B
New Orleans Saints
The Saints won the night they stopped Slaughter from sliding. Grade: B.
by Khoston1999 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
You build a draft on nights like this. Jake Slaughter had no business being available in the 132nd overall pick, and the Saints did the only sane thing and turned in the card. No fireworks, but a solid B.
A whole weekend of picks and quarterback is somehow still a want. They will need McNeil-Warren to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 8th overall pick they get a bendy edge with upside. The biggest hole, addressed.
A conviction pick on Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at slot 42 that the board grades a round light. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Elijah Sarratt. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They will replay Jake Slaughter at Round 4, Pick 32 for years; that is how good the value is. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Daylen Everette in pick No. 136 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
No drama and no debate, Tim Keenan III went about where he belonged in the 150th pick. It fills a real need, too.
They robbed the room for Taurean York here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Nate Boerkircher at the Round 6 slot is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.