Reader’s Mock Draft – New Orleans Saints are On the Clock

October 7, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints fans hold up a large cutout head of suspended head coach Sean Payton during their game against the San Diego Chargers at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook – USA TODAY Sports

The New Orleans Saints are up next in our Reader’s Mock draft.  We’re almost halfway through the first round and there haven’t been any major upsets unless you count my screwup in allowing Lane Johnson to be in the voting after he was already selected.  Other than that, things are sailing along.

The Saints have the Bounty scandal behind them and are ready to make a run at the NFC South title.  With Sean Peyton in the penalty box, the Saints started poorly and never recovered.  They finished a respectable 7-9 to get them right into the middle of the pack.  Offense hasn’t really been the problem for the Saints; it’s their defense that needs a major upgrade.  They were awful in every sense of the word, finishing ranked 32nd in yards per game at over 440 yards allowed every game.  To put that in perspective, the 31st ranked Giants gave up about 383 yards per game.  That’s a huge margin that Sean Payton needs to solve for next season, which might explain why they brought in the controversial Rob Ryan to take over the defense.

Team Needs

Rush Linebacker

Defensive End

Safety

Offensive Line

Cornerback

Top Prospects

Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington

Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas

Ziggy Ansah, DE, BYU

DJ Fluker, OT, Alabama

Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU

Check our main Reader’s Mock Draft post for the results so far and bookmark that page to track the progress as we work our way towards the April 25th draft date.

Up next, the St Louis Rams.