Here\u2019s what the other three NFC South teams did over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)<\/p>\n
First round, No. 19: WR Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State<\/p>\n
Second round, No. 53: CB Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame<\/p>\n
Third round, No. 84: CB Jacob Parrish, Kansas State<\/p>\n
Fourth round, No. 121: Edge David Walker, Central Arkansas<\/p>\n
Fifth round, No. 157: DL Elijah Roberts, SMU<\/p>\n
Seventh round, No. 235: WR Tez Johnson, Oregon<\/p>\n
Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht has established himself as a top-five drafter over the past half decade, and it appears that Tampa Bay, seeking its fifth consecutive division title, has another strong class in 2025. The group is led by receiver Emeka Egbuka, an unexpected first-rounder who only deepens an offensive juggernaut. Egbuka also helps the team prepare for a world without Mike Evans \u2014 he turns 32 in August and isn\u2019t signed beyond this season \u2014 and helps cover for Chris Godwin, who\u2019s returning from an ankle injury and might not be full go at the season\u2019s outset.<\/p>\n
Like the Falcons, the Bucs needed to better their defense. They spent Day 2 selections on cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish, both of whom should receive significant playing time. Morrison could\u2019ve been a first-rounder if not for a hip injury that robbed him of contributing during Notre Dame\u2019s memorable season.<\/p>\n
Walker was extremely productive at a small school. Roberts led FBS in pressures over the past two years and had two sacks in SMU\u2019s playoff loss. Johnson, at 5-foot-9 and 154 pounds, is the smallest player in the NFL, but could compete for a roster spot with his quickness and return ability.<\/p>\n
Carolina Panthers (5-12)<\/p>\n
First round, No. 8: WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona<\/p>\n
Second round, No. 51: Edge Nic Scourton, Texas A&M<\/p>\n
Third round, No. 77: Edge Princely Umanmielen, Ole Miss<\/p>\n
Fourth round, No. 114: RB Trevor Etienne, Georgia<\/p>\n
Fourth round, No. 122: S Lathan Ransom, Ohio State<\/p>\n
Fifth round, No. 140: DT Cam Jackson, Florida<\/p>\n
Fifth round, No. 163: TE Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame<\/p>\n
Sixth round, No. 208: WR Jimmy Horn Jr., Colorado<\/p>\n
The Panthers spent their earliest selection getting quarterback Bryce Young a towering target. Young showed legitimate promise late last season, so the team will hope adding McMillan helps him continue that trajectory. He, Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, who unexpectedly shined as an undrafted receiver a year ago, could be a nice youthful trio for Young.<\/p>\n
Carolina had the NFL\u2019s worst defense a year ago, so it comes as no surprise it spent premium draft capital trying to improve that unit. Scourton and Umanmielen should add some toughness and energy to the pass rush. Umanmielen was known for his feistiness at Florida and Ole Miss. The Panthers traded up for Scourton, once a Purdue standout before he joined a stacked A&M defense.<\/p>\n
Maybe Etienne proves valuable in a part-time role. He has reliable hands and has shown big-play ability in the past, even though his season with the Bulldogs wasn\u2019t anything exceptional. Ransom and Jackson could become nice depth for a group that needs it. Evans and Horn were productive college players who lacked the physical gifts of higher-round prospects. If the Panthers\u2019 offense maintains its late improvement, and the defense even ranks around 20th instead of last, Carolina could be several wins better.<\/p>\n
New Orleans Saints (5-12)<\/p>\n
First round, No. 9: T Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas<\/p>\n
Second round, No. 40: QB Tyler Shough, Louisville<\/p>\n
Third round, No. 71: DL Vernon Broughton, Texas<\/p>\n
Third round, No. 93: S Jonas Sanker, Virginia<\/p>\n
Fourth round, No. 112: LB Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma<\/p>\n
Fourth round, No. 131: CB Quincy Riley, Louisville<\/p>\n
Sixth round, No. 184: RB Devin Neal, Kansas<\/p>\n
Seventh round, No. 248: TE Moliki Matavao, UCLA<\/p>\n
Seventh round, No. 254: DL Fadil Diggs, Syracuse<\/p>\n
The Saints feel like a franchise facing a total rebuild, something they\u2019ve resisted for probably too long. They invested the No. 9 overall choice on Texas tackle Kelvin Banks, who despite struggling at times against Georgia was an uber reliable force upfront on perhaps the country\u2019s best offensive line. <\/p>\n
Their second rounder, though, was spent on Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough, a 25-year-old who rose throughout the process. With Derek Carr\u2019s season in jeopardy because of a shoulder injury, the Saints don\u2019t have a clear quarterback option (Spencer Rattler didn\u2019t show enough in his rookie year to earn the starting spot). Perhaps they\u2019ll turn to Shough, but with a losing season more likely than not, the Saints would be positioned to take a first-round signal caller in 2026. Unless Shough truly surprises, it seems the Saints could\u2019ve been better off using a valuable second-round resource elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Although Broughton went earlier than most projections, the Saints did well to land Stutsman \u2014 an Oklahoma legend who was beloved in the program for his play and leadership \u2014 and Riley, who was under the radar but could develop into a regular contributor. The Saints needed another back behind Alvin Kamara, and some pundits liked Neal as a potential steal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what the other three NFC South teams did over the weekend. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7) First round,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[2566,223,254,2554,224,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-7490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-ajc-freelancer","9":"tag-atlanta","10":"tag-atlanta-falcons","11":"tag-atlantafalcons","12":"tag-falcons","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114416702229932134","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}