3rd time’s the charm? Canal Street Chronicles selects another DE for Saints in the first round

The SB Nation NFL writers’ mock draft has made its way to The Big Easy, and now the New Orleans Saints are on the clock with the 29th pick which they received from the Denver Broncos in the Sean Payton trade earlier this offseason. Just to show you, the readers, how things currently look in our mock draft, here are all of the picks up to now.

1. Panthers- CJ Stroud
2. Texans- Bryce Young
3. Cardinals- Will Anderson Jr
4. Colts- Anthony Richardson
5. Seahawks -Tyree Wilson
6. Lions- Jalen Carter
7. Raiders- Christian Gonzalez
8. Falcons- Bijan Robinson
9. Bears- Paris Johnson Jr
10. Eagles- Nolan Smith
11. Titans- Jackson Smith- Njigba
12. Texas- Jordan Addison
13. Jets- Peter Skoronski
14. Patriots- Broderick Jones
15. Packers- Myles Murphy
16. Commanders- Devon Witherspoon
17. Steelers- Joey Porter Jr
18. Lions- Darnell Wright
19. Buccaneers- Calijah Kancey
20. Seahawks- Michael Mayer
21. Chargers- Zay Flowers
22. Ravens- Deonte Banks
23. Vikings- Will Levis
24. Jaguars- Brian Branch
25. Giants- Emmanuel Forbes
26. Cowboys- Quentin Johnson
27. Bills- Drew Sanders
28. Bengals- Dalton Kincaid
29. Saints

The Saints have tons of options with the 25th pick in the NFL draft. They could get Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs to help prepare for a possible Alvin Kamara suspension, or nab some pass catchers in Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt or Georgia’s Darnell Washington to help take some pressure off Michael Thomas. However, the obvious need for the Saints right now is defense, and one of the best edge rushers is still on the board.

With the Saints losing Marcus Davenport in free agency and still waiting for Payton Turner to show some consistency, the Saints need to get an impact player opposite of Cam Jordan, Having said that, the New Orleans Saints will select Luke Van Ness, defensive end Iowa with the 29th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

Van Ness has tons of potential in this Saints defense, especially when you consider Lukas can play inside with free agent Khalen Saunders. When watching the tape on Van Ness, immediately the first thing that stands out to me is his pure strength and his motor to be all over the field and chase down the ball carriers stands out noticeably.

Running a 4.58 at the NFL combine earlier this year Van Ness has both speed on the edge or pure strength to play inside and handle his own. With only two seasons under his belt playing both positions at Iowa, Lukas could be considered “raw” still, in the sense of lacking the experience right now in recognizing blocking schemes, and his pass rush skillset might be limited. But who better to learn from than a future Hall of Famer and all-time franchise sack leader Cam Jordan?

Oddly enough, when I try to think of a pro comparison for Lukas Van Ness, the answer was right in front of me in former New Orleans Saints defensive end Trey Hendrickson. DraftKings Sportsbook seems to agree with the SB Nation mock draft, as they currently list defensive line/EDGE as the position with the best odds to be selected first by the Saints with those odds sitting at -110. If the Saints can walk away from day one with Van Ness wearing the black and gold, I’d say they come away pretty victorious.

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