New Orleans Saints full 2021 NFL mock draft

Round 3

The Saints could take a quarterback in the first round. But with who seems likely to be left by the time they’re on the clock at 28, that would be a reach. Here in the third round, Mond is a better value.

Mond is a dual threat who showed continued improvement as a passer over his time at Texas A&M. From his junior to senior seasons his completion percentage went up, while his touchdown-to-interception rate notably improved from roughly 2:1 in 2019 to around 6:1 last year. His size is fine (6-foot-2), and NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein has compared him to Colin Kaepernick.

Chris Simms of NBC Sports has gone against the grain in his draft evaluation of quarterbacks at times, and hit on his picks more than you might realize. For what it’s worth, Simms is a big fan of Mond.

Sample (6-foot-3, 274 pounds) could be called a tweener, while others who are more optimistic would call him scheme-versatile. With at least 5.5 tackles for loss in each of his last three seasons at Tulane, and 10.5 sacks over that span, it’s ok to just call him productive. A good showing at the Senior Bowl got him some attention.

The Saints notably traded Malcom Brown in an effort to trim cap dollars, which leaves a void on their defensive line. In the third round, Sample is a solid pick who may make an immediate impact.