JACKSON: Five Senior Bowl Standouts Saints should target in Draft

By Ross Jackson

A thrilling Senior Bowl game came to an end with a walk-off touchdown reception by TCU wide receiver Jack Bech, leading the American Team to a 22-19 victory.

Now that the game is in the books, let’s look over the entire week in Mobile, Ala., and pinpoint some of the best performers of the weekend that would be a good fit for the New Orleans Saints in this year’s draft.

Let’s dive in on five standout players to know who could hear their names called when the Saints are on the clock in April. 

TCU WR Jack Bech

Bech had a phenomenal week in Mobile, making plays as a receiver in the middle of the field and down the perimeter. The former tight end also showed out in protection. During Saturday’s game, Bech caught the game-winning two-yard touchdown. The former LSU Tiger-turned-Horned Frog is expected to be a Day 2 selection in this year’s draft. He fits the mold that New Orleans should be looking to add alongside wideouts Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. 

Texas A&M DE Shemar Stewart

The Aggie edge rusher did not participate in Saturday’s game. In fact, he left Mobile before the final practice on Thursday and he absolutely deserved it. Stewart raised his profile quite a bit with a pair of strong days during Tuesday and Wednesday’s practices. At 6-foot-5, 281 pounds, he checks a lot of boxes that make him a solid fit for the New Orleans defense. However, things could be changing quite a bit on that side of the football going into 2025.

Toledo DT Darius Alexander

Perhaps nobody helped themselves more this week than Alexander. The multi-faceted defensive lineman was challenged to line up at just about every technique on the defense line and showed out no matter from where he was deployed. The truth is that Alexander was likely on the radar of teams and scouts already and now the media is now catching up after a stellar week in Mobile. At 6-foot-3, 304 pounds, Alexander has every tool necessary to be a disruptive asset for any defensive line in the league. New Orleans needs a ton of help there, especially along the interior.

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart

The Rebel quarterback’s name has been all over this place this week. Some are suddenly believing that he could go in the first round, but we’ve seen this kind of trajectory go either way in the past. The 2022 draft class had several names that began to rise around the Senior Bowl and Scouting Combine only to fall to Day 2 like Malik Willis and Matt Corral. Meanwhile, in last year’s draft, the Denver Broncos selected Bo Nix at No. 12 overall. So for Dart, all opportunities are on the table. The 6-foot-1, 226-pound passer led the SEC in passing yards last season and impressed in Mobile. The rest of the process is going to be very important for him if he wants to keep this momentum going.

NDSU OL Grey Zabel

The versatile and athletic offensive lineman has taken at least a snap at all five offensive line positions over the past three years. Zabel is a tenacious and strong blocker that can be moved all over the offensive line. He allowed just four sacks over the course of his NDSU career and has been an outstanding protector in the run game. His pass blocking abilities are not limited to gimmicky offensive approaches either. Even when removing NDSU’s play action, screen and rollout plays, Zabel has been an effective blocker. He did not allow a single sack on 179 straight dropback snaps in 2024. He could be a plug-and-play lineman at left guard.