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Here at Canal Street Chronicles we generally focus on covering the New Orleans Saints, but our awesome colleagues over at Pride of Detroit (SB Nation’s Detroit Lions blog) cast a wider net. Kent Lee Platte is one of their lead NFL Draft writers and he’s put together one of my favorite projects of draft season: a months-long endeavor to catalogue the results of every 2018 NFL mock draft put out online. Those data points collected, he then assembles them into a monthly consensus model.
Platte and his crew recently broke the 1,000-mark in mocks logged, which called for a public update. Here’s what they found about public perception of best fits for the Saints:
27. New Orleans Saints - Rashaan Evans, LB Alabama
Previous Pick - Same
Rashaan Evans 81
Dallas Goedert 63
Malik Jefferson 57
Christian Kirk42
Harold Landry42No change for the Saints at the top, but the need for a linebacker has taken the back seat to mock drafters trying to force a tight end (or in odd situations, two of them) in the first round. At least the Saints are seeing Dallas Goedert, a second-round talent, instead of Mark Andrews, a third round talent, like the Jaguars. Mike Gesicki has gained a ton of ground since the Combine and could be the pick in the next consensus.
Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Rashaan Evans remains the favorite (consistent with last month’s update) with South Dakota State tight end Dallas Goedert just-behind. Analysts overwhelmingly predict the Saints to go after defensive help, though Texas A&M slot receiver Christian Kirk is a popular outlier.
Around the NFC South, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are connected often to Evans’ college teammate, slot defender Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Carolina Panthers sniped Kirk from the Saints in this consensus update, while the Atlanta Falcons add a disruptive presence to their defensive interior with Florida Gators lineman Taven Bryan.
How would you feel about Evans being the pick at 27? Would you prefer Goedert, or maybe a slight trade up for Kirk? Are you, like, me, concerned about no edge rushers being available in the first round again?