8. New Orleans Saints
For the Nth year in a row the New Orleans Saints have boasted a defense that would make any NFL purist turn red with mixes of anger and embarrassment. At this point it feels as though every week a quarterback is going to have a career game against them. They need help, and fast.
Here’s the tricky part, though. Due to years of backlogged salaries it’s nearly time for the Saints to pay the piper. The franchise is looking up at years of slim free agent pickings due to salary cap constraints. If ever there was a time to start drafting meticulously, that time is now.
Jaylon Smith is a top-five talent in this draft class, and the fact that he dropped down to No. 8 is a minor miracle. New Orleans happily gobbles him up and then buys sazeracs for the seven teams drafting ahead of them.
Under Brian Kelly’s direction, Smith has not only anchored a stout defensive unit at Notre Dame, but he’s played against a sharp pro-style offense every day he hits the practice field. He’ll start immediately down in the Big Easy and help shore up the interior of the Saints’ porous defense. With the likes of Cam Newton and Jameis Winston threatening to take off on every broken play, New Orleans is happy to get a guy who can lay the boomstick on the rival quarterbacks within the division.
Next: No. 9 San Francisco 49ers