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The New Orleans Saints have selected Sheldon Rankins from Louisville with the 12th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft and taken another step toward improving their pass rush.
Picking Rankins should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, considering he was mocked to the Saints by almost every mock draft over the last month.
At 6'1" 300-pounds, Rankins played almost everyone along the defensive line during his time at Louisville, but he should excel as a three-technique in a 4-3 defense or pass-rushing nose tackle. He is often compared to Rams DT Aaron Donald.
Is it an exciting pick? Hardly. The Saints could have taken DE Shaq Lawson, who was still available at the time the Saints were on the clock. But Rankins is a safe bet considering his play on the field and his quality character off the field.
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Saints 2016 NFL Draft Picks
Round | Pick | Overall | Player |
1 | 12 | 12 | Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville |
2 | 16 | 47 | |
3 | 15 | 78 | |
4 | 14 | 112 | |
5 | 13 | 152 | |
7 | 16 | 237 |
Saints Team Needs
- Defensive End
Defensive Tackle- Linebacker
- Guard
- Wide Receiver
- Cornerback
Saints Draft Resources
- Saints NFL Draft Headquarters
- CSC Community Big Board
- Saints Mock Draft Database
- CSC Community Mock Draft
NFL Draft Schedule
Thursday, April 28 - 7:00 p.m. CT (Round 1 - 10 Minutes Per Pick)
Friday, April 29 - 6 p.m. CT (Round 2 - 7 Minutes, Round 3 - 5 Minutes Per Pick)
Saturday, April 30 - 11 a.m. CT (Rounds 4-6 - 5 Minutes Per Pick, Round 7 - 4 Minutes Per Pick)
NFL Network and ESPN/ESPN2 will televise the draft.
Live Draft Tracker