By: Jake Rajala

The New Orleans Saints don’t have a long, rich history of prolific quarterback play, but they’ve certainly been blessed with countless Prometheus-like pass rushers. It’s blasphemous to ignore the magic from Cameron Jordan, but let’s not forget the old-school, scary QB hunters, as well. With that said, I’m going to untwine the 10 best pass rushers in Saints history.

1. Pat Swilling

Pat Swilling defied expectations as a third-round draft pick, to say the least. The most elusive member of the Dome Patrol notched 10.5 sacks in his sophomore season and then he really turned on the heat in his fourth season by unveiling 16.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, and one interception and garnering second-team All-Pro honors. Swilling proved to the NFL world that he was special in 1991 by winning Defensive Rookie of The Year (as he obtained 17 sacks, six forced fumbles, and one interception). He also claimed first-team All-Pro honors in 1992.

2. Cameron Jordan

The modern-day John Wick-like pass-rusher for the Saints, Cameron Jordan, refuses to slow down at age 33. Jordan (112 career sacks) is closing in on Rickey Jackson’s Saints career sack record of 115 sacks. He’s certainly on track to make his sixth straight Pro Bowl, as well. Jordan’s motor and ability to stay on the field — he’s only missed two games in his career — place him one spot ahead of Rickey Jackson in my opinion.

3. Rickey Jackson

It’s undisputed that Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson is a Top-3 Saints pass rusher of all time. Jackson didn’t earn a first-team All-Pro nod in his career, but he did unleash five second-team All-Pro seasons. In addition, Jackson (who was also a member of the Dome Patrol) had 10 seasons of 8+ sacks. He also had a whopping 40 career-forced fumbles — which is a bit more than Jordan’s career FFs (13).

4. Will Smith

The sadly deceased Saints icon Will Smith enjoyed a fruitful Saints career. Smith was a crucial member of the Saints Super Bowl-winning team in the 2009-2010 season – as he released 13.5 sacks in the regular season. The “Will Smith that didn’t star in Independence Day” finished with a potent 67.5 career sacks, 85 total tackles for loss, and 112 QB hits.

5. La’Roi Glover

La’Roi Glover played the defensive tackle spot on another speed, to put it simply. Glover’s most spectacular season arrived in 2000 when he mustered out 17 sacks, 18 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles — which earned him first-team AP honors & second in Defensive Player of The Year voting. Glover also garnered second-team AP honors w/ Who Dat Nation in 1998. He didn’t have an overly long journey with the Saints, however (as he played five seasons in the Black and Gold).

6. Wayne Martin

Wayne Martin was the “Marques Colston of defensive players”, to say the least. Martin had five seasons of 10+ sacks, yet he only made one Pro Bowl nod in his career. Martin finished his terrific Saints life with 82.5 sacks, 12 forced fumbles, yet he was let down by his support cast. It should also be stated that Martin wreaked havoc from the DE and DT spot (hello Aaron Donald).

7. Junior Galette

Junior Galette is trying to grow as a human being and he did encourage me and my high school teammates on snapchat. Furthermore, he was an elite pass rusher in his Saints tenure. Galette rose from a scrappy undrafted edge rusher to a Pro Bowl snub — as he registered 12 sacks in 2013 & 10 sacks in 2014. The former Saints OLB wasn’t able to pull himself together after Sean Payton paid to cut him, however.

8. Renaldo Turnbull

Renaldo Turnbull was ultimately a draft bust, but he did turn into the Incredible Hulk in 1993 by garnering first-team All-Pro honors (besides notching a modest nine sacks in his rookie season). Renaldo finished with 45.5 sacks — which weren’t exactly Saints ring of honor material.

9. Charles Grant

Similar to Junior Galette, Charles Grant was able to knock out numerous double-digit sack seasons (10 sacks in 2003 & 10.5 sacks in 2004). Unfortunately, Grant wasn’t a beacon of excellence in his other seasons & he only finished w/ 47 sacks in his Saints journey.

