Scouting Future Saints: Auburn edge rusher Keldric Faulk
· Yahoo Sports
In every draft, there are prospects with boom-or-bust potential. The New Orleans Saints have been victimized with a few such early draft choices, with Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner coming immediately to mind. One such player in the 2026 NFL Draft is Keldric Faulk, an Auburn Tigers edge rusher oozing with terrific potential.
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New Orleans is expected by many to grab an edge rusher early in the draft, perhaps as soon as the eighth overall selection. The Saints have Chase Young on one side, but have a limited Carl Granderson and an unsigned 15-year veteran in Cameron Jordan on the other. Jordan can certainly still contribute, but the Saints would be wise to bring in an heir apparent whether he is brought back or not. After the recent failings of Davenport, Turner, and Isaiah Foskey, would they take a chance on a player like Faulk?
Keldric Faulk bio
- Position: Edge
- College: Auburn Tigers
- Height: 6-feet, 6 inches
- Weight: 276 pounds
- Vertical jump: 35"
- Broad jump: 9'9"
A five-star recruit out of Highland Home, Alabama, Faulk's commitment to the Auburn Tigers kept him close to home. He'd make his mark early as a freshman in 2023 with 3.5 stops for loss and a sack among 35 tackles, earning SEC All-Freshman honors. By 2024, Faulk was a starter and responded with 7 sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Able to play both defensive tackle and on the end for the Auburn defense, Faulk's numbers dipped in 2025 but he was still respected by opponents. He had 2 sacks and 5 tackles for loss to close out his Tigers career, declaring for the NFL Draft.
Strengths
- Team captain with good leadership qualities
- Physical specimen
- Still developing athleticism and frame
- Versatility to line up on edge in even or odd-man fronts
- Long frame and reach keeps blockers at bay and sets up counters
- Sets a nice base and plays with discipline against the run
- Starting to expand pass rush moves
- Athletic enough to run down mobile quarterbacks
Weaknesses
- Production has not matched potential
- Needs to work back to the play better when pushed past the pocket
- Must work to disengage better from blocks
- Lets too many blockers get inside his frame to gain leverage
- Doesn't have a great closing burst to the ball
- Must add power to pass rush
Keldric Faulk 2026 draft outlook
Faulk is a boom-or-bust prospect who needs more polish and probably should have stayed in school another year. However, he has exciting upside with the potential to take over games. It's that upside that could cause a team to take a first-round flyer on him, possibly as high as the top-15 choices.
One of the reasons that the Saints need an edge rusher are because of draft misses based on upside and potential on players like Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner. Will those failures be enough to turn them away from Keldric Faulk? Possibly. But Faulk does have the traits as both a pass rusher and run defender to be a replacement for Cam Jordan if the Saints take the risk on drafting him, though a second round choice would be much more sensible (if available) than with the eighth overall pick.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 2026 NFL Draft: Scouting Auburn edge rusher Keldric Faulk for Saints