Chris Olave rebounded nicely from an injury-plagued 2024 season, and Devaughn Vele emerged late in the season as the ball-winner the New Orleans Saints have been seeking for years — yet receiver is still very much in the mix with the No. 8 pick in the upcoming NFL draft.
New Orleans has used free agency to shore up some of its offensive shortcomings around quarterback Tyler Shough, signing some of the best available players at guard (David Edwards) and running back (Travis Etienne). But the Saints have not yet added another pass catcher to the mix.
Olave, Vele and tight end Juwan Johnson represent a solid starting point. But beyond them, there are a lot of question marks.
Former 2024 second-rounder Ja’Lynn Polk was an interesting investment, but he missed all of last season with a shoulder injury and is almost a complete unknown. Free agent tight end Noah Fant is now on his fourth team and has been solid, not great, in his career. The rest of the roster is stocked with players who should be fighting for roster spots.
There are three wide receivers in this class who figure to be in the mix for the Saints at No. 8, and several others who could make sense on Day 2 if New Orleans goes in a different direction with its top pick.
Options at No. 8
Ohio State WR Carnell Tate, 6-foot-2, 192: Forget the mini controversy over Tate’s 40-yard dash time (4.53 seconds) at the NFL combine; the Ohio State product can play.
If his speed was an issue, that’s news to the Buckeyes. Tate averaged better than 15 yards per catch in his career, and he caught five touchdowns of 40 or more yards in his final season, when he averaged 17.2 yards per reception. Among the top three receivers in this class, he probably has the best combination of size and big-play ability.
Tate’s highlight reel is littered with him getting big separation from college defensive backs, but he also showed he could do the dirty work, hauling in 12 of his 14 contested catch opportunities and going through the 2025 season without dropping a single pass.
If there’s any downside to drafting Tate with their top pick, it is that his game is fairly similar to Olave’s. He’s a downfield threat who doesn’t bring much juice after the catch. But New Orleans would probably be happy with two Chris Olaves on the field.
USC WR Makai Lemon, 5-11. 192: For someone who draws a lot of comparisons to Detroit Lions All-Pro Amon-Ra St. Brown, the 2025 Biletnikoff Award winner is still a somewhat polarizing pro prospect.
Unlike the other top receivers in this class, Lemon primarily profiles as a slot receiver in the NFL — which is where he played the overwhelming majority of his snaps with the Trojans last year. The team that drafts him will need to have a strong vision for how he fits within their offensive system.
But for the Saints, his particular skillset might just be the missing ingredient in their aerial attack: Lemon is one of the best play-making receivers in this class with the ball in his hands.
The USC product racked up more than 600 yards after the catch last season, moving more like a running back than a receiver after the catch. He is a strong runner for his size and has a knack for eluding or breaking through tackles. That would be a welcome addition for a Saints team that struggled to generate YAC last year, ranking 22nd.
Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson, 6-2, 203: If this was just about Tyson, the player, the conversation would be quite simple. He’s a big and twitchy athlete, which makes him a nightmare against man coverage (4.63 yards per route run against man last year, according to The Ringer).
But this is not just about the player, but also his injury history. He started his college career at Colorado but had his freshman season cut short by a torn ACL, MCL and PCL; he then missed the Sun Devils’ 2024 playoff run with a broken collarbone and sat out four games last season because of multiple hamstring injuries.
Tyson only participated in the bench press at the combine, in part because of his hamstring injury.
He might wind up being the best receiver in the class, but the team that drafts him is going to have to be comfortable with the medical history.
The intriguing risk
Louisville WR Chris Bell, 6-2, 222: While we’re on the topic of interesting players with a concerning injury history, here is Shough’s former favorite target at Louisville.
Bell was in the midst of an outstanding senior season at Louisville before he tore his ACL in late November against SMU. While he has said he will be ready for the start of training camp, it is definitely possible he is not ready to contribute in a real way until the 2027 season.
That said, Bell is a big, physical receiver who can slot in as an X receiver and also win underneath.
His breakout college season came with Shough at quarterback, when he hauled in 43 receptions for 737 yards (a career-best 17.1 per catch) with four scores. Last season, Bell caught 72 passes for 917 yards and six touchdowns before his injury.
Day 3 tight ends?
Notre Dame TE Eli Raridon, 6-6, 245: Another player with some concerning injury history (Raridon has torn his ACL twice), he could be an intriguing Day 3 option to develop behind Johnson and Fant.
He has potential as a field-stretching Y tight end (he ran a 4.62-second 40-yard dash) who also adds something as a blocker. Raridon didn’t flash his pass-catching ability until his senior season, when he caught 32 passes for 482 yards with a long of 65.
Houston TE Tanner Koziol, 6-7, 247: While Koziol may be something of a one-dimensional player at this stage in his development, it’s hard to argue with his body of work as a pass catcher.
He hauled in a whopping 94 passes in his junior season at Ball State before transferring to Houston, where he became a semifinalist for the Mackey Award after catching 74 passes for 727 yards and six touchdowns — including a 9-76-1 line against LSU in the Texas Bowl.