The New Orleans Saints traded up in the first round of the NFL draft to select Brandin Cooks, a speedy wide receiver from Oregon State. Cooks was unable to take part in all of the Saints' offseason activities because of NCAA rules but he definitely impressed teammates and observers with his speed.

"Any time a player is hand-picked by Sean Payton that's a receiver, you better believe he's going to be something," Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said.

Even though he is just 5 feet 10 and 189 pounds, Cook's college coach, Mike Riley, said the receiver will get the job done in the NFL.

"Brandin is very very strong for his size. He's not a big guy, but he added the 10 best pounds I've ever seen added to one person in my life last year," Riley said. "It really helped him in his game, explosiveness, durability, strength in breaking tackles. Everything about coaching is utilizing the talent that you have. When Brandin's got the ball in his hands, whether it's a deep pass – we ran him on a lot of screens and reverses, and we run the fly sweep here – he was dangerous with that. As soon as you can get him the ball, he can make something happen with it. He's strong and hard to tackle, and he's got that really good speed to go with it."

Saints fans can get judge for themselves July 25 when the team holds its first training camp practice.