10. Marcus Davenport

PFF may just be Marcus Davenport’s best friend, despite his inability to stay on the field. Davenport garnered an 88 grade by PFF a season ago and an 84.1 grade by PFF in 2019. Davenport has consistently been pegged as one of the most effective DEs. Although, Davenport is also made of glass — as he missed five games in 2020 and six contests last season. Ironically, Davenport hasn’t missed a game this season, and he is sadly having a down season (.5 sack on the season).

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By: Jake Rajala

The New Orleans Saints are (still) expected to have a juggernaut defense in the 2022 season. The Honey Badger (Tyrann Mathieu) was brought over this off-season to join Marshon Lattimore, Cameron Jordan, and Demario Davis on a defense that allowed the fourth-fewest points last season.

Well, it seems that Who Dat Nation is shocked that the Marcus Mariota-led Atlanta Falcons offense dropped 26 points on the Saints defense in Week 1. So, a fascinating question has surrounded the Saints defense: Will the Saints defense bounce back?

I believe the answer to the prior question is a resounding “yes”. The Saints secondary showed promise in Week 1, particularly from CB Marshon Lattimore. Below is a sharp look at Lattimore flexing his muscles on his friendly opponents in Atlanta (despite his penalties & mental errors).

Marcus Maye also nicely had a forced fumble, while the LSU legend (Mathieu) scooped up the pig skin.

With that said, I believe the front seven should deserve more distaste than the secondary on the Saints D. Well, I honestly have a lot of faith in the Saints front seven and I’m not surprised that they bled against Mariota. Let’s not forget that Eagles dual-threat QB Jalen Hurts had a career-high three rushing TDs against the Saints in 2021. Furthermore, Hurts ran angry for a career-high 106 rushing yds against the Saints in 2020. I believe the double edge sword of history will say the Saints defensive scheme will continue to express flaws against dual-threat QBs (such as Mariota and the familiar Jalen Hurts on January 1st), but the Saints front seven led by the down-hill LB Demario Davis and ascending LB Peter Warner (a FF in Week 1) should at least be a potent run defense against foes that don’t have QBs that idolize Michael Vick.

I foresee the Saints defense, particularly their front seven to display their usual colors against the Brady bunch in Week 2. The Saints icon and cream of the crop edge-rusher Cam Jordan was named NFC Defensive Player of The Week for his efforts against the Bucs in Week 15 last season. The other scary DE Marcus Davenport has also enjoyed teeing off on Brady on numerous occasions. Ultimately, I expect the Saints defense (especially their angry DL and LB group) to begin a journey of rampage against a non-dual threat QB this weekend.

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By: Jake Rajala

The menacing linebacker Demario Davis has unequivocally been one of the best value-free agent signings in the past decade. The Saints brought in Davis in the 2018 off-season and he really blossomed into a grim reaper-like defender in 2018 and beyond. Davis was a Pro Bowl snub in 2018, First-Team All-Pro in 2019 (with an utterly impressive 90.1 grade by PFF), Second-Team All-Pro in 2020, and Second-Team All-Pro in 2021. With that stated, there is serious reason to believe that the Saints LB that is striving for his fourth straight AP could wind up in Canton and sincerely be one of the best late bloomers in NFL history.

If Davis retired today, I don’t believe he should be cast into Canton. However, if he adds three more, second-team (or first-team) All-Pro seasons, he will certainly have a HOF-worthy. If he adds two more AP seasons w/ a Super Bowl ring, I’d expect to see him wear a gold jacket in the future. The HOF LB and Chicago Bears legend Brian Urlacher has four All-Pro nods. Davis is certainly still playing at a high level – as he registered 105 tackles, 3 sacks, 10 QB hits, 13 TFLs, and 7 pass deflections in 2021. It needs to also be noted that he’s only missed one game in his career. The Saints defensive captain is under contract with Who Dat Nation until the 2025 off-season.

The other Saints defensive captain Cameron Jordan is striving to also make the HOF. He is coming off an impressive 12.5 sack season w/ Pro Bowl honors at the age of 32.

If Davis or Jordan can’t finish with a HOF-caliber career, it seems likely that both defenders will find themselves in the Saints ring of honor.

