A chorus of literal “Who dat?” rained down from Saints fans when Houston defensive end Payton Turner was announced to be the team’s 2021 first round pick, and it was followed by more surprise across the NFL media landscape. But Turner himself expected to land late in the first round after speaking with teams this week.
“I’ve heard from GMs, coaches, everything, they try to keep it low key,” Turner said in his introductory conference call after being drafted. “But I figured I was somewhere in the range of 20 to 40. So I was really excited to get that call at 28 with the Saints, just crazy (to be picked by that) organization.