Sean Payton offered a candid assessment of this year’s crop of quarterback prospects heading into next week’s NFL draft.
“I don’t see [Andrew] Luck in this draft, and I don’t see Carson Wentz, who I liked a lot coming into the draft,” the New Orleans Saints coach told the MMQB’s Peter King. “I’d feel a little bit uneasy if I were at the top of this draft, and I decided I had to have a quarterback.”
Payton did, however, offer a bit of endorsement to USC quarterback Sam Darnold in the process.
“The pressure to get a quarterback is so great in this league, I get that. But we can’t create ’em,” Payton said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if only one of these guys is left standing in four or five years, and if so, I’d guess it would be Sam Darnold.”
Payton was able to be candid since his team isn’t anywhere near the top of this year’s draft. The Saints don’t pick until 27th and don’t have much ammo to trade up since they don’t have a second-round pick.
However, Payton’s comments don’t necessarily mean the Saints will avoid QBs altogether.
The Saints could easily consider a quarterback like Lamar Jackson or Mason Rudolph later in Round 1 -- or someone else in the middle rounds. Payton spoke highly of Jackson’s character and leadership ability when asked about him last month, and the Saints brought him in for a private workout.
The Saints have been studying the QB position closely for the past few years since Drew Brees is now 39 years old. And they were very close to drafting Patrick Mahomes with the 11th pick last year (before they wound up with Defensive Rookie of the Year Marshon Lattimore instead).
But they won’t force things. Not only do the Saints have very little draft capital to work with this year, but Payton is very high on second-year pro Taysom Hill’s potential, and they also signed Tom Savage as a backup option in free agency.