With the 14th pick in the Pod Community Mock, the Saints select...

It’s time for the New Orleans Saints to make their first-round pick in our 2024 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft. The franchise that Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn left behind have been looking for an identity since the pair (and Sean Payton and Drew Brees) left.

To help New Orleans return to glory, commenter GM in exile is tasked with being the team’s general manager in this mock draft. Before we get into the pick, be sure to catch up on the previous picks in this mock with our 2024 POD Community Mock Draft tracker.

With the 14th pick in the Community Mock, the Saints have selected Olumuyiwa Fashanu, offensive tackle from Penn State.

Here’s GM in exile explaining the pick:

“I’ve done a deep dive on the Saints for several years now. The only time I drafted for a different team was when I mocked Chris Olave to the Steelers. And while the players I selected haven’t necessarily set the world on fire, I’ve been on track and in sync with the positions the actual Saints selected (I’m taking credit for nailing Foskey last year). I’ve gotten to know a few things about the culture—the team’s culture as well as the way the city relates to the Saints. It’s hard not to like the music. The whole WHO DAT thing is kinda fun.

“Last year, I wrote ‘One assumes the New Orleans Saints are looking around at the division and thinking, ‘we can take this.’’ This division is not particularly strong, so I understand the argument. I’d rather see them strip it down, fix the ongoing cap problems, take the L this year, and reboot. Whether they do that or not, the choice is clear. GET A TACKLE!

“This is the best tackle class in years. The Saints just cannot afford to ignore the talent at the position. As it happens, this is a position of great need this year. Ryan Ramczyk is hurt. Trevor Penning just hasn’t been good. Andrus Peat is gone. It’s time to focus on a player that can play left tackle with an idea that he might swing to right if it makes sense.

“Of all the top tackles in this class, Olumuyiwa Fashanu makes (by far) the most sense. He shows up with size, arm length, a history of top competition, and the ability to play left tackle. A little research suggests most of the top tackles are a fit for RT only. It’s ride or die with Fashanu.”