The New Orleans Saints made six selections in the 2021 draft with three being defensive prospects. The Saints used their first round selection on defensive lineman Payton Turner from Houston. Turner played in five games and had eight tackles with one sack in his rookie year and in his two-year career has played in 13 games with 20 tackles and three sacks.
Saints 2021 draft summary:
The Saints selected defensive lineman Payton Turner with the 28th pick. The Saints would then draft linebacker Pete Werner out of Ohio State with the 60th overall pick. The Saints traded picks 98 and 105 to Denver to slide up in the third round. At No. 76 overall, the Saints selected cornerback Paulson Adebo out of Stanford. At Pick No. 133 in the fourth round, New Orleans drafted quarterback Ian Book out of the Notre Dame. He is now with the Philadelphia Eagles. New Orleans did not have a fifth round pick following the trade to move into round 3. In the sixth round the Saints moved up to No. 206 after trading with Indianapolis, and they selected Landon Young from Kentucky. With their final pick in the 2021 draft, the New Orleans Saints selected Kawaan Baker, a receiver out of South Alabama.
Werner and Adebo both made a major impact in their first two seasons. Werner played in 27 games, making 19 starts, and made 92 tackles. Adebo started all 17 regular-season games in 2021 making 51 tackles with three interceptions and five passes defensed. In 2022 he played 13 games, starting 12, and had 51 tackles and seven passes defensed.
2021 New Orleans Saints draft picks:
Pick # | Position | Player | College |
---|---|---|---|
28 | DE | Payton Turner | Houston |
60 | LB | Pete Werner | Ohio State |
76 | CB | Paulson Adebo (acquired from Denver) | Stanford |
133 | QB | Ian Book | Notre Dame |
206 | T | Landon Young (acquired from Indianapolis) | Kentucky |
255 | WR | Kawaan Baker | South Alabama |
2021 New Orleans Saints draft pick trades:
Pick # | Trade Details |
---|---|
98 | Traded to Denver |
105 | Traded to Denver |
218 | Traded to Indianapolis |
229 | Traded to Indianapolis |