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By: Jake Rajala

It was clearly “open season” for the New Orleans Saints pass rush against the mythical Tom Brady in their last battle, as the Saints had four sacks and seven QB hits against TB12. The Saints captain Cameron Jordan, who always carries a chip on his shoulder, ousted two sacks (and a pivotal forced fumble) against Brady – which led him to garner NFC defensive player of the week.

I believe that Jordan, who is also coming off his fifth straight Pro Bowl, will have better help hunting opposing signal-callers in 2022 than last season. The Saints pass rusher Marcus Davenport, aka the profile that Dennis Allen once called the Saints best defensive player, has gifted power and he even earned a whopping 88.8 grade by PFF last season (and that stands above Jordan’s PFF grade: 84.3). The key issue with the former UTSA defender is that he’s missed 11 games in the past two seasons combined.

There are two reasons that should make Saints fans more optimistic about the player that Mickey Loomis dealt two first-round picks to acquire. For 1. Davenport has climbed the ladder in overall talent in each of his past four seasons. I can’t guarantee that Davenport won’t miss two or five games, but I foresee him continuing to improve his pass rush abilities in his fifth season. The second reason that I like Davenport’s chances of having a monster 2022 season is that he is entering a contract year. He will really leave everything out on the field (which may include playing through minor injuries) in 2022, so he can cash in during free agency in the 2023 off-season.

The Saints quietly have a third former first-round pick DE in Payton Turner. The NFL world didn’t get a proper taste from the 6’6, 270 lb DE – due to him only playing in five games (and recording one sack) in 2021. Nonetheless, I really believe a healthy Turner will take a big jump from last season and be one of the biggest x-factors on the team. Nick Underhill of New Orleans. Football expressed on Twitter that Turner shined in yesterday’s practice & Katherine Terrell (and ESPN Saints reporter) stated on the bird app that Turner had several good reps yesterday. She also stated that Turner is playing in the 280s. Turner (who can beat out Davenport for the next role for Thor) has also been in tamed fights with 2022 first-round pick Trevor Penning. He has more experience, size, and fire this off-season, to say the least.

The Saints aren’t only time traveling to bring back their two, behemoth edge rushers, but they will also witness the underrated & healthy Tanoh Kpassagnon wreak havoc in 2022. The former Kansas City Chiefs edge rusher was a part of the Saints walking dead squad last season – as he missed nine games. Regardless of his injury-riddled 2021 campaign, he registered four sacks and eight QB hits in eight contests – which matched his 16-game best sack total from the 2019 season. It would be an understatement to say that he’s one of the best fourth-string defensive ends in the NFL.

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By: Jake Rajala

The New Orleans Saints have a loaded defensive line led by the annual Pro Bowler Cam Jordan. The former 2011 first-round pick for the Saints is coming off a 12.5 sack season – as he was also the NFC Defensive Player of The Week in Week 15 and Week 17 a season ago. Jordan, who will certainly miss Matt Ryan in an Atlanta Falcons uniform, should have plenty of gas in the tank for a prominent 2022 season. Nonetheless, it’s pivotal that his younger teammates on the edge can take positive strides soon – as the 32-year-old DE can’t wreak havoc forever.

It’s pivotal that Marcus Davenport, who was called the team’s best defender by Dennis Allen early in the 2021 season, can stay healthy and oust a Pro Bowl-caliber season. Ian Wharton of Bleacher Report pegged Davenport as one of his five breakout players in 2022. Although, it may be a risk for DA to prioritize Davenport – who is a 2023 FA – as he has a long track record of missing ball games (17 missed games in the past four seasons).

With Jordan and Davenport’s long-term outlook a bit of a question mark, it’s very important that the Saints 2021 first-round pick Payton Turner steps up to the plate. Turner was a disappointment last season (1 sack, 3 QB hits), in 5 games to say the least. He has unique power, but he needs to learn from Cam how to improve his pass-rush moves and not learn from Davenport how to stay healthy in year two.

