2026 NFL Draft Grade: New Orleans Saints -- D

The New Orleans Saints entered the 2026 NFL Draft with a complicated roster sheet. General manager Mickey Loomis and head coach Kellen Moore had spent the offseason reshaping the cap and adding veteran talent through free agency, but the draft board still screamed for cornerback help -- the team's lone critical need, according to pre-draft evaluations -- along with high-priority holes at tight end, guard, and linebacker. Receiver was pegged as a medium need behind Chris Olave, and the defensive interior sat in that same medium tier.

What the Saints delivered across eight selections was a class that aggressively attacked the offensive skill positions while leaving the defense largely untouched. The result is a haul that fills a few boxes but raises serious questions about value and board management.

Overall Grade: D (48.2)

Best Pick: TJ Hall, CB, Iowa -- Round 7, Pick 219 -- C (56.0) Worst Pick: Lorenzo Styles Jr., S, Ohio State -- Round 5, Pick 172 -- D (40.0)

Pick-by-Pick Breakdown

Pick 8 (Round 1) -- Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State Grade: D (43.0)

The Saints will tell you they had Jordyn Tyson rated higher than his predraft buzz suggested. Most draft analysts had Tyson as a late-first or early-second-round projection, and the consensus pre-draft rankings placed him outside the top 20 prospects. Loomis pulled the trigger at pick 8, making Tyson the second receiver off the board and passing on higher-graded wideouts like KC Concepcion (drafted 24th by Cleveland), Makai Lemon (20th to Philadelphia), and Omar Cooper Jr. (30th to the Jets). The rationale is understandable on one level: Kellen Moore's offense needs a complement to Chris Olave who can win on intermediate routes and separate after the catch, and Tyson brings a competitive catch radius and YAC ability. But the value calculation is hard to defend. The Saints had no proven starter opposite Olave -- the roster lists Bub Means, Ja'Lynn Polk, and Trey Palmer among the depth -- so the need slot is real. But taking a player 15 spots before the market valued him, especially with cornerback as a critical need and players like Jermod McCoy and Avieon Terrell still on the board, is the kind of aggression that makes this grade what it is.

Pick 42 (Round 2) -- Christen Miller, DT, Georgia Grade: C (55.0)

Miller is a better story. The Georgia interior lineman plays with heavy hands and the kind of two-gap strength that Brandon Staley's defensive front requires. The Saints have Bryan Bresee as a building block inside, but Nathan Shepherd is 31 and the depth behind him is unremarkable. Miller fills a medium-tier need at defensive tackle with a player who was ranked in the mid-50s by most evaluators, making this a mild reach of about 14 slots rather than a canyon-sized gap. He won't be a splashy pass rusher, but in a rotation he can occupy blocks and free up the linebackers. This is a solid, if unspectacular, pick that lands in the middle of the grade scale.

Pick 73 (Round 3) -- Oscar Delp, TE, Georgia Grade: C- (53.0)

Tight end was a high-priority need for the Saints, and Delp addresses it directly. The Georgia product had been buried behind Brock Bowers for two seasons before stepping into a feature role as a junior, and the tape shows a willing blocker with enough seam speed to threaten safeties. The Saints have Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant on the roster, but neither is a dominant inline presence, and Delp profiles as the more traditional Y-tight end who can hold the point of attack in the run game while also being a red-zone target. The problem is the gap between draft slot and market value: Delp was ranked around 121st overall by most evaluators, making this a hefty reach of 48 picks. The Saints could have waited. That said, when you need a tight end and you believe in the player, sometimes you have to go get him. The grade reflects the reach more than the player.

Pick 132 (Round 4) -- Jeremiah Wright, OG, Auburn Acquired via: From SEA Grade: C- (53.0)

Guard was a high-priority need for the Saints, and Wright is a downhill mauler from an Auburn program that has produced NFL interior linemen with regularity. The Saints' interior features Cesar Ruiz and David Edwards as projected starters, but Wright provides immediate competition and eventual insurance. The predraft community had Wright ranked around 168th overall, making this a 36-pick reach in the early fourth round. That's significant, but the position value helps offset it -- interior offensive linemen with Wright's power profile tend to go higher than public boards project. Moore's scheme values guards who can pull and climb to the second level, and Wright's tape at Auburn showed exactly that. This pick also came via trade from Seattle, so the Saints felt comfortable enough to part with draft capital to move up and secure him.

