The 2026 NFL Offseason is in its very early stages, but things are about to start ramping up soon. In a week, the first NFL Draft offseason event, the East-West Shrine Bowl, begins its first practices. Shortly after that, on the 27th, the Senior Bowl will start its practices.
Every offseason event is extremely important for teams, but the Senior Bowl is one where the New Orleans Saints, in particular, love to draft from.
The Saints Will Have an Excellent Opportunity To Learn More About Prospects at the Senior Bowl
As I mentioned, the New Orleans Saints take the Senior Bowl into heavy consideration when selecting prospects from the draft. Just last year, New Orleans selected 5 of its 9 rookies from the Senior Bowl roster: QB Tyler Shough, S Jonas Sanker, CB Quincy Riley, RB Devin Neal, and TE Moliki Matavao.
This has been a trend throughout the Saints’ draft classes, and New Orleans usually has some of its position coaches on each Senior Bowl staff. Although we do not yet know the entire staff, the head coaches of each team have just been announced, and one is representing the Saints.
Officially, Saints’ RB Coach Joel Thomas will be the HC of the American Team during the Senior Bowl.
2026 Panini Senior Bowl Head Coaches 🏈🔥
The American Team will be led by Joel Thomas of the New Orleans Saints.
The National Team will be led by Clint Hurtt of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Full staff to be announced on Monday.#TheDraftStartsInMobile pic.twitter.com/YKpA1cBx7f
— Panini Senior Bowl (@seniorbowl) January 16, 2026
With Thomas leading one of the teams, he will be able to gain even better insight into the players than if the Saints had just position coaches on the staff. Learning how each prospect reacts to things, practice habits, skills, and character are just some of the things that can be assessed during this event.
I would still expect some Saints coaches to be sprinkled throughout each team’s staff.
With Thomas getting a good look at the prospects, it’s important to know who those players are going into the event. Some of the top prospects on the American team are: CB Julian Neal, S A.J. Haulcy, EDGE Zion Young, DT Caleb Banks, EDGE Akheem Mesidor, WR Ja’Kobi Lane, and more.
