A few recent player-team meetings during the showcase cycle:
~ Wake Forest OT DeVonte Gordon (6034, 314):
• 49ers
• Eagles
• Saints
• Bills
• Patriots
• Colts
• Bears
• Chargers
• Jaguars
• Titans~ Arkansas SAF Jayden Johnson (6023, 198):
• Colts
•…— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) February 3, 2025
The New Orleans Saints have been active in meeting with a multitude of prospects leading up to the 2025 NFL draft, and have continued to do so into early February. One of the prospects they most recently met with was Wake Forest offensive tackle, DeVonte Gordon, as reported by Ryan Fowler for The Draft Network. The Saints were among nine other teams to meet with him, however, they were the only NFC South team in the group according to the report.
Gordon has consistently improved over his five-year college career, with his game transitioning from right tackle to the left side by 2023, and fully starting there in 2024. This move did him a lot of good, as his production improved immensely when it came to protecting the quarterback.
Per Pro Football Focus charting in 2024, Gordon allowed only 3 sacks and 11 pressures in 776 snaps, however, his biggest weakness was penalties. He accrued a whopping 14 infractions over the course of the 12-game season. This is not a consistent issue with him, as in his other three full seasons he only had six or fewer fouls, so it may have been more the product of learning a new position.
The difficulty in drafting Gordon would be figuring out where to play him, as at 6-foot-3 and 314 pounds, he has more of a guard build but does not have the experience there. All of his snaps coming at left tackle (1,110), right tackle (2,543), or funny enough, in-line tight end (2) on a couple of jumbo packages.
Presumably, the Saints would be looking to have him as a guard, with Trevor Penning and Taliese Fuaga already manning the tackle spots. This would be a good positional change for Gordon if he could manage the switch, as with that many penalties, odds are his struggles are related to the position more than his true skills. He could be an intriguing addition for the team in the middle of the draft, no doubt.
