Four wide receivers the Saints could pick in the 2025 draft

By Rhys Knott

Kellen Moore has the ninth overall pick in his first draft as Saints head coach. He should use it to improve his offense and there’s one glaring issue to address.

The Saints seem set to stick with Derek Carr as their starting quarterback in 2025 (there’s a $50 million dead cap hit attached to his contract). If the Derek Carr who guided the team to a 2-0 start and helped them score 91 points in 2024 shows up in 2025 that’s not a problem. But he’s going to need more options in his receiving corps than just Chris Olave and Rasheed Shahid. 

The Saints’ leading three pass catchers in 2024 were Alvin Kamara, Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau, not a wide receiver between them! Bub Means flashed some promise last season but only caught nine passes before missing the last nine games of the season.

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When Marquez Valdes-Scantling is leading the receiving corps with four touchdowns in a season Kellen Moore knows he needs to add some stardust. 

Matthew Golden, Texas

He’d be the perfect pick for a team that plays in black and gold. Golden might be the best pass catcher in the 2025 class, nothing distracts him from securing the rock. He hauled in some pretty dreadful passes during his time in Texas. And while Steve Sarkisian’s play design often schemed him open, the 21-year-old always finds the space in zone defenses.  

The Houston native started 36 games during his college career and caught 22 touchdowns. Nine of those came in his senior year in Texas when he averaged 17 yards per reception! 

Golden clocked the fastest 40-yard time for a receiver at the combine! His 4.29 was only beaten by Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston. He wasn’t involved in the run game during his college career, but he did rack up 112 rushing yards and four touchdowns during his high school career.  

He has experience returning kicks (he scored two return touchdowns as a sophomore in Houston) and projects as a first-round pick. Most analysts expect he will fall to the Chargers 22nd overall. The former Houston Cougar has the versatility to line up out wide or in the slot, and Kellen Moore will definitely be able to scheme him open like Sarkisian. Trading back or even spending their 9th overall pick on a receiver with a bright future would make sense for the Saints.

Luther Burden III., Missouri

Everyone is lauding Travis Hunter as the best receiver in the class, and he has a handy knack for always coming down with the ball. But once he’s secured the ball, Hunter isn’t the most gifted receiver in the class. Hunter averaged just 1.9 yards after the catch on receptions between 10 and 19 yards downfield. 

Burden III, on the other hand, is elite when it comes to making defenders miss in the open field. He played basketball in high school so he’s got this natty little spin move that makes defenders look very silly indeed. The St. Louis native can squeeze through gaps between defenders with ease and doesn’t hesitate to lower his shoulder when there’s a defender in his path. He’s only 206 pounds, though, so he won’t be sending any linebackers flying. 

The 21-year-old ran a 4.41 40-yard time at the combine, making him the 14th fastest receiver in the class (it’s a very fast class). But the Saints already have Rasheed and Olave to stretch the field vertically. Burden III can operate in the space between the linebackers and safeties, and once he’s got the ball, he’ll cause them all serious problems.

Jaylin Noel, Iowa State

He’s not very big but loves a battle and is fast enough to trouble any defensive back. The 22-year-old is the best mover in the class. Noel can change direction without slowing down, leaving defenders in his wake. 

Noel was named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year in 2024, so he has no problem putting in a shift, either. During his career at Iowa State, he averaged 8.8 yards per punt return and 22.2 yards per kick return. However, he never scored a return touchdown. 

The Kansas native was far more prolific on offense, catching 245 passes at 11.7 yards per reception over his four seasons. 18 of those catches resulted in touchdowns. But it’s Noel’s senior year that really stands out. He hauled in 80 passes for 1,194 yards with eight touchdowns! 

Noel is 5-foot-10, but he ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the combine. NFL NextGen Stats ranked Noel as the third-best receiver at the combine with an Athleticism Score of 93! Unsurprisingly, his stock has risen recently, and he projects as a third-round pick, the 76th pick, to be precise. The Saints have the 71st pick, so that fits together nicely.

Kyle Williams, Washington State

It’s always difficult to project performances against Pac-12 defenses into expected performances against NFL calibre defenses (Ja’Lynn Polk averaged 3.5 receptions per game at Washington and 0.8 as a Patriot) but, Williams’ ability to consistently win against man coverage bodes well for his future. 

The undersized Williams is really fun to watch unless you’re a defender. The former UNLV Rebel is just really hard to tackle. He can beat defenders both before and after the catch with his speed and agility, and he runs straight through arm tackles. But he didn’t shine at the combine.
According to NextGen Stats, Williams was the 13th-ranked receiver in Indy. 

He caught 29 touchdown passes during his 50 games in college. The former Saint Monica High Preparatory pupil (an honour he shares with Marcellus Wiley and Robert Wagner) had a stellar senior year in Pullman. Last year  Williams hauled in 70 passes for 1,198 yards and caught 14 scoring passes in 13 games!  

The 5-foot-11 Inglewood native projects as a fifth-round pick. Some teams might be reticent to take a player who failed to shine at the combine, but Williams is a gamer who will contribute however he can for whoever signs him. 

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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