New Orleans Saints

Can the Saints find a new star receiver in the NFL Draft?

Updated Apr. 26, 2022 6:11 p.m. ET

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All signs point to the New Orleans Saints drafting a wide receiver in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft on April 28.

The Saints have not drafted a receiver earlier than the fourth round since 2018 (Tre’Quan Smith, 91st overall), but they desperately need to beef up their receiving corps headed into the upcoming season.

The Saints finished 9-8 last season, second in the NFC South, but ranked last in the NFL in both overall receptions (293) and receiving yards per game (202.2). 

However, the Saints can turn that around this season, as they hold the 16th and 19th overall picks after a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles — the first time New Orleans has two first-round draft selections since 2017. 

FOX Sports Betting Analyst Jason McIntyre likes Chris Olave out of Ohio State as a fit for the Saints, and in his latest mock draft, predicted they would pick him at No. 19.

"[Olave] set the Ohio State all-time touchdown receptions mark with 35, and he’s a YAC machine, which should work very well on turf," McIntyre wrote. "As long as he’s the No. 2 while Michael Thomas draws the top opposing CB, Olave should eat early and often."

The 6-foot, 187-pound Buckeyes wideout made 65 catches for 936 yards and 13 touchdowns — tied for the sixth-most nationally — as a senior in 2021. Olave, one of the great receivers in school history, set the Ohio State all-time touchdown receptions mark with 35, the fourth-most in Big Ten history.

The 21-year-old former first-team All-American, who played on three consecutive Big Ten championship teams from 2018-2020, also ranks second in school history with 11 100-yard career games, third in school history in receptions with 176 and fifth in receiving yards with 2,711.

The Saints are also banking on Thomas, who has been out of action for two seasons, returning to New Orleans, along with Smith, Marquez Callaway, and Deonte Harty to fill out their receiver room. Olave should get plenty of action as long as he’s the No. 2 while Thomas draws the top opposing cornerback.

If New Orleans opts to not take a receiver, veterans like Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, T.Y. Hilton, Emmanuel Sanders, Will Fuller, Keelan Cole and Cole Beasley are still on the free agent market.

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National Football League

New Orleans Saints

Michael Thomas

Tre'Quan Smith

Marquez Callaway

Deonte Harty

Jason McIntyre