Meet the Saint’s Rookies

With the draft back in April and the Rookies reporting on July 19th. Look back at the rookies we have added to the roster.

Chris Olave, WR, Ohio St, RD 1 Pick 11

He is going to be a big addition to our wide receiver core. At Ohio State, he played in 47 games for the Buckeyes. Olave had 176 receptions for 2,711 yards with 35 TDS. One of the main targets for the quarterbacks at Ohio St and hopefully will continue to produce similar numbers for the Saints.

Trevor Penning, OL, Northern Iowa, RD 1, Pick 19

He is going to be a very active offensive lineman he played for a team that only allowed 36 sacks and only lost 231 yards. He was a big blocker in the running game too for the Panthers. At Northern Iowa, he played in 36 games from 2017-2021. With his talent, the Saints could have more rushing yards, fewer yards loss, and fewer sacks.

Alonte Taylor, CB, Tennessee, Round 2, Pick 49

Taylor is called a lockdown cornerback who played 45 games for the Vols. He started as a wide receiver and then moved to Cornerback in 2018. In his senior season for the Vols, he had 60 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble. He joins Paulson Adebo, Bradley Roby, Dylan Mabin, and Bryce Thompson at the left cornerback.

D’Marco Jackson, LB, App St, Round 5, Pick 161

Sun Belt Defensive Player of the year in 2021 is bringing his talent to the Saints roster. At 6’1″ and 230 LBS, he produced big numbers for Mountaineers in his time in college.  In Jackson’s senior year he had 120 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, six sacks, one forced fumble, and one interception.

Jordan Jackson, EDGE, Air Force, Round 6, Pick 194

Jackson played from 2017-2019 for Air Force. In his Senior year, he leads the teams in tackles and sacks. He started in 36 games for the Zips made 99 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and had 8 sacks.

John Parker Romo, K, Virginia

Brought in as a backup to Will Lutz Romo played in all 12 games for the Hokies in his senior season. His longest field goal was 52 yards against Notre Dame. Romo attempted 22 field goals and made 18 of those this past season.

Daniel Whelan, P, UC Davis

After the departure of Thomas Morestead, the Saints needed a new punter. Played in 12 games for the Aggies this past year. In those 12 games, he had 55 punts for 2,544 yards, his longest being 65 yards and he punted 21 50 yards or more.

Abram Smith, RB, Baylor

Smith at 5’11” and 221 LBS set the single rusher in Baylor history in 2021. Having time at both running back and receiver for the bears. When he played running back he had 257 attempts for 1,601 yards and 12 TDS. In his time at wide receiver, he had 13 receptions for 75 yards and zero touchdowns.

Lucas Krull, TE, Pittsburgh

Krull starting his career at Florida transferred to Pittsburgh in 2020. He has produced big numbers since then for the Panthers. In 2021 he played in all 14 games for the Panthers at Tight End. Krull had 38 receptions for 451 yards with 6 TDS.

Smoke Monday, DB, Auburn

Starting at safety for the Tigers in 2021 he played lights-out football. Monday had 63 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, two sacks, and one interception in his senior year for the Tigers

Isaiah Pryor, LB, Notre Dame

Pryor played from 2020-2022 for the Fighting Irish after transferring from Ohio St. In his two seasons with Notre Dame he played in 25 games and had 50 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, two sacks, and one forced fumble. Having big games against Purdue where he had 8 tackles and then against Georgia Tech, he had one sack and seven tackles.

Lewis Kidd, OL, Montana St

Kidd was an anchor for Montana St’s offense. He was first-team All-Big Sky in 2021. He had 48 consecutive starts and played in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl to finish off this last year.

Dai’Jean Dixon, WR, Nicholls St

Dixon played in all the Colones games this season at wide receiver. He had 71 receptions for 1,002 yards and 8 TDS. This season he was FCS Walter Payton Finalist and was Southland Conference player of the week in September.

Vincent Gray, DB, Michigan

Gray played DB for the Wolverines from 2018-2022. In his final season as a Wolverine, he played in 13 games. He had 46 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and one forced fumble this season for Michigan.

Nephi Sewel, LB, Utah

Sewel helped Utah to a Pac-12 championship and an invite to the Rose Bowl. In his senior year for the Utes, he played in 13 games. During those 13 games, he had 89 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, and one interception.

Eric Wilson, OL, Penn St

Wilson played in 13 games for the Nittany Lions. He was then invited to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. He had big games blocking for Penn St against Wisconsin, Ball St, Auburn, Villanova, Indiana, Ohio St, Maryland, Michigan, Rutgers, and Michigan St.

Rashid Shaheed, WR/KR, Weber St

Shaheed played mainly as a kick returner for the Wildcats. In his career, he leads the FCS in kick return touchdowns. He also earned All-Big Sky honors 4 times. Kick Returning he had 22 attempts, for 632 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Sage Doxtater, OL, New Mexico St

Doxtater is an anchor for the OL at New Mexico St. He played in 37 games as an Aggie.

Joel Dublanko, LB, Cincinnati

Dublanko played in 64 games for the Bearcats. In his senior year, he had 113 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one interception.

Derek Schweiger, OL, Iowa St

Burlsworth Trophy Semifinalist in 2021 playing offensive lineman for the cyclones. He helped the cyclone’s fourth-best scoring average in the country. He played in 13 games this year for Iowa St.

Jack Koerner, S, Iowa

Koerner played in 47 games for the Hawkeyes. In his senior year 88 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and two interceptions. He had 11 tackles in the game against Wisconsin.

DaMarcus Fields, DB, Texas Tech

Fields played in 55 games as a Red Raider. In his final year as a Red Raider, he had 50 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and one fumble recovery. Played in the East-West Shrine bowl and got invited to the NFL combine.

Related: Two Packers rookies projected to make All-Rookie teams

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