If the Saints can have their best defensive ends stay away from the injury report, they could honestly have a similar three-headed pass-rushing trio as their 2020 unit (Cam, Marcus, and Trey Hendrickson). Outside of the Saints top-three behemoths on the edge, they also have Tanoh Kpassagnon (who quietly had 4 sacks in 8 games in 2021), Carl Granderson (8 sacks in the past two seasons combined), and Taco Charlton (2017 first-round pick). It could be said that the Saints arguably have the most well-rounded DE unit in the league.

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By: Jake Rajala

The New Orleans Saints legend Jordan Cameron Cameron Jordan refused to slow down in 2021. He unveiled 12.5 sacks, 22 quarterback hits, and 13 TFLs in his 11th NFL season. Furthermore, Jordan was rightfully named NFC Defensive Player of The Week in Week 15 and Week 17.

Jordan’s biggest moment in 2021 unequivocally came when he recorded his 100th career sack in Week 15 against the Bucs. With that said, it’s clear that Jordan entered himself into prestigious conversation with his efforts a season ago. So, the ultimate question easily resting on Jordan’s mind is: can the Saints 2011 first-round pick enter Canton after his career is eclipsed?

Well, I’m going to untwine the career production from Jordan:

• 107 career sacks
• 137 TFLs
• 56 pass deflections
• 573 combined tackles
• 206 QB hits
• 7 Pro Bowl selections
• All-Pro in 2017
• Zero Super Bowl rings

It’s clear that Jordan is one of the best pass rushers over the past decade, but how does he compare to players that have actually made it into the HOF? Well, I believe a poetic, realistic profile comparison for Jordan is Rickey Jackson. The Saints long-time edge hunter wasn’t a first-ballot HOF player, but he did crack a HOF spot in 2010 (after retiring in 1995). Here is a sharp look at Jackson’s resume:

• 136 career sacks
• 1,180 tackles
• 6 Pro Bowl selections
• Super Bowl XXIX champion

Jackson has impressive production in his career as a member of “The Dome Patrol” and a Super Bowl ring with SF. I believe that Jordan (33 in July) may not make an All-Pro team in the future or continue to play like Reggie White in December and January, but he should honestly be able to have two more Pro Bowl-caliber seasons, unveil around 30+ more sacks, make his presence felt as a run defender, and potentially win a Super Bowl. If Jordan can have a few more stout years (including two Pro Bowl spots), he should eventually be the next Saints legend to give a HOF speech (after Jackson in 2010 and Sam Mills in 2022).

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By: Jake Rajala

The New Orleans Saints long-time pass rusher Cameron Jordan has been sacking Matt Ryan since the Declaration of Independence was signed. Jordan ousted his 100th career sack in December and he’s clearly going into the Saints ring of honor when he retires. Here is a closer look at how dominant he has been in his career:

• 107.5 career sacks
• seven-time Pro Bowl selection
• All-Pro in 2017
• 10 seasons of 7.5+ sacks
• missed only one game in his career (due to COVID)

It’s clear that Jordan has been a pillar of consistency and dominance throughout his Saints tenure. Nonetheless, I don’t believe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence for Jordan. He’s shown signs of slowing down. He might have captured everybody’s emotion and attention for his late-season heroics in 2021, but he was often MIA in the first half of the 2021 season. In 2020, he had 7.5 sacks and he was even bullied by tight ends on multiple occasions.

Jordan is playing at a position (DE) on the Saints that is filled with talent. The Saints were even featuring Trey Hendrickson in 2020, but they let him leave and watch him almost win DPOY in his first season in Cincy. Hendrickson knocked out 15.5 sacks and he was more potent in the playoffs.

On the DE outlook, the Saints have Jordan, Marcus Davenport, Payton Turner, Tanoh Kpassagnon, and Carl Granderson. One thing is clear: the Saints are loaded at the DE position. Marcus Davenport was one of the most efficient edge rushers per PFF in 2021 and Dennis Allen has called him the best player on his defense. When Davenport comes off the edge, it seems like the OT blocking him will automatically be pushed back into the QB.

