You’d hope for an immediate impact from a third round pick, but after hearing Kellen Moore explain how Oscar Delp opens the offense, it’s clear the Georgia product changes how the New Orleans Saints are able to operate in 2026. You could tell by Moore's explanation he's licking his chops with
"He’ll allow us to play the chess piece game when you have Juwan and you have Noah and you have these other tight ends that you want to put in certain positions, he’ll be able to counteract with those guys. You see teams that made runs this year and a lot of them are playing the 12 and 13 personnel. We think there’s still the pass game juice that these guys provide because of what these guys have in the pass game. These guys aren’t a bunch of big Y’s that are just going to block and when we get in 13 personnel it’s kind of a ‘ding ding.’ I think we can do a lot of things with those guys."
12 personnel isn’t something the Saints used a lot of during Moore’s debut season, but they also didn’t have the players to do it. It’s a significantly less valuable formation if it’s also a clear tell that a run is coming. So while Moore mentioned that successful teams are using it, it's not as simple as monkey see monkey do. You have to have players who can maximize it. With Delp, the Saints have that.
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It’s more than Delp being another tight end in the room that makes 12 and 13 personnel a more appealing option. Delp's mix of blocking and receiving gives Moore the chance to put these typically run heavy formations on the field and still pass out of them.
The question about Delp is his ceiling as a receiver is a complete projection, however, Moore’s comments strip away at the concern. Delp was never overly used in Georgia’s offense as a receiver. Interestingly, he was compared to George Kittle, and Kittle didn’t have a large sample size in college either. Though a question, his receiving potential tends to be viewed as untapped rather than a weakness.
Moore’s vision of how Delp benefits the offense allows the Saints to use the threat Delp’s potential and what we already know of him as a run blocker to keep defenses on their toes. Delp has the athleticism to be a true receiving threat. That threat gives the offense multiple tight ends on the field who can catch the ball rather than fielding obvious blockers.
The athleticism is well documented so defenses will be They’ll have to respect that potential early,