Kenny Dillingham knows — essentially, guarantees — that the New Orleans Saints drafted a competitor Thursday night in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Saints took Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson at No. 8 overall, the third-highest pick the franchise has used for a receiver, following Wes Chandler (No. 3) in 1978 and Larry Burton (No. 7) in 1975.
"When I say competitive — he doesn't have hobbies that aren't competitive," said Dillingham, who was named Arizona State head coach in 2023, the year Tyson joined the program as a transfer from Colorado. "He wants to be the best, and he wants to compete in everything he does.
"If there's one thing that you know that you're going to get from J.T. is, the dude wants to be the best. Go play tic-tac-toe, it doesn't matter. The dude is going to do whatever he can to be the very best at whatever he's doing. And he won't stop until he gets there. And I think him getting drafted where he did, him having the career that he did is a testament to what you're getting.
"You're getting a guy who's going to persevere, who loves competing in everything he does — whether it's the film room, whether it's the practice field, whether its tic-tac-toe, whether it's chess. It doesn't matter. He wants to be the very best, he's going to study it. I think he loves the game of football, but more importantly, he loves competition and he can't live without it."
One of the best examples happened last season, during ASU's 26-22 victory over Texas Tech in October.
Tyson caught 10 passes for 105 yards and a 10-yard touchdown, and his 33-yard reception on fourth-and-2 kept alive the game-winning drive. He played through right and left hamstring issues in the game.
"He tweaked his hamstring on the touchdown that he scored," Dillingham said. "Then we're in a game-winning, two-minute drive and he literally is the star of the drive. He makes almost every play on the entire drive, including a fourth-down play. And on the fourth down play to extend the drive, because he's compensating for one leg, he tweaks the other leg because he's playing through it and wants to make the play and he's competitive and wants to win. And then still doesn't come out. And then, still catches a speed out-route later and it's just like...man, the dude is tough as nails.
"That wasn't even a called play, it was a scramble drill where he was running a route and he reset himself because he saw the quarterback scramble. So it's just football IQ, in terms of the quarterback gets out of the pocket, reset yourself and then he worked up the field to the quarterback's throwing hand. That was literally just him being a savvy football player and operating in scramble rules."
That football IQ allowed the Sun Devils to unleash Tyson (6 foot 2, 203 pounds) from several receiving positions. Tyson learned to play in the slot as a 5-4 sophomore in high school.
"He's smart. And his body type — he's a big wideout that can play outside, but he has the movement skills that he can play inside, too," Dillingham said. "I think he's just one of those guys that he can do both physically, so then the question is can you mentally do both?"
Dillingham assures that he is. "He puts in the work and he's a super smart guy, so you combine that he can be that guy physically and then he can also be that guy mentally, that's just a rare combination when you get a guy who can do both. There's a reason he was No. 1 or 2 in college football in the last two years in touches. We could move him around to get him the ball and he gets open. And he catches it. Those are two important things."
Dillingham said he the injuries Tyson sustained in college (multi-ligament knee tear in '22, broken collarbone in '24 and hamstring issues in '25) won't slow Tyson from presenting his best self.
"That's one of his separating factors that can't be measured unless you really get around him, is just the type of competitor you're getting," he said. "Not just on the field, but what that means he's going to do off the field to be ready to be on the field is going to be something he does at an elite level because of his love for competition.
"He's a great person and I think at the end of the day, he's a great person that loves people, that's competitive, that was given a lot of talent. And you combine those three things and it's a really rare combination."
