Saints Visit LSU DT Maason Smith | Potential Target For New Orleans? | Saints NFL Draft News

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Matt Moscona reacts to LSU DT Maason Smith having a pre draft visit with the New Orleans Saints. Could Smith stay home and play for the home town team? Where could the Saints target Smith? How would he fit into the Saints defensive scheme?

Photo Credit: Matthew Hinton-USA TODAY Sports

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that so Mason Smith did an interview
with Justin mellow of the draft Network
and uh Mason Smith has been on one heck
of a pre-draft tour he’s visited uh
Cincinnati Pittsburgh the Jets Giants
Minnesota Buffalo Green Bay Charlotte
just got back from Arizona and says he
has a few more visits coming up later in
the week but what he also mentioned is
that he started Mason Smith did started
his draft visits off with a trip to the
home state New Orleans Saints so because
they’re in the same um the same state
this likely didn’t count against one of
the Saints 30 pre-draft top 30 visits
but we all know this the deal with Mason
Smith he’s a former you know five-star
High School recruit uh a lot of people
would have loved to have seen him come
back despite the the size the
physicality derailed by a torn ACL the
production was never really there at the
level many thought or hoped it could be
but he goes to the combine has a
phenomenal performance because he is a a
physical freak he is a specimen and he’s
racing up draft boards and is likely
going to be an early day two pick well I
think the question for new New Orleans
is if you’re going to take Mason Smith
the only appropriate spot where you have
assets is at 45 so what if the saints
were to draft Mason Smith at 45 um first
of all you got to look at need at
defensive
tackle and it it is there because you’ve
got Brian breaze who used a first- round
pick on last year but just look at your
rotation you got Shepard and Saunders
your two free agent signings from a year
ago and Malcolm roach left you in free
agency so a year ago the saints went to
Camp with seven defensive tackles again
on your 90-man roster when they started
Camp they went there with seven
defensive tackles bazz Shepard Saunders
roach roach uh Geron cage Jack Hein and
Prince Ami those were the seven that
they went to to Camp with currently
they’ve got five on the roster breaze
Shepard Saunders hefin and then John
penini who’s entering his third year out
of Utah so you got to you’re like you
are going to add defensive tackles
plural before you get to training camp
the question is are you looking for an
undrafted free agent are you going to
draft a player is there a veteran free
agent somewhere out there you’re looking
to sign those are all the questions the
Saints are going to have to answer but
you have to add a defensive tackle or or
multiple and if Mason Smith’s on the
board at 45 it’s really a question of
how much do the Saints like him and
where do they have him on their board
you got to think of it this way like we
all get fixated and rightfully so on
need and like let’s just check off need
in order right so the Saints biggest
need is offensive tackle well you’re
going to use your first pick on
offensive tackle your next biggest need
likely receiver you’re going to use the
45th pick on on the best receiver
available the way that sometimes that
gets flipped on its head is if there’s a
prospect available when you’re drafting
that you have graded way higher than
where you are in the draft the best
example of this always is Ryan ramik
remember the Saints traded Brandon Cooks
to New England they got the Patriots
first round pick which was number 32
overall the Saints had starting tackles
you had Terron Armstead and Zack stre
you did not need a
tackle but they had Ryan Ramic as the
highest graded right tackle in the draft
and so he’s sitting there at 32 and they
got him as the best tackle in the draft
and so boom they take him Zack strie got
injured in that training camp and we
know the rest’s history with Rami he
became the best right tack football when
he was healthy so sometimes it works out
that way that you’re just looking at
your board to say is there such immense
value that you can’t help but take the
best player available so let’s say
hypothetically again I do not know this
but hypothetically if the Saints are
sitting there at 45 and Keon Coleman’s
on the board again hypothetical and they
have Keon Coleman rated as the 32 best
player overall in the draft well if you
think he’s the 32 best player on your
board and he’s sitting there when you’re
picking at 45 you’re getting immense
value out of that what we don’t know is
what do they think of Mason Smith like
what if there isn’t a receiver available
that they like I what if there isn’t a
receiver they like at at
45 but Mason Smith is there and they
have Mason Smith 40th overall under
board hypothetical I don’t know well
then you’re getting value out of Mason
Smith and you could say okay well I’ll
get a receiver later in the draft
somewhere along the way and my my very
very firm contention is there is no way
at all the saints sit there through
rounds three and four without making a
pick they are going to like I would bet
if you if there were a way and I don’t
like you couldn’t get odds on this but
if there were a way for me to actually
bet money on whether or not the Saints
make a pick in round three or four or
not I would bet all of the things I own
that they will make a pick the Saints
are not going to sit there through
rounds three and four without making a
pick they are going to move up somewhere
in in day two or the beginning of day
three to make a pick and they’re not
going to sit there and use four fifth
round picks it’s just that’s not how
they do business
so it’s really just about how does your
board fall in alignment with who’s
available and what your needs are I I
don’t think it’s an impossibility I
think a more likely scenario than the
Saints taking Smith at 45 is if Smith
falls into round three and the Saints
would move would move up into round
three to get the defensive tackle if
they go offensive tackle at at 14 and
receiver at 45 I think that is a very
very plausible scenario for New Orleans
as it may work out through day two and
then into the beginning of day three of
uh of the draft coming up coming up next
week so Mason Smith did take a pre-draft
visit to the New Orleans Saints along
with along with about a half dozen other
teams or actually let’s see New Orleans
Cincinnati Pittsburgh Jets Giants
Minnesota Buffalo Green Bay Charlotte
Arizona that’s 10 and he says he’s got a
couple more so about a dozen teams uh
Bon Smith will have visited before this
year’s draft
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