Saints Picks in Todd McShay's 3-Round "Grade A" Mock Draft

In the perpetual carousel of draft mockery that colors the Spring NFL offseason, proud, oft assuming mavens of college stock and team need (or sometimes just fancy) flood the web with combinatorial madness. Check out the below up-to-date pie chart of Saints mocks compiled by SB Nation's Adam Stites (some of you may have already seen these).

Five guys across four positions - not accounting for a fifth (20.6%) of what else has been mocked to the Saints at 12th overall. I've seen Memphis' Paxton Lynch, Alabama's Jarran Reed, and Clemson's Kevin Dodd, among others.

But, I digress.

Ostensibly a more objective approach to creating a mock draft, ESPN pundit Todd McShay put out his 3-round "Grade A" mock draft today, in which he provides the following premise and ground rules -

I play general manager for every team.

1. At each slot, I make a pick in the best interest of only the team with the pick. I won't pass on a player at No. 4 just because I like the team better at No. 5.

2. No trades unless they're already done. I try to address team needs, but like the draft, value can supersede need.

3. Again: I'm not projecting. It's more a look at where I see value up and down the board.

Basically, Todd McShay's take on an objective-ish mock with his own subjective flair ("where I see value"). Let's see who he chose for the Saints.

Round 1(12): Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville

• Love it. Rankins is the first DT off the board so, per his own rules, I'll hazard McShay's favorite interior defensive lineman. Curiously, the only edge defenders taken to this point (a position which is arguably of utmost priority) were, in order: DeForest Buckner (San Diego Chargers), Joey Bosa (Baltimore Ravens), and Leonard Floyd (Chicago Bears). Shaq Lawson, representing 15.7% of the Saints first pick in mocks surveyed, is selected right after us by the Miami Dolphins.