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Former Saints draft pick Boston Scott sustaining success with the Eagles

john sigler
·3 min read

The New Orleans Saints deserve serious credit for the turnaround they’ve created in drafting college talent after hiring former Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland to overhaul their scouting department, but New Orleans’ 2018 draft class is proof the Saints still aren’t infallible.

Just three of their seven draft picks are still on the team: defensive end Marcus Davenport, wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith, and backup offensive lineman Will Clapp, who has been bouncing on and off of the practice squad.

To be fair, each of the players they drafted and cut months later are still kicking around the league. Fourth-round tackle Rick Leonard is on the Cardinals practice squad, safety Natrell Jamerson was recently called up to play for the Panthers, and cornerback Kamrin Moore is hanging on with the Giants. But the biggest missed opportunity of the group remains running back Boston Scott.

Scott, a sixth-round pick out of nearby Louisiana Tech, performed well in training camp and preseason but the Saints coaches decided to cut him in favor of backups Jonathan Williams and Mike Gillislee. With Mark Ingram sidelined by a four-game PED suspensions to start the year, they reasoned that the bigger backs could fill in better next to Alvin Kamara than the 5-foot-6, 203-pound Scott.

They were wrong. The Philadelphia Eagles signed Scott off their practice squad in December 2018, and the Saints chose to not keep him around by promoting him to the active roster. 22 months later and Scott is starting games for the Eagles while Gillislee is out of the league and Williams is buried on the Lions depth chart.

Scott has proven to be a clutch player in Philly, running a dozen times for 46 rushing yards while catching 3 of his 5 targets for another 46 receiving yards and a touchdown scored in the Eagles’ narrow 22-21 win over the Giants last week. He’s already halfway there to matching his 2019 scrimmage yards total (449) with 207 total yards of offense in seven games. Scott is also fielding kicks this year with 167 return yards.

The Saints probably would have enjoyed having someone with those talents when Kamara missed time last year with injuries, and when he returned to battle through those same issues.

It isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It’s barely even a blemish, to be honest; the Saints remain very deep at running back between Kamara and 2019 free agent pickup Latavius Murray, and their special teams unit is, well, strong, to say the least (Deonte Harris won All-Pro recognition in the role last year).

But it’s still disappointing to see a player the Saints passed on finding so much success somewhere else. Especially when neither of the players they bet on instead are also not a factor on this year’s team.

So keep situations like these in mind when the Saints are on the clock in the closing rounds of next year’s draft; sure, they could find the next Marques Colston or Zach Strief with their final pick. They could also help someone else find the next Boston Scott.