
Murphy has rapidly turned into one of the most prominent run defenders in the game, and would immensely help a Saints run-defense unit that has been very poor around Bryan Bresee. He also produces some quality pass-rush, putting up seven sacks and 21 pressures in 2025, so he would bring some of that anyway, alongside an already somewhat good defensive end pairing. But what's done is done. If all goes as planned, Fuaga will anchor the New Orleans offensive line for years to come.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Where would Saints right tackle Taliese Fuaga go in a 2024 re-draft?
Continue reading...
