The New Orleans Saints' draft class is in. They've signed a group of undrafted free agents. Now comes the fun part: Determining which of these rookies is a difference-maker.
On Monday, our writers handed out letter grades for the Saints' class. Today, we narrow our focus. Here's the second question of our five-part roundtable:
Which Saints’ draft pick will have the biggest impact right away?
Jeff Duncan: I’ll be surprised if Bresee doesn’t start from Day 1. His playmaking ability is desperately needed along the defensive interior. He’s a mature player who has played at the highest level of college football. The transition should be a relatively easy one for Bresee.
Luke Johnson: Biggest impact is going to be Bresee, but the biggest statistical impact is probably going to be Foskey. Bresee is going to be a Day 1 starter on the defensive line, and he should go a long way in helping shore up what was a concerning run defense a year ago. He might add some juice as an interior rusher, too. But Foskey should have a chance to make an immediate impact as a rusher and could put up gaudier stats.
Terrin Waack: This pick could go one of two ways. It all depends on what happens with Alvin Kamara’s ongoing legal case. If he does end up with a suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, then Kendre Miller could get a lot of opportunity in Year 1. The Saints did bring in free agent Jamaal Williams for the position group, but he can’t carry the whole load if Kamara is absent. That’s when Miller would be able to step in and up — just as he did in his final season at TCU, when he rushed for 1,399 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Rod Walker: The Saints need Bresee to have the biggest impact now that David Onyemata and Shy Tuttle are no longer around. But I’ll go outside the box a little and pick the last player the Saints drafted. A.T. Perry, the wide receiver out of Wake Forest, was projected to go much earlier in the draft. The Saints’ trade up to get him in the sixth round looks like it could be a steal. Perry has the size (6-foot-3½, 200 pounds) and the production (152 catches for 2,389 yards and 26 touchdowns over the past two seasons) to show that he is more than capable to step in right away. Since Michael Thomas has been injured, the Saints haven’t really had that big receiver who can go up in traffic and make a play. Now they do with Perry. If Thomas is healthy, we may have to wait a while to see Perry’s impact. But this seems to be a gem. We’ll be talking about him a lot during training camp.