Here are the biggest post-draft questions still to be answered by the New Orleans Saints:
Did they transform the defense? Before the draft, coach Sean Payton said the Saints’ No. 1 goal was no secret: improve the defense. It was so important that the Saints traded away dynamic receiver Brandin Cooks last month to add an extra pick in Round 1.
Did the Saints do enough?
“Well, we’re gonna find out,” Payton said after all the picks were made, five on defense and two on offense. “We’d like to think we have ... I’m quite certain we have. To what degree, we’ll get a better feel for [this summer]. We hit a number of positions.”
I’m mildly optimistic. The Saints’ first draft pick at No. 11 was as good as they could have expected: cornerback Marshon Lattimore, who filled one of their two most glaring needs and was universally ranked my most analysts as a top-five or top-10 prospect (Payton said he was in the top three or four on New Orleans' board).
Second-round safety Marcus Williams has potential to be a ball hawk on the back end. But it’s hard to expect an instant impact from third-round linebacker Alex Anzalone, third-round defensive end Trey Hendrickson or sixth-round DE Al-Quadin Muhammad.
The Saints’ free-agent haul was similar, with more solid than spectacular additions in linebackers A.J. Klein and Manti Te'o, defensive end Alex Okafor and safety Rafael Bush. They never made the big-splash move with cornerback Malcolm Butler or anyone else of that magnitude.
The second-year development of 2016 first-round pick Sheldon Rankins at defensive tackle might provide a huge boost. But overall, it would be a long shot to expect the same kind of overnight overhaul that led the rival Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl last season, led by second-year pass-rusher Vic Beasley and rookie breakouts Keanu Neal and Deion Jones.
Who will rush the passer? New Orleans has had a good offseason, adding a ton of depth on both sides of the ball. But as I wrote Saturday, the biggest disappointment is that the Saints didn’t find a top edge rusher to fill their most glaring need. Instead, they have a handful of enticing but unproven candidates to jockey for position on the weak side across from Cameron Jordan, including Okafor, Hendrickson, Muhammad and returning defensive ends Hau'oli Kikaha, Darryl Tapp and Obum Gwacham.
How will the running backs all fit? No position got a bigger boost last week than running back, with the Saints signing free agent Adrian Peterson on Tuesday, then trading up to draft Tennessee’s Alvin Kamara in the third round Friday. Payton insisted that there is room for both of them, along with Mark Ingram, though. He said the Saints wouldn’t have drafted “just the pure running back” after they signed Peterson. But the Saints love Kamara’s potential in the pass-catching “joker” role once held by Darren Sproles and Reggie Bush.
When will they draft Drew Brees' successor? They came awfully close Thursday. Payton confirmed that if Lattimore had gone 10th instead of Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes II, then Mahomes would have been New Orleans’ next choice at No. 11. Payton said Mahomes was the first quarterback the Saints considered taking that high since Payton and Brees arrived in 2006. But obviously, the Saints weren’t intent on drafting a QB at all costs, as they didn’t draft one with any of their six picks in the first three rounds. The Saints also limited their chances of drafting a quarterback high next year when they traded their 2018 second-round pick to gain an extra third-rounder and draft Kamara this year.
Brees is a free agent after this season. But as of now, the Saints still need him back in 2018.