Grading the Jake Haener Pick for the Saints

Jake Haener may not be an immediate contributor for the Saints, but the familiarity with Ronald Curry and ties to Drew Brees and Derek Carr may help in a huge way.

Author:
John Hendrix
Updated:
Apr 30, 2023 12:27 PM EDT
Original:
Apr 30, 2023

In this story:

New Orleans Saints

The draft is over for the Saints. They had a really successful one, addressing several key needs. They've put in a good bit of work into the undrafted rookie pool as well, as they look to build out their 90-man roster. Let's take a closer look at the Jake Haener pick for New Orleans, as they traded up to get him in the fourth round.

Grading the Jake Haener Pick

USATSI_19555944_168388561_lowres — Dec 3, 2022; Boise, Idaho, USA; Fresno State Bulldogs quarterback Jake Haener (9) during the first half of the Mountain West Championship game versus the Boise State Broncos at Albertsons Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

Jake Haener is going to be an instant fan favorite. He grew up a Saints-Drew Brees fan on the West Coast, and he told us he still has some of the swag from his childhood.

“Boiling it down, he knows how to play quarterback,” Jim Nagy said. “There are some guys in this draft with more tools, bigger guys, bigger arm guys, but they just don’t play the position nearly as well as Jake does.”

Nagy said to just turn on the game against UCLA as a point of reference, where Fresno State came back to win. The Saints got an extended look from Haener at the Senior Bowl, particularly with Ronald Curry and D.J. Williams. He was actually running the Saints playbook while there, and ended up being the MVP of the game. It was quite an install they had there, and him being to adapt to it is a sign of the good football IQ.

Dennis Allen said, "He's extremely smart. He's highly competitive. His decision-making and processing is outstanding. He throws the ball with timing and accuracy."

The lone knock here is that Haener won't see the field in 2023 or foreseeable future. Something drastic would have to happen there, but Allen said specifically that he'll be behind Derek Carr and Jameis Winston. New Orleans will need to develop him some, but down the line he could be someone of particular intrigue.

The familiarity will certainly help his outlook going forward, and a lot of analysts have compared his outlook to a Taylor Heinicke. It was good to see New Orleans not get a quarterback on Day 1 or 2, simply because it wasn't an area they should have addressed the position, but Day 3 made sense. Haener will be fun to watch, and is easily the most exciting quarterback the Saints have drafted in years.

Draft Grade: C+