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Bruce Feldman\u2019s latest mock draft handed Tyler Shough<\/a> the kind of first-round news any young quarterback would want to hear.<\/p>\n In Feldman\u2019s projection for The Athletic<\/a>, the Saints<\/a> use the No. 8 overall pick on Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate, giving New Orleans a polished pass catcher from a program the franchise already knows well. Feldman wrote that the Saints could consider defensive line help there, but with other edge options off the board in his mock, he had New Orleans turning to wide receiver instead.<\/p>\n For Shough, that is the real story. A top-10 receiver projection is not just another draft-board note. It is the kind of move that would signal the Saints are serious about improving the environment around their quarterback rather than asking him to carry too much too soon.<\/p>\n Why Bruce Feldman sees this as a Saints fit<\/p>\n Feldman did not frame this as a random best-player pick. He tied it to a pattern.<\/p>\n He noted that Ohio State has already treated the Saints well at wide receiver, pointing to Michael Thomas\u2019 production in New Orleans and Chris Olave\u2019s 100-catch season. In that context, Tate becomes more than a talented draft prospect. He becomes the latest Buckeye receiver projected into a Saints offense that has already benefited from that route-running pedigree.<\/p>\n That is a clean and sensible hook because Tate\u2019s scouting profile in Feldman\u2019s mock is built more on polish than pure flash.<\/p>\n At 6-foot-2 and 192 pounds, Feldman wrote that Tate is not a burner, noting a 4.53-second 40-yard dash and a 1.61-second 10-yard split. But he also described him as \u201ca very good route runner\u201d with \u201ca really good feel for space,\u201d adding that Ohio State\u2019s long track record at the position helps elevate his stock. Feldman\u2019s bottom-line view was that Tate looks like a player with a high floor, which is often exactly what teams drafting in the top 10 convince themselves they need.<\/p>\n The part of Tate\u2019s evaluation the Saints would have to weigh<\/p>\n What keeps this from being a one-note draft story is that Feldman also included skepticism from opposing coaches.<\/p>\n One Big Ten defensive backs coach told him Tate is \u201creally smooth and polished,\u201d but questioned his top-end traits and wondered whether he would be discussed as a top-five or top-10 pick if he had played somewhere other than Ohio State. Another defensive backs coach said Tate runs strong routes and finds ways to get behind defenders, but added that he is not a true speed threat and does not \u201cscare you\u201d in the way some recent Buckeyes receivers have.<\/p>\n That tension is what makes the Saints angle more interesting.<\/p>\n This is not a projection built around overwhelming athletic upside. It is built around refinement, projection stability and a belief that New Orleans might prefer a receiver who can step into an offense quickly and help a quarterback with timing, spacing and reliability.<\/p>\n Why this would qualify as great news for Tyler Shough<\/p>\n Quarterbacks benefit from a lot more than raw speed outside. They benefit from receivers who are where they are supposed to be, who understand spacing, and who can uncover without the entire offense having to be perfectly dialed up around them.<\/p>\n That is why Feldman\u2019s Tate-to-New Orleans projection qualifies as good news for Shough. The mock is effectively saying the Saints could use premium draft capital to give their quarterback a polished, pro-ready target from one of college football\u2019s most productive receiver factories.<\/p>\n Even better for the Saints, this would not be a blind bet on upside alone. Feldman\u2019s sourcing paints Tate as a player with translatable route-running and strong feel, even if the debate over his top-10 value remains open.<\/p>\n The draft value question is fair. The ceiling debate is fair. But if Feldman\u2019s projection proves right, the Saints would be making a very clear statement about helping Tyler Shough immediately.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tErik Anderson<\/a> is an award-winning sports journalist covering the NBA, MLB and NFL for Heavy.com. He also focuses on the trading card market. His work has appeared in nationally-recognized outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press , USA Today, and ESPN. More about Erik Anderson<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Sports\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Bruce Feldman\u2019s latest mock draft handed Tyler Shough the kind of first-round news any young quarterback would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,896,55,2572,2571,6,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-847605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-orleans","10":"tag-new-orleans-saints","11":"tag-neworleans","12":"tag-neworleanssaints","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-saints"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116330722377595346","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847605","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=847605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}