NFL Draft: How to watch and what to look for from the Saints

An overview of how to tune in to the NFL draft, and what to look for from the Saints.

It's go time, as the NFL draft kicks off their three-day event starting on Thursday evening. Coverage starts at 6 p.m. ET, with Peyton Manning set to kick off the start of the draft at 8 p.m. ET. Here's a list of happenings on the first night, followed by the complete schedule of the draft. (all times eastern).

  • 6 p.m. ET - LSU's Ed Orgeron and Alabama's Nick Saban on College GameDay Live
  • 6:30 p.m. ET - Tua Tagovailoa feature on ESPN
  • 7:15 p.m. ET - Roger Goodell interview with ESPN's Trey Wingo

Round 1: Thursday, April 23rd at 7 p.m. ET

Rounds 2-3: Friday, April 24th at 7 p.m. ET

Rounds 4-7: Saturday, April 25th at 12 p.m. ET

How to Watch: ABC, NFL Network, ESPN, ESPN Deportes (ESPN2 available for Day 2-3)

How to Stream: fuboTV

How to Listen: ESPN Radio, Sirius XM NFL Radio, Westwood One

Draft-A-Thon Streaming: NFL.com, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch Prime, Twitter, Yahoo Sports

The Draft-A-Thon is a livestream designed to support COVID-19 relief efforts. Big names like Rich Eisen, Deion Sanders, and special guest Kevin Hart will be around for this on the first night. Cam Jordan is scheduled to appear on it sometime on Day 2. You can contribute here, or go to https://relief.nfl.com, where over $284,000 has already been raised. It was announced on Wednesday morning that Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis were donating $8,000 each to this.

For the New Orleans Saints, they have five draft picks entering Thursday night, and select 24th overall in the first round. Here's the full list of selections they have, as they are without a Round 2 and Round 7 pick.

  • Round 1 (24th overall)
  • Round 3 (88th overall) 
  • Round 4 (130th overall) 
  • Round 5 (169th overall) 
  • Round 6 (203rd overall)

Round One - What to Look For

The Saints are no stranger to trading up, and that's a strong possibility going into the first night. Trading down to acquire more picks is certainly not something New Orleans has shown over the years. Look for the sweet spot to start right after the 15th pick, if the Saints were to make a move. You can review the team's trading history under Sean Payton here. Some of the hottest names associated to the Saints, if they hold firm at 24th, look like this.

  • A.J. Terrell, CB, Clemson
  • Jordan Love, QB, Utah State
  • Kenneth Murray, LB, Oklahoma
  • Patrick Queen, LB, LSU
  • Yetur Gross-Matos, DE, Penn State
  • Brandon Aiyuk, WR, Arizona State

The only position that likely can't be justified using a first-round pick on that would make many question the decision would be an offensive lineman or running back. Just about anything else can be in play for the Saints. One other thing to pay attention to is if they look at trading any of their own.


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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