Texas Football: 3 NFL Draft landing spots for Xavier Worthy
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints surpassed preseason expectations during the 2023 campaign. Veteran quarterback Derek Carr had a solid season in his first year with the Saints after coming over from the Las Vegas Raiders last offseason.
Carr led the Saints to a winning season, posting a 9-8 record in his 17 starts in 2023. Unfortunately, though, the Saints didn't make the playoffs despite tying the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield for the best record in the NFC South division. The Bucs held the tiebreaker with the Saints to win the NFC South and make the playoffs.
Despite missing the postseason in 2023, the Saints look like a contender for the NFC South division crown for 2024. If the Saints address some vital needs on the roster this offseason, they could return to the postseason for the first time since the 2020 season.
One of the biggest positional needs the Saints must address this offseason is wide receiver. The Saints need to find a new top wideout as veteran Michael Thomas has been very limited due to injuries in the last half-decade. The 2019 NFL AP Offensive Player of the Year Thomas has started just 15 games in the last four seasons due to various injury issues.
The good news for the Saints is that the front office saw the writing on the wall with Thomas a couple of years ago. Thus, they drafted back-to-back 1,000-yard receiver Chris Olave in the first round of the 2022 draft. All-Pro returner/wideout Rashid Shaheed has also emerged as a gem find for the Saints after he was signed as an undrafted free agent a few years ago.
But the Saints still need more young depth in the receiving corps heading into the future. It also wouldn't hurt for them to get another playmaker for Carr to get the ball to in the Saints offense.
New Orleans has the 45th pick in the second round of the draft, which they received from the Broncos in the trade for the rights of head coach Sean Payton that was made last offseason. That middle-second-round pick falls right around where Worthy is projected to be taken in Day 2 of the draft.
Worthy could be the answer for the Saints to get another young and talented wideout who can be a long-term weapon to fill out this receiving corps. A receiving corps highlighted by Olave and Worthy would be a really potent duo for the future of the Saints passing game.