Saints 6th Round Pick Is WR and Return Specialist Barion Brown of LSU

LSU Tigers wide receiver and kick returner Barion Brown was drafted in the sixth round of the NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Saints 6th Round Pick Is WR and Return Specialist Barion Brown of LSU

Originally posted on New Orleans Saints on SI
By Jim Derry | Last updated Apr 25, 2026 4:52 PM ET

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Obviously, the New Orleans Saints thought they needed help at wide receiver. With their sixth-round selection of Barion Brown of LSU, this makes three wideouts and a tight end for the Black and Gold.

How many is too many? The answer is we have no idea.

Tyler Shough will have plenty of options to throw to in offseason workouts and training camp, as will backup quarterbacks Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson.

.@Saints @UKFootball @BarionBrown is a return specialists; maybe the replacement for @RashidShaheed ?? #whodat #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/293NwW2Iz1
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) April 25, 2026

The biggest positives about Brown, who played his first three seasons at Kentucky before transferring to LSU before the 2025 campaign, are that he can return kicks and punts and he has great speed. Could he be a replacement for Rashid Shaheed?

Brown, 5-11, 190, returned a combined 44 kicks and punts in college, with 16 of those coming last year with the Tigers. He has six touchdowns on kick returns, including at least one in all four college seasons, and he had a whopping 29.4-yard return average.

NFL.com says among his weaknesses are: “Fast but lacks route-running fundamentals,” and “Rarely gets cornerbacks stacked once he’s by them.” Also, he “lacks consistency with his deep-ball tracking.”

According to Pro Football Reference, Brown is just the 11th player from LSU the Saints have ever drafted and the first since they took Will Clapp in 2018.

This article first appeared on New Orleans Saints on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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