2015 NFL Mock Draft: Titans Take Mariota, Eagles Select Cornerback

15. The rebuild is on in New Orleans and, with the first of their two first round picks, Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes heads to the Saints to try and infuse some translatable skill to the secondary. New Orleans has been historically bad on defense the past few seasons and their inability to defend the pass is a big reason why. Signing Jairus Byrd didn’t alleviate any of the concerns considering he missed the better part of the season after an underwhelming start. Second round pick Stanley Jean-Baptiste looked lost most of the time as he adjusted to the NFL game. Keenan Lewis is a good player, but New Orleans has to continue to supplement their defense. Waynes helps the Saints two-fold in the sense that he’s an extremely talented player who plays a position of need and he’s cheap. New Orleans has purged as much as any team this offseason and cannot afford to ‘miss’ on the young players they bring in to try and ride out the end of Drew Brees’ career. I’m not as high on Waynes as some others, but he fits the prototypical mold for corners in today’s NFL and has given teams no reason not to think he can excel at the NFL level.. Cornerback. Michigan State. Trae Waynes. 13. player