This is always a fun read: ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler surveyed front office personnel, scouts, coaches, and players around the league to create top-10 NFL positional rankings, which put New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore at No. 7 overall (though he was a unanimous top-10 choice). That’s after Lattimore missed most of the 2022 season with a lacerated kidney.
One NFL official ranked Lattimore at No. 1, describing him to Fowler: “Complete package. Man-to-man cover ability, has speed and size, physical in run support and very competitive.”
It’s a tumble from last year’s rankings, in which Lattimore was slotted second-best in this same exercise. Coming off career-bests in tackles (68) and pass breakups (19) as well as a third consecutive Pro Bowl appearance, expectations were high for Lattimore. Now healthy after that bizarre kidney injury, he’s looking to return to form.
“He’s a guy you can ask to take away a top guy and he does it,” one AFC defensive coach told Fowler in 2022. “One of the few players who can do that.” Lattimore limited Philadelphia Eagles playmakers DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown to a single first-down conversion and just 44 receiving yards in their Week 17 matchup, so it’s safe to say he’s back.
And the Saints will need him. As Fowler observed, Lattimore ranks fourth in the NFL with 78 pass breakups since his 2017 rookie year. Having him healthy and focused is going to make a big difference for a New Orleans defense dealing with a lot of turnover going into training camp.
