Saints select Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. with their first-round pick at 9th overall

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints selected Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. with the No. 9 overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday night.

Banks arrives one day after general manager Mickey Loomis said the Saints would not be picking up a fifth-year option on right tackle Trevor Penning, a 2022 late first-rounder who now enters his final season under contract.

The 6-foot-5, 315-pound Banks, who won the 2024 Outland Trophy as the top lineman in college football, will be expected to compete with Penning for a starting role.

This is the second year in a row the Saints have used their first-round choice on an offensive tackle after taking Taliese Fuaga, who started at left tackle as a rookie last season.

The Saints also entered the draft with one second-round selection (40th overall), two in the third round (71st and 93rd), two in the fourth (112th and 131st), one in the sixth and two in the seventh.

They’re hoping to draft some instant contributors as they try to bounce back from a 5-12 record, their worst since going 3-13 in 2005.

New Orleans is also trying to end a four-year playoff drought that began after the retirement of record-setting quarterback Drew Brees.