Through the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season, the New Orleans Saints were on fire like few other teams have ever been in the history of the game. They were scoring points at an historic rate, and it looked like the Saints would be the team to beat in the NFC – possibly the entire NFL. Quarterback Derek Carr was having a career resurgence, as was running back Alvin Kamara, all thanks in large part to the offensive scheme brought in by new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
Two weeks later, and the Saints’ offense has cooled down dramatically. After scoring 40+ points in back-to-back games, the Saints dropped their first game of the season in Week 3 to the Philadelphia Eagles, scoring just 12 points. New Orleans dropped another close one this week, though the offensive output was much improved. New Orleans scored 24 points on the day, behind a rushing attack that scored three touchdowns on the ground.
Quarterback Derek Carr had 239 yards on the day, no touchdowns, and one interception. One of the main reasons for the Saints’ offense slowing down in recent weeks can be attributed to the offensive line and the shuffling they’ve had to do. The Saints came into the season missing Ryan Ramczyk and being forced to shuffle offensive tackle Trevor Penning around and to start a rookie in Taliese Fuaga. Then the Saints lost their center Erik McCoy, which has caused even more problems for the offense.
It’s clear that the Saints need some depth along the offensive line going forward, and that’s just what they’ll get from the 2025 NFL Draft according to The Draft Network’s NFL Draft analyst Daniel Harms. In his latest mock draft for the outlet, Harms has the Saints taking offensive tackle Emory Jones, Jr. with the 19th pick in the first round.
The LSU left tackle has great size for the position, coming in at 6’6” and listed at 315 pounds. According to Harms, Jones “has all the tools to develop into a top-flight NFL tackle” and the Saints could put him into the starting lineup opposite Fuaga immediately. That would give the Saints a young set of book-end tackles to protect Carr through his contract in 2026, and would give the Saints a solid foundation if they choose to hit the reset button at quarterback after Carr.
