Why Saints' UDFA Millard "Nook" Bradford could be a breakout candidate in 2024 NFL season
Millard “Nook” Bradford went undrafted out of TCU, but the New Orleans Saints have signed him ahead of the 2024 NFL season. This was a class that received a whole lot of publicity, and there were some safeties drafted that were arguably behind Bradford on many draft boards.
I see why the NFL wasn’t quite as high on him considering he’s on the smaller end at 5’11”, 190 pounds, he only has around 30-inch arms and he missed 16.8% of attempted tackles in his career.
Now, I do like what he presents as a deep safety, where he operates low, covering good depth in his pedal and coming out of it without much fat. He doesn’t get preoccupied with receivers pushing vertically at him, and when he does have to open up and run, he tracks the deep ball very well. He also takes a near-optimal path toward the ball when it goes to targets in front of him.
That’s why quarterbacks only had a passer rating of 56.5 when targeting him last season and he intercepted four passes over the past three years, of which he took two back to the house. When asked to play man, he looks comfortable identifying route stems, anticipating the break-point and has the 4.42 speed to stick with guys in isolated situations.
The biggest issue I saw on tape for Bradford is that he got too antsy to undercut receivers breaking in front of him, without securing the upfield shoulder and allowing bigger plays than he should have in the process.
If he can fix that, there’s a lot to like, including the efficient tracks he takes to the football in the run game. Then there's the way he eludes receivers trying to put hands on him and his willingness to get involved in high-speed collisions against bigger bodies. Along with that, he brings the mindset and experience of a five-phase special teamer (562 such snaps in his career).
How Millard "Nook" Bradford will fit with the Saints
Evaluating this Saints roster, if they were to keep Marshon Lattimore around – amid rumors that he may be traded to a contender – their top four corners are as good as it gets across the NFL. However, the safety position is a bit up in the air.
Tyrann Mathieu is still performing at a fairly high level, but he’s about to enter year 12 as a pro. Jordan Howden was a fifth-round pick for them last year, who will now take on a full-time starting role after performing well on more than half of the defensive snaps as a rookie.
Counting Will Harris as a slot corner however, then you’re looking at special teams ace J.T. Gray and former first-round bust Jonathan Abram, who got beat out by Howden last year, only played just over 200 snaps and has yet to go below a 14% missed-tackle rate in his five seasons. With that in mind, there’s a pretty realistic path for Bradford to end up as a core special teamer and backup for New Orleans.