Pick 136 (Round 4) -- Bryce Lance, WR, North Dakota State Grade: D (43.0)

Two receivers in the top 136 picks feels like a luxury the Saints could not afford given the cornerback situation. Lance is a big-bodied target from the FCS level who dominated against inferior competition, and the Saints clearly see something in his route-running polish. But his predraft ranking hovered around 154th overall, making this an 18-pick reach in a draft where the Saints had higher-graded receivers like Cyrus Allen (who went 176th to Kansas City) and Kevin Coleman Jr. (177th to Miami) available later. The Saints already had Tyson, Olave, and a room full of developmental pieces. Adding Lance at this slot feels like a surplus pick when the defense still had gaping needs at edge rusher and cornerback.

Pick 172 (Round 5) -- Lorenzo Styles Jr., S, Ohio State Acquired via: From SEA Grade: D (40.0)

This is the worst-graded pick in the Saints' class, and the numbers tell the story. Styles was ranked around 252nd overall by most evaluators, making this an 80-pick reach in the fifth round. Safety was not a critical or high-priority need for the Saints -- the roster includes Justin Reid, Jordan Howden, and Julian Blackmon -- and Styles projects as a special-teams contributor early in his career. The Saints passed on higher-graded safeties like Robert Spears-Jennings (drafted 224th by the Steelers) and VJ Payne (228th by the Jets) who went in the same range as the pick slot. Styles has legitimate athletic traits and can play in the slot, but the value gap here is the widest of any Saints pick.

Pick 190 (Round 6) -- Barion Brown, WR, LSU Grade: D (43.0)

The third receiver in the class, and one of the more puzzling selections. Brown is a big-play threat from in-state LSU who offers rare speed and kick-return ability. He was ranked around 241st overall, making this a 51-pick reach. The Saints now have Tyson, Lance, and Brown joining a receiver room that already had Olave, Bub Means, Ja'Lynn Polk, and Trey Palmer. That is a lot of bodies for a position that was not a high-priority need. Brown's return value is real -- he was one of the better kick returners in the SEC -- but the Saints had other positions screaming for attention on Day 3.

Pick 219 (Round 7) -- TJ Hall, CB, Iowa Acquired via: From LV Grade: C (56.0)

The best-graded pick in the Saints' class, and fittingly it comes at their most critical need. Hall is a long, physical corner from Iowa who fits Staley's press-man philosophy. The Saints have Kool-Aid McKinstry and Isaac Yiadom as veterans, but the cornerback room needed a developmental piece with upside. Hall was ranked around 251st overall, making this a 32-pick reach in the seventh round -- a much more forgivable gap at that stage of the draft. The Saints passed on Andre Fuller (drafted 236th by Seattle), who was ranked higher, but Hall's fit in the scheme and the positional value make this a solid final-round selection. If Hall develops into a rotational corner, this pick will look like a steal relative to where it was made. At minimum, it acknowledges the team's biggest need.

Overall Class Verdict

The Saints walked into this draft knowing cornerback was their only critical need and that tight end, guard, and linebacker all sat in the high-priority bucket. They left with two wide receivers in the first four rounds, a tight end, a guard, a defensive tackle, a safety, and a seventh-round corner.

The absence of an early cornerback is the most glaring omission. With players like Jermod McCoy (who inexplicably fell to the Raiders at pick 101) and Avieon Terrell (48th to Atlanta) available in the first two rounds, the Saints instead chose a receiver at pick 8 and a defensive tackle at pick 42. The cornerback room needed a long-term answer, and Hall in the seventh round is a lottery ticket, not a solution.

The reach pattern is also concerning. Every single Saints pick was made ahead of where the predraft community had the player ranked, and the average gap between pick slot and player ranking was 37 spots. That is an aggressive deviation from market value across an entire class. The Saints clearly believe their internal board was more accurate than the public consensus, but the grades reflect the cost of those bets.

On the positive side, the class does address real needs. Oscar Delp fills a high-priority hole at tight end. Jeremiah Wright adds competition to a guard room that needed it. Christen Miller gives the defensive line another young interior player alongside Bresee. And TJ Hall, despite being a seventh-round investment, at least acknowledges the cornerback situation.

But the Saints had an opportunity to land a true difference-maker in the secondary at pick 8 and chose not to. They doubled down on receiver when the roster already had a No. 1 and plenty of depth. They reached on virtually every selection.

Mickey Loomis and this front office have earned the benefit of the doubt over the years with their aggressive cap management and ability to find value late. But the 2026 class is a bet on their own board being dramatically different from the rest of the league's, and the grade reflects the risk of that approach. The D (48.2) is not a condemnation of any individual player's talent. It is an honest assessment of a class that consistently reached for need rather than trusting the board to come to them.

Pick-by-Pick Summary