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Mock Madness Monday: Penn State Offensive Lineman Popular Choice For Saints

Olu Fashanu is the most popular mock selection for the Saints right now, which is hardly a surprise.

John Hendrix

Mar 3, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Penn State offensive lineman Olu Fashanu (OL18) during the 2024
Mar 3, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Penn State offensive lineman Olu Fashanu (OL18) during the 2024 / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

As we enter the month of April, mock drafts are only going to increase in popularity leading up to the NFL Draft. For the Saints, things seem a little clearer on what they may need to address with the 14th overall pick on opening night. Here's a look at who others are mocking to New Orleans, with it seemingly being a unanimous choice.

Mock Draft Madness Monday - The Saints Pick Is?

Penn State's Olu Fashanu certainly makes a lot of sense. He started all 12 games for the Nittany Lions last season and allowed no sacks in 365 pass-blocking snaps. He was named the Rimington-Pace Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year and earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors. He'll undoubtedly be a Top-15 pick with Top-10 upside.

For the Saints, their tackle situation is cloudy at best. Most of it centers around the future of Ryan Ramczyk and the right tackle spot, and we looked at how the team could address it recently. Landon Young would start there if the team played a game today.

On the flip side, what is to become of Trevor Penning? As we've said, he'll go into this season playing at left tackle. No position change is imminent, and New Orleans still remains high on him entering his third season. Penning's progress this offseason has been positive and promising, so it remains to be seen how he'll perform when the team hits the field, but he's going to have to perform and produce.

If you're doing any type of mock drafts for the Saints, taking an offensive tackle at 14th or 45th is a strong approach and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone telling who will be mad at it. I do like Tannenbaum choosing something different in wide receiver, as I could see that or a tight end as a potential surprise pick for New Orleans.

The NFL Draft will be here before we know it, as Apr. 25 is right around the corner.

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John Hendrix

JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net