With the New Orleans Saints having no first- or second-round picks, the buzz around their drafted players has been minimal in training camp. They traded their 2012 first-round selection to take RB Mark Ingram last year, and they forfeited their second-round pick as punishment for the bounty scandal.

The Saints already have put sixth-round selection OG Andrew Tiller of Syracuse on injured reserve. He had surgery early this month for a torn triceps.

Barring injury, none of these guys will play a huge role this season.

Top pick: DT Akiem Hicks (third round, No. 89 overall) -- The Saints took a project with their opening selection, and that calculated gamble appears to have paid off. Hicks (6-5, 324), a hotshot junior college recruit, signed with LSU but never played a down after being declared ineligible by the NCAA. He spent two years at Regina University in Canada and is raw. Still, he has worked his way up to second-team DT even though he missed the first week of training camp and the Hall of Fame Game while recovering from a hand injury. In his first action against New England, he had three tackles and was a positive force up front. He was less disruptive against Jacksonville but was credited with two stops. Said interim coach Joe Vitt: “He plays with power, leverage and a lot of athleticism.” Grade: B

No. 2 pick: WR Nick Toon (fourth round, No. 122 overall) -- Toon, the son of former NFL WR Al Toon, has been sidelined with a left foot injury since Aug. 2. The Saints say he might be back next week, but he had problems with the same foot at Wisconsin, missing all of spring drills after surgery in 2011 and one game last fall plus the Senior Bowl due to issues with scar tissue. He has good size (6-4, 218) and is a smooth runner, but he hasn't been healthy long enough to prove himself. Unless he comes back at full strength soon, he appears ticketed for injured reserve. Grade: C 

No. 3 pick: CB Corey White (fifth round, No. 162 overall) -- White is right in the competition for nickelback and backup CB behind starters Jabari Greer and Patrick Robinson. With Greer missing all but the first couple of days of training camp with a groin injury and Robinson missing two weeks with a shoulder problem, White has had plenty of reps with the first defense, making some nice plays and getting burned a few times. He was credited with an interception against Jacksonville on Friday night before the replay official overruled the call. He has shown enough to make the 53-man roster and could earn time at one of the Saints’ most depth-shy positions. If he plays, opponents will target him. Grade: B-

No. 5 pick: OT Marcel Jones (seventh round, No. 234 overall) -- Jones is competing for the eighth and (presumably) final roster spot on the offensive line as the fourth tackle.  He has NFL size (6-7, 320) and has been working with the second-team O-line for almost all of training camp. The question is whether New Orleans will go with four tackles or choose Eric Olsen, who can play center and guard, as the last lineman. The next two weeks will provide the answer. Grade: C-

Follow Saints reporter Guerry Smith on twitter @CBSSportsNFLNO.