The New Orleans Saints made a few selections that impressed experts, and one of them made the list when Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus identified the best value picks of the 2019 NFL Draft. One of the first that stuck out to him was the Saints selecting Florida Gators defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson early in the fourth round, following a couple of trades:
With the current state of the Saints’ secondary, they could use some talent anywhere they can get it. Gardner-Johnson brings that in a versatile package. He played a slot/safety role at Florida this past season and earned an 89.7 coverage grade.
Gardner-Johnson was highly effective when defending the slot at Florida, as Renner said. That should continue to be his position of focus for the Saints; general manager Mickey Loomis suggested as such, connecting Gardner-Johnson to that nickel role in the defense. So that would mean Gardner-Johnson is in the mix to cover the slot along with Patrick Robinson and P.J. Williams, rather than pushing safeties Vonn Bell and Marcus Williams for playing time.
And the Saints do have a real playmaker in Gardner-Johnson, who they were fortunate to draft at No. 105 overall. He led the SEC in targets when covering the slot (54) yet allowed the lowest passer rating in the conference (45.4), and turned three of his nine career interceptions into defensive touchdowns. There’s a very good chance he ends up starting for the Saints at some point this year.
