Why the saints should draft Laquan Treadwell at 12

You've heard the same thing week in and week out. Saints have one of the best offenses in the league. They also had one of the worst defenses in the league 2 years in a row. Logically you would think defense would be the best pick for Round 1. Here's why I think Laquon Treadwell would be a good pick at #12. I decided to play Devils Advocate with this btw.

Reason #1 - Run Blocking

Even without his WR skills, Treadwell does one thing phenomenally , and that is run block. He digs into people's chests and bullies them, effectively taking CBs and Safeties out of a play. This gives New Orleans a huge boost in the run game, and would also help in the screen game, which we all know Sean Payton loves to run 10 times a game. He would clear the lane for Cooks, making it so he will likely have to beat one DB on a move and then he can go. This is a huge boost to the team. With Treadwell pancaking smaller DBs, Ingram will have room to run

Reason #2 : Deep Ball/End Zone fade

The other thing Treadwell is a monster at is jumpballs. He caught a ton of them, and rarely if ever doesn't catch them. Let's be honest. The Saints do not have a red zone target. Brandon Coleman, for all that height, does not know how to use it. Treadwell had a higher vertical leap, at 33 inches, than Coleman, even though Coleman is 4 inches taller. Coleman is also very poor at tracking the ball. Cooks and Snead are small receivers. Treadwell would add a whole new dimension to the passing game, allowing Brees to hit Treadwell on fades and deep passes, with big gains and TDs in return. Considering he had 14 yards per catch last season and came down with an astounding number of jump balls, Treadwell would move the chains and bring us downfield well.

Reason #3 : We have no #1 receiver

Yes, Brandin Cooks has over 1,000 yards receiving last season, but take a closer look at his stats, and you'll see he really wasn't a #1 receiver. He only cleared the 100 yard mark 4 times

Cooks, as of now, is clearly a #2 WR. He is not great, which is what Treadwell would be with Brees throwing him the ball. Our offense was good this year, but there were times when it looked awful, and Treadwell would help remedy those problems. Our offense scored 25 points or less in 8 games this season. With a below average to average defense, that just will not cut it. If we cannot win games by our defense, we might as well win by scoring too much.

Reason #4 : The level of defensive talent in the draft and depth of our injuries

Everyone in the whole world knows New Orleans needs defensive help. We had a historically bad defense, mainly due to a lack of depth and/or talent at 3 positions : CB2, WLB, and DT

CB2 was awful. Keenan Lewis was injured the whole year, Swann kept having fluky concussions, and PJ Williams, a first round talent we got in the 3rd due to character problems was on IR all year. We were left with Brandon Browner and the Dixon Bros. While Delvin Breaux shut down his side of the field, WR2 would be wide open, or run deep and get a flag thrown on Browner. I expect at least 2 of the 3 aforementioned injured players to return and play, which means this shouldn't be a position we draft in the 1st

At WLB, Ellerbe was super solid when he played. Key word : When he played. Goose only appeared in 6 games. Ramon Humber, James Anderson, and Michael Mauti were (sorry Mauti) awful in replacement, rarely generating any help. With Jaylon Smith too much of a risk and Darron Lee being a reach+ the amount of depth at WLB later in the draft (Deion Jones, Jatavis Brown) this likely won't be the pick, unless Myles Jack is there

DT was a joke this year. Kevin Williams was solid but weak , and Jenkins was awful this season. Our DTs were constantly pushed forward yards at a time by centers and guards, letting teams run all over us. It seems like this would be the most likely pick here. However, DT is the best position in this draft. There are DTs with 1st round grades that will go later due to the strength of this class. Specifically, Vernon Butler and Chris Jones look like studs we can grab in the 2nd or 3rd, leaving the door open for Laquon Treadwell as our #1 pick.

Laquon Treadwell is the guy , I trust Brees with our #1 pick 1000% more than Vitt or Bill Johnson, get him a superstar on the way out . Just look how Anthony couldn't cut it at ILB, Vitt is terrible!!