METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints tipped the balance of their 2015 draft class decisively toward trying to fortify a defense that ranked near the bottom of the NFL last season.

    The Saints, who began Saturday’s final rounds of the draft with two fifth-round picks, traded for a third and used all three on defensive players, giving them a total of six defensive players among their first eight selections.

    New Orleans began the day by selecting Chattanooga outside linebacker Davis Tull at No. 148 overall, the took Fresno State defensive tackle Tyeler Davison with the 154th pick, which had been acquired in a March trade that sent former Pro Bowl left guard Ben Grubbs to the Chiefs. The Saints then traded their sixth-round picks for this year and next to the Washington Redskins in order to draft Georgia cornerback Damian Swann with the 167th overall pick.

    The Saints’ defense ranked second-to-last in the NFL in yards allowed last season (384 per game) and 23rd in sacks per pass attempt.

    The 6-foot-2, 246-pound Tull was named Southern Conference defensive player of the year three times.

    During his senior season in 2014, Tull was credited with 18 tackles for losses and 10 ? sacks. He’s had 37 sacks and 60 tackles for losses in his career in college football’s Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

    Tull said he prides himself on the effort he exhibits on every play — the result of a drive which he said came from being lightly recruited by colleges after missing most of his senior season in high school with a broken leg.

    “I feel like I owe it to the people I played for and my teammates — that I need to play as hard as I can and I always try to do that,” Tull said. “We were just talking about losing scholarships in high school and having a broken leg and having people not believe in you and having that chip. You always want to prove other people wrong. I think that’s where most of this comes from.”

    Tull was the second edge pass-rusher drafted by New Orleans, joining Washington outside linebacker and second-round pick Hau’oli Kikaha.

    The 6-foot-2, 316-pound Davison was credited with 8 ? sacks last season and was named to the All-Mountain West Conference first team. But Davison, a former competitive wrestler, said his aggressiveness getting into the backfield won’t undermine his ability to defend against the run.

    “You don’t want to be a one-trick pony. You want to be good at everything you do,” Davison asserted. “A lot of people attach the stigma to nose guards that they can’t get after the quarterback. I think that you can’t buy into that mindset or belief. I think that’s what helped me the most in college, just not listening to all of that talk.”

    The 6-foot, 189-pound Swann was named an All-Southeastern Conference second-team player by The Associated Press last season, when his four interceptions tied for a team high. Swann also was fourth on the team in tackles with 65 and had a 99-yard fumble return for a touchdown. He said he expects to have opportunities on special teams, including as a punt returner.

    Swann grew up in Atlanta and acknowledged that Saturday that he was annoyed when the Saints won the Super Bowl five years ago and that Saturday was probably the first day in his life that the Falcons were not his favorite NFL team.

    “Absolutely, I was a Falcons fan, you know, but they’re not my employer and I’m a New Orleans Saint now,” Swann said.

    Swann was the second cornerback drafted by the Saints, who also took Florida State’s P.J. Williams in Friday night’s third round. New Orleans also looked to bolster its secondary in free-agency with the signing for Brandon Browner, who has played for the past two Super Bowl winners.

    Swann said he was hoping to join a team with well-respected veterans at his position, and expected to learn a lot from Browner and fellow starting quarterback Keenan Lewis.

    “I’m in a great position,” Swann said. “I’m going in eyes wide open, ears open, ready to work.”