Georgia OL tops late third round fits for the Saints
04/11/2025
By Ross Jackson
This year’s NFL Draft may be criticized as lacking superstar talent, but it is going to provide teams with bona fide starters all the way into round three and beyond. Luckily for the New Orleans Saints, they have four selections in the top-100 picks this year, allowing them a chance to have some major impact on their roster.
Here are five late-third round prospects that could be in the mix for New Orleans at No. 93 overall.
The interior offensive line is still widely considered one of the biggest Saints needs going into the draft. Even after the signing of free agent Dillon Radunz, who could be the starter at left guard in 2025, his one-year deal isn’t enough to solidify the future of the position. The Saints could do that by drafting Ratledge as a follow up to the signing of Radunz.
Ratledge has great size (6-foot-6, 308 pounds) and athleticism in his game, has performed against SEC competition and has the versatility to match head coach Kellen Moore’s balanced run scheme.
Tate Ratledge Pass Pro pic.twitter.com/LuF2TRvZwc
— Matt (@CoachMinich) March 21, 2025
New Orleans is not necessarily in need of a running back with star Alvin Kamara ready for another season, but the future at this position should also be in question. On top of that, the running back draft class this year is rare, talented and deep. Giddens is an outstanding versatile back that can contribute in a variety of ways as rusher, receiver and blocker. That kind of play is what keeps running backs on the field.
His versatility and ability to contribute as a between-the-tackles rusher while having the speed to win the edge allows him to be an unpredictable piece in an offense as well. He could be a great complementary player to Kamara while the Saints figure out the rest of their running back room.
Let’s do this:
Deep dive on one of the most underrated RB #NFLDraft2025
This is a DJ Giddens film/analytics thread
🪡🪡🪡 https://t.co/4h3lA6B5la pic.twitter.com/kv25cKA2jl— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) April 9, 2025
Isn’t it at least a little suspicious that with all the noise around the Saints and seemingly every quarterback in the class, Shough is one of the lone omissions? Maybe it means nothing, but teams are sneaky during the draft process. Shough (pronounced like “shuck”) probably gets the short end of the stick in media evaluations because of his age (25 years old), but maturity in the quarterback role is far from the worst thing in the world. However, his poise under pressure has certainly cast some doubt on his NFL ceiling as well. Despite that, he looks to be rising up the draft because of what he does well.
He was the most impressive passer at this year’s Senior Bowl from a consistency standpoint and has NFL size at 6-foot-5 and 219 pounds with near 10-inch hands. He’s not the most mobile passer, but with all of the experience he has, there are a lot of elements of his play style to like as a pocket passer with a better than decent arm, good accuracy and anticipation in his operation. Durability is a bit of a concern though with multiple injuries contributing to his long collegiate career.
One thing that stands out when watching Tyler Shough is that he’s a good thrower while on the move. Especially when working to his left.
He’s a flexible athlete and flashes creativity as a thrower. pic.twitter.com/9agD33oMnw
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) March 26, 2025
An all-around impact player on offense at TCU, Williams is a long-striding fast but big-bodied (6-foot-4, 222 pounds) wideout that’s also played some running back for the Horned Frogs thanks to injuries at the position.
He’s a playmaker through and through and gets a surprising lack of shine throughout this process. Second and third round wideouts haven’t been the most successful investment in the NFL in recent draft years, but Williams threatens to buck that trend with the variety of ways he has shown he can impact a football game.
Savion Williams by any means necessary.
6’5 225
4.42 40 yd dash
Ran the Wildcat for TCU
Lined up at RB a ton for them as well
Ntm insane catch radius & YAC merchant
— JoeRobbie (@JoeRobbie_) April 2, 2025
An underrated rusher in this year’s class, Walker could be a perfect mid-round investment. Coming from a small school, Walker will have quite a leap to make when it comes to translating to the NFL. But if he does so successfully, he could be a major win for the team that picks him up.
With 10.5 sacks and 23 tackles for a loss in 2024, the 6-foot-1, 263-pound pass rusher has the production to show just how disruptive he can be in multiple areas.
Central Arkansas’ David Walker is among my favorite players in the 2025 NFL Draft because he plays like a complete maniac. But he’s also got a deep pass rush tool kit – beats RT here with a cross-chop.
Walker was third in the FCS with 55 pressures last season. pic.twitter.com/f1WscLr2wU
— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) April 8, 2025
Lagniappe
William and Mary OL Charles Grant
Bowling Green TE Harold Fannin Jr.
