Saints shoot for the stars and take elite athlete in recent 2025 NFL mock draft
The New Orleans Saints' biggest struggle on defense this season has been the play of their defensive line. They're among the worst teams in the NFC in pass rush success rate, and there hasn't been anyone consistently emerging off the edge. Accordingly, edge rusher could be a position that they want to address early in […]
The New Orleans Saints' biggest struggle on defense this season has been the play of their defensive line. They're among the worst teams in the NFC in pass rush success rate, and there hasn't been anyone consistently emerging off the edge.
Accordingly, edge rusher could be a position that they want to address early in the 2025 NFL Draft. In A.J. Schulte's latest mock draft, they do exactly that with an aggressive election in round one.
Saints take big swing on defense
The Saints attacked a major need, selecting Mykel Williams, a pass rusher for the University of Georgia.
#9. New Orleans Saints: Mykel Williams, EDGE, Georgia
The Saints' pass rush has tanked this season. With Cam Jordan getting older and older, the rest of the room has yet to pick up the slack. New Orleans sits 28th in pressure rate and 25th in sack rate. To make matters worse, Chase Young, Payton Turner, and Tanoh Kpassagnon are all pending free agents, and the Saints will need to make cap sacrifices somewhere.
Mykel Williams fits the style of edge rusher the Saints like with those big-bodied pass rushers. He's 6'5, 265 pounds with nearly 36-inch arms and he knows how to use his frame, especially in the run game. While he's still raw, he's a tremendous athlete who can be a long-term heir apparent to Cam Jordan for New Orleans.
Williams is a scheme fit and prototypical size/style of pass rusher that interests the Saints.
With potential changes coming in the front office if struggles continue to finish the season, their views on pass rushers could change, but that is far from decided. For now, Williams is the type of defender that the Saints will probably have on their radar for round one.
Mykel Williams is an elite raw athlete at edge rusher who leans on his strength to defeat the best talents that college football has to offer. His understanding in leverage once engaged in contact is phenomenal, as Williams will almost always break free, throwing offensive lineman around along the line of scrimmage.
However, he needs to work on a trump card or two in terms of pass rush moves if he's going to be a special NFL player. NFL strength and athleticism will be much closer to his level, so he needs to improve on finessing his way past offensive lineman rather than engaging, locking himself up, just hoping his talent wins out. — Travis May
Expect Williams to get his name called in the first twenty picks of this year's draft. He's got some of the most impressive traits of any defensive player in the class and may play an impact role for years to come for whoever takes him.
At A to Z Sports, Williams is the 12th-ranked prospect in the class as of now. He is a projected early first round pick based on his talent and potential.
For the Saints, they could also look at quarterback, wide receiver, offensive line, or even cornerback in round one of the upcoming draft. Only time will tell which direction they choose.
Saints draft the perfect player to join Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed in recent 2025 NFL mock draft
Major upgrade for the offense.