Jordan is 33 years old this offseason, while Davenport (25 years old) and Turner (23 years old) have a plethora of potential. I believe the combination of potential on DE and the age of Jordan should make the beloved Cam expendable. Tanoh is quietly a modest pass rusher, as well (four sacks in 2021).

We’ve seen Payton ship out Jimmy Graham for OL talent and draft picks. I do believe that Allen is less likely than Payton to trade away profiles like Thomas, Ramczyk, Kamara, and Jordan. Although, it might be a wise move to trade away Jordan (and draft picks), especially if they can reel in a QB in a Cam trade.

Outside of Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson (assuming they stay on their team), there are QBs like Jimmy G, Garnder Minshew, Kirk Cousins, that could be acquired in a Jordan trade. I also strongly believe Jordan is the best trade chip out of Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Ryan Ramczyk, Marshon Lattimore, and Demario Davis. Jordan will soon have grey hair and he’s playing at the Saints packed edge rusher position.

The Saints can make sure they retain Davenport with Jordan’s salary out of the pass rusher bank. Turner and Davenport can the long-term pass-rushing tandem. Jordan (and Mark Ingram) might be the most popular players on the team, but I don’t see him being a true Pro Bowl-caliber beyond two more seasons with the Saints.

They could really use QB help and Jordan would be a smart piece to move. In 2024, Jordan could be retired, Davenport could cash in elsewhere, Hendrickson has already left, and their QB could be Mitchell Trubisky. I believe the prior scenario is really scary, but it’s very possible of happening. If the Saints don’t bring in a QB that’s capable of capitalizing off their loaded roster and bringing them to the Super Bowl soon, they should look at shipping out talented, veterans (cough, cough, Cameron Jordan).

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By: Jeremy Trottier

The New Orleans Saints have had a relatively interesting offseason, between clearing cap space by cutting players, to extending Ryan Ramczyk, to their draft prospects.  With that said, one of the positions on the defense that is most solidified right now is defensive end, between Cam Jordan, Marcus Davenport, and Payton Turner as the top rotation.  In this article, I will be going over each of these three players, as we could see a duo of any mix of them, as well as what they contribute to this unit as a whole.

Cam Jordan

The veteran of the group, Cam Jordan, is going into his 11^th season of his career, and has not had a season of under 7.5 sacks since his rookie year.  Despite having a relatively quiet year last season on the stat sheet, his productivity as a player cannot be understated, as he caused a lot of QB pressures, hurries, and hits.  He had 16 QB hits, 26 pressures, and 8 QB knockdowns.  He also took some of the pressure off Trey Hendrickson, as he would often take on two offensive linemen at once which freed up the rest of the line to provide pressure.

Cam Jordan will be vital in teaching the other two edge rushers we are looking at in the article today, as he has a huge deal of experience in the league.  He also says he is feeling, “more rejuvenated than ever” ahead of the 2021-2022 season, which is a huge deal as his mentality is another thing he brings to the roster.  He is the “hype man” of the front four for New Orleans and having him believing in himself that he is the best he has ever been is great news. 

Payton Turner

The Saints 2021 first round pick from Houston, Payton Turner, is one of the more interesting prospects from this draft class.  He fits exactly what the Saints are looking for with players, fantastic physical profile who can produce at multiple positions, hence why they drafted him so early.  At 6’6” 268 pounds, with an 83 inch wingspan and 10.5 inch hands, he has a very good frame for the Saints to build off of, and teach him the nuances of NFL level defensive line.  

One of the most impressive things to note is Payton Turner outperformed himself statistically in 2020 in a lot of categories”¦but Houston only played less than half the games they normally do due to Covid (five games).  He had 10.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, a forced fumble, and 25 total tackles.  This is an absolutely phenomenal statline for so few games played, and shows Turner has the capability to produce due to his athletic traits.

