The 2023 NFL draft and those before it are in the books now, but there’s always room to question what could have been. And hindsight is always 20/20. With the offseason in full swing, it’s the time of the year to start talking about hypotheticals. What if every player in the NFL were up for grabs?
In her recent NFL-wide redraft, Natalie Miller of the Touchdown Wire had the Saints selecting former LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who clearly has been a hit for the Minnesota Vikings.
Note that this is a scenario in which every team across the NFL is rebuilding from scratch in a randomized draft order, so there are hypotheticals abound where all of this is concerned.
But in such a situation, it is hard not to agree with the Saints taking player like this based off of pure talent level and rate of production — both things that Jefferson clearly brings to the table.
“The Saints value a high powered offense and make a statement by taking the best young athlete at his position with wide receiver Justin Jefferson,” Miller wrote of the Saints’ pick at No. 14 overall.
The record-setting Jefferson made quite the statement at LSU as part of a two-headed monster at wideout and has carried onto the NFL level, totaling 324 receptions for 4,825 yards with 25 touchdown catches over three years in the pros.
To think of what he could have been in New Orleans is the stuff on dreams — and it will remain that way moving forward into the future, barring something unforeseen like a shocking trade.
