Do the New Orleans Saints know where to vote this year? KPRC 2 Houston NFL insider Aaron Wilson reports that the Saints have scheduled a pre-draft visit with Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr., whose busy travel schedule in the coming days includes stops at the Raiders, Commanders, Ravens, Panthers and Eagles included.
Porter is attracting a lot of attention, and for good reason. He’s a virtual lock to pick in the first 10 or 12 picks of the 2023 NFL draft, having played at an incredibly high level last year with 11 pass separations in 10 games — before hitting the 40-yard -Dash stopped 6-foot-2 and 193 pounds in just 4.46 seconds, helping to achieve an impressive Relative Athletic Score of 9.72. Don’t bet on him making it to the Saints pick 29th overall.
So why are the Saints bringing him in? It could be as simple as walking him through a few agility drills and filling out his scouting report. Almost every prospect selected by the Saints for these exclusive “Top 30” visits to their Metairie homestead either did not complete athletic testing at the NFL Scouting Combine or missed the event entirely due to injury or a denial in the selection process. The Saints’ scouting department values agility and close-quarters movement skills, so the three-cone drill and short shuttle are particularly important to them.
Even if they don’t have a prayer to land Porter (or really need to, given their depth at cornerback), it might be worth flying him to town and walking him through a few drills to get a better idea of what for a kind of sportsman he is. With all NFC rivals going strong this year, chances are he’ll be playing somewhere nearby for the foreseeable future.
More!
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell thinks the Saints should upgrade in the 2023 NFL draft
Hendon Hooker might make sense for the Saints, but not in the first round
Compare and contrast Saints picks in two 3-round PFF mock drafts
Story originally appeared on Saints Wire
Source