Marcus Davenport

Another Saints first round pick, but in 2018, we wrap the list up with Marcus Davenport.  Another DE with a fantastic frame at 6’6” 265 pounds, and is still only 24 years of age, 25 by the start of the 2021-2022 season.  The main issue Davenport has to date is injuries, it seems like every time he really starts to produce he goes down and we do not see him again for awhile.  Just to list off his injuries since his draft year, here they are:

• 2018 ”“ Thumb fracture, had surgery prior to season, no games missed
• 2018 ”“ Toe sprain on right foot, 3 games missed
• 2019 ”“ Foot fracture (Lisfranc fracture), season ending surgery after week 14
• 2020 ”“ Elbow bruising, missed three games and practices prior to season
• 2020 ”“ Pedal toe sprain ”“ missed week 4 

However, when he is not injured he has been an absolute monster in the games he started.  In 2019 when he started 13 games, he had 6 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 16 QB hits, 17 pressures, 6 QB knockdowns, and 9 hurries.  If he starts this season or even splits with Payton Turner, and if he stays healthy, he will most definitely contribute to this front-seven without a doubt.  

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By: Jeremy Trottier

With the NFL offseason finally starting to finish up, and training camps opening shortly, many teams are close to finishing their rosters.  With that said, the New Orleans Saints are one team that had a huge amount of losses due to cap, primarily on the defensive side of the ball.  However, there are still quite a few reasons their defense could remain top five in the league, despite these hits to the 53 man roster.

In this article, I will be going over the three main reasons this New Orleans defense should remain top five in the league.  

The Core is Still Intact

The main thing that needs to be realized by fans of the NFL, and the Saints, is that the main pieces of this defense are still here.  Even after losing starting-caliber players during the offseason, the Saints have such an extreme depth at most positions that they already had roles being filled before the draft.  Here is a list of the primary players that the Saints have moved on from this offseason, and their likely replacements:

• Kwon Alexander (LB) ”“ Pete Werner
• Janoris Jenkins (CB) ”“ Paulson Adebo
• Trey Hendrickson (DE) ”“ Marcus Davenport or Payton Turner
• Sheldon Rankins (IDL) ”“ Malcolm Roach or Shy Tuttle
• Alex Anzalone (LB) ”“ Zack Baun

Overall right now, the Saints defensive roster is very young at a lot of the positions that needed to be filled.  This will be great for New Orleans, as they have needed a 2017 esc draft class where they got a huge deal of starting players all in one class.  An infusion of youth is always nice as well as they will be less injury prone and have the potential to get better as the season goes on.

Coaching is Primarily the Same

The Saints defense is very, very reliant upon its coaching capabilities, and it has been ever since it got effective in 2016 or so.  With DC Dennis Allen still running the show, he will likely be able to use a lot of these young players to their strengths and play them in the best scenario possible.  An interesting note to watch this offseason was the replacement of DBs coach, who is now Kris Richard.  

The reason this is interesting is Kris worked in Seattle during the legion of boom as a DBs coach and coached another relatively tall, 190 pounds, non-first-round Stanford CB by the name of Richard Sherman.  Paulson Adebo fits all of those categories, despite being slightly shorter than Sherman is.  If anyone is going to draw the potential out of Paulson and get him to turn into a lockdown CB on the field, its Kris.  

One more coach who is a primary in the Saints defense is defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen.  The Saints have had six different defensive linemen have had multi-sack games during his tenure, and was the primary reason the Saints had one of the longest streaks not allowing an 100-yard rusher going into the 2020 season.  With young d-linemen such as Payton Turner, Carl Granderson, Shy Tuttle, and even Marcus Davenport in the building, his experience cannot go under the radar.

The Blend of Veteran Leadership and Rookie Mentality

As I mentioned previously, the Saints have quite a few young players on the defensive side of the ball.  With that in mind, they also have veteran players to balance that youth out and to help them develop their mindsets to fit in the NFL.  To name a player at each level, you have Cam Jordan at d-line (10 seasons in the league), Demario Davis at linebacker (9 seasons in the league), and in the secondary Malcolm Jenkins (12 seasons in the league).

These players who have experience within the league, as well as within the Saints system, should really help develop the young players on the roster quickly.  The faster the rookies and young players develop, the better the defense becomes as the talent moves along.  This is a huge deal, as teams who are all younger players or all older players tend to not have high level play normally.  

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