The New Orleans Saints did a big fat rebuild of their roster after ending 2020 $100 billion over the salary cap. Drew Brees retired, and now they have to figure out if Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill ends up as their QB1 in 2021. The New Orleans Saints took two fantasy football-relevant guys in the 2021 drafts, and since I already have your click: don’t bother.
FULL NEW ORLEANS SAINTS DRAFT RESULTS
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos. | College |
| 1 | 28 | Payton Turner | DE | Houston |
| 2 | 60 | Pete Werner | LB | Ohio State |
| 3 | 76 | Paulson Adebo | CB | Stanford |
| 4 | 133 | Ian Book | QB | Notre Dame |
| 6 | 206 | Landon Young | OT | Kentucky |
| 7 | 255 | Kawaan Baker | WR | South Alabama |
Round 4, Pick 133 Overall: Ian Book, Quarterback, Notre Dame (6’0” 210 pounds)
Depth Chart:
QB1: Taysom Hill
QB2: Jameis Winston
QB3: Ian Book
TALENT
If Book was 4-5 inches taller, or this was 30 years ago, he probably would end up going in day three of the draft. As it is, he’s about an inch taller than I am, and I have zero NFL prospects. Book is an athletic dude who frantically stayed alive with that athleticism. He does a great job of keeping his eyes downfield while evading the pass rush. Unfortunately, I can’t remember a single play where he was able to stay in the pocket where the line collapsed. Overall, Book is nice on the move with a decent arm and some good touch, but ultimately, he isn’t a useful fantasy football commodity in the NFL with his accuracy issues.
2021 OPPORTUNITY
It’s hard to be the worst quarterback on a roster that includes both Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston, but here we are. Book is a cheap depth piece for the Saints, and nothing more. I don’t expect him to even see the field barring catastrophic injuries to both Hill and Winston. Even then, the Saints likely go out and sign… *spins wheel* …Mike Glennon(?) before giving the ball over to Ian Book. I’m talking, a Ben DiNucci level collapse at quarterback before we see Book.
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Please do not even think about putting Ian Book on your fantasy football rosters, unless you want to get Taysom Hill too, and call your QB depth chart “The Book of Mormon.”
TALENT
2021 OPPORTUNITY
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Round 7, Pick 255 Overall: Kawaan Baker, Wide Receiver, South Alabama (6’1” 210 pounds)
Depth Chart:
WR1: Michael Thomas
WR2: Tre’Quan Smith
WR3: Marquez Callaway
WR4: Deonte Harris
…
WR?: Kawaan Baker
TALENT
It’s never a good sign when all I can find for a player are highlight reels instead of cut-ups, and that is the case with Kawaan Baker. What’s worse? The highlight reel is like 3:30 and two of the first three plays, eating up about a minute, are just generic bucket throws. The fourth play is the defense giving up on a touchdown in the waning seconds. Baker is very fast for his size (4.44 40-yard dash), and got handoffs at South Alabama. He seems to be in the “everybody plays every position” the Saints love (their QB is a tight end!). He had some nice open field chops, and he’s explosive, but he’s not very agile. That’s very weird! Ultimately, he’ll need some seasoning to be anything fantasy-relevant, but should help the Saints right away if he makes the squad.
2021 OPPORTUNITY
He’s completely buried in the depth chart and needs a lot to even make the squad outright (not practice squad), let alone matter for 2021. His path to making the roster comes in special teams, as he returned kicks at South Alabama. The Saints have an extremely good return man in Deonte Harris, but they likely want to work him more into the offense. He’ll be fighting Tre’Quan Smith for relevance, best case scenario.
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
This is a New Orleans Saints team in transition, and it isn’t a transition I want to lean into. He’s a hard pass for me in any 2021 redraft fantasy football leagues.
TALENT
2021 OPPORTUNITY
2021 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
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