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New Orleans made four picks on Saturday, April 27, the third consecutive year that the club has made at least four on day three; with the 105th overall pick in the fourth, they picked Florida S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. With the 177th overall pick in the sixth round, New Orleans selected Rutgers S Saquan Hampton. With the 231st overall pick in the seventh round, New Orleans selected Notre Dame TE Alize’ Mack. With the 244th overall pick in the seventh round, the Saints selected Idaho LB Kaden Elliss. Overall out of the five players selected by New Orleans over the weekend, the first two players apiece were taken from the Southeastern Conference (C Erik McCoy-Texas A&M and Gardner-Johnson-Florida) and one from the Big Ten (Hampton-Rutgers) and Big Sky (Elliss-Idaho), with Mack coming from independent Notre Dame. Gardner-Johnson, 6-0, 208, is the tenth player ever selected by New Orleans from Florida, the first since LB Alex Anzalone was selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. The two were teammates in Gainesville for one season. Opening all 13 games with 12 starts in 2018, Gardner-Johnson posted 71 tackles, four interceptions (two returned for a touchdown), two passes defensed, nine tackles-for-loss and three sacks for a unit that helped the Gators lead the nation in fourth quarter passing efficiency and second in fourth quarter opponent completion percentage. Hampton, 6-1, 209, is the first player ever selected by New Orleans from Rutgers in the franchise’s 53-draft history. Hampton finished his college career with career totals of 177 tackles (120 solo), seven stops behind the line of scrimmage, five interceptions, 24 pass defenses and one fumble recovery. The Hamilton, N.J. native opened all 12 games at free safety in 2018, when he posted 65 stops, three tackles for loss, 13 passes defensed, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Mack, 6-5, 247, is the 12th player ever selected by New Orleans from Notre Dame, the first picked by the Saints since LB Courtney Watson was a second round draft pick in 2004 (60th overall). Mack had a breakout season in 2018 after posting 36 catches for 360 and three touchdowns as Notre Dame qualified for the College Football Playoff. In his career, he opened played in 35 contests and hauled in 68 passes for 716 yards (10.5 avg.) and four TDs. Elliss, 6-3, 240, is only the fourth player selected by New Orleans from Idaho and the first since QB Doug Nussmeier in 1994. A first team All-Big Sky selection in 2018, Elliss recorded 60 tackles, led the Vandals with 16 stops for loss and seven sacks and added three passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. The son of former Detroit Lions standout Luther Elliss, he finished his career with 289 stops, 47 tackles for loss and 17 sacks. Luther Elliss was a first round draft pick (20th overall) of the Detroit Lions out of Utah in 1995. In his ten-year career for the Lions (1995-2003) and Denver Broncos (2004), Ellis recorded 29 career sacks. He currently serves as the defensive line coach at Idaho, where he coached his son and Kaden’s younger brother Christian.

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New Orleans Saints 2019 NFL Draft Day Three Notes