The 2026 NFL Draft will kick off this Thursday night, with every team around the league doing its best to facilitate the growth of its young core and continue to move into the future. The New Orleans Saints started off with a great 2025 draft class under Kellen Moore's guidance, and now, they look to build around Tyler Shough, giving him as much talent as possible to move the needle towards being competitive again.
In a recent mock draft by Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN, he split his focus between adding to the defense and to the offense, as he went through a two-round experience instead. In round one, he landed the Saints' edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr.
"The Saints' defense is getting a bit of a refresh this offseason, and regardless of whether defensive end Cameron Jordan comes back, they need more youth and juice on the edge," Kiper wrote. "Bain might have short arms for the position, but he also has immense power, plenty of explosion and the deep pass-rush toolbox to beat offensive tackles with consistency."
As for round two, he flipped to the offensive side, turning his attention to the wide receiver corps and bringing in one of the most notable risers post-combine in the class, Texas A&M wideout KC Concepcion: "The Saints are clearly trying to give second-year quarterback Tyler Shough the tools for success. They signed running back Travis Etienne Jr. and guard David Edwards. But they are still lacking on the WR front behind Chris Olave. Concepcion is elusive and could slot in as the new No. 2 wideout after 919 yards and nine touchdowns last season."
Odds are, there will be a back-and-forth between offense and defense in rounds one and two for New Orleans, as they need help on both sides of the ball. But ultimately, it comes down to who is available, and getting Bain along with Concepcion is a strong value choice in both regards, taking players off the board who rapidly raise the floor and ceiling of the franchise long-term.
Not only that, he gets two players at positions of need, who can produce at a decently high level if collegiate success carries over. We will see which direction the Saints actually go in a few days time, but this seems like a feasible expectation overall.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 2026 NFL Draft: Mel Kiper links Saints to Rueben Bain, KC Concepcion