{"id":860453,"date":"2026-04-08T07:13:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/860453\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T07:13:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:13:20","slug":"what-will-the-saints-do-with-the-8th-pick-in-2026-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/860453\/","title":{"rendered":"What Will The Saints Do With The 8th Pick In 2026 Draft?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Saints will select 8th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. This high draft position resulted from the team finishing the 2025 season with a 6-11 record<\/a>. Although that’s a little misleading about their season. The team finished strong with rookie quarterback Tyler Shough under center, and has actually given some hope to the franchise.<\/p>\n

Which is also why this early slot provides the organization an opportunity to acquire a player than can make an instant impact, instead of a ‘project pick’. In the past, while the team was in a ‘rebuild’, they were looking at talent that might take a few years to fully develop. But now, they can go get someone who is ready to play today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Shreveport’s Pipeline to Pro Sports<\/a><\/p>\n

The New Orleans Saints have multiple directions they could go with the 8th overall pick. But it seems like they’ve zeroed in on WHO they will pick when they decide their direction.<\/p>\n

2026 NFL Mock Draft Projections For New Orleans Saints<\/p>\n

Industry consensus points to a select group of prospects for the 8th selection. With most ‘experts’ saying New Orleans will target edge rushers, wide receivers, or safeties. Which is where the ‘which direction will they go?’ question comes in. Are they trying to get defensive help to rush the passer, maybe they’re trying to get a playmaker to go ove-the-top and stretch defenses, or they might be trying to find a ball-hawk defensive back to lock down the NFC South QBs.<\/p>\n

Photo by Christian Petersen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Photo by Christian Petersen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mock drafts consistently link the team to top-rated athletes…with the consensus narrowing the field of candidates<\/a>. Specific players routinely projected to New Orleans include edge rusher David Bailey of Texas Tech<\/a>, wide receiver Jordyn Tyson of Arizona<\/a> State, safety Caleb Downs from Ohio State<\/a>, and edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr <\/a>from Miami.<\/p>\n

The data indicates the team will have access to elite talent regardless of the selections made before them…their ultimate choice depends on what side of the ball they want to help right now.<\/p>\n

Saints Offensive And Defensive Draft Needs<\/p>\n

The fundamental decision centers on upgrading the offensive firepower or reinforcing the defense. Draft strategy will dictate<\/a> whether the priority is giving Shough another weapon, or applying pressure to opposing offenses. The roster will get immediate improvement no matter what direction they go, as they’re playing the world of impact rookies and not projects.<\/p>\n

Analysts suggest an elite pass rusher will be the primary target if available, but don’t forget, Head Coach Kellen Moore is an offensive guy. The former quarterback might find it too intriguing to get a pass catcher right away.<\/p>\n

Every Saints First Round NFL Draft Trade Since 2010<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New Orleans Saints will select 8th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. This high draft position resulted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,5102,896,55,2572,2571,88,6,397,8894,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-860453","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-national-news","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanssaints","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-saints","17":"tag-shreveport-news","18":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116367853425503548","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860453","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=860453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}