Canal Street Chronicles
I think the Saints defense is in for another good game on Sunday.
The New Orleans Saints will kick off their final preseason game on Sunday, August 25th against the Tennessee Titans. While the offense has all the eyes on them due to their need to improve from last season, the Saints defense has really been main attraction this preseason.
We knew the Saints defense was going to be good this year, but this preseason has only provided more and more hope that they could be a top 5 unit in 2024. They’ve held the 49ers and Cardinals to a combined 30 points in two games and have looked solid in both run and pass defense.
Through two games, the Niners and Cards went a combined 44/76 (57.9%) for 405 yards and one touchdown. Those are some elite numbers right there.
We’ve seen the Saints play their starters such as Alontae Taylor and Paulson Adebo in the secondary, but they really haven’t gotten a whole lot of work, which has made the success against the pass game even more impressive. We’ve seen guys like Rico Payton, Shemar Jean-Charles and Rejzohn Wright step up this preseason and potentially earn themselves spots on the 53-man roster.
That trio of cornerbacks have combined to allow eight catches on 26 targets (30%) for 114 yards and one touchdown while breaking up seven passes. Again, for backups, those are some elite numbers. I don’t care if they’re going up against other team's backups, you don’t see production like that out of many second-team CBs.
We haven’t seen quite the same production from the safeties this preseason, but I wouldn’t say any of them have been horrible either. Jordan Howden, who is expected to start next to Tyrann Mathieu this year, leads the safety room in snaps this preseason (50) and has surrendered one catch for 13 yards while not missing a single tackle. Behind him, Jonathan Abram, Roderic Teamer and Will Harris have all played between 37 and 47 snaps and have combined to allow four catches for 22 yards while totaling eight tackles with no misses.
Moving to LB, we haven’t seen Demario Davis or Peter Warner take the field this preseason, which has presented some young bucks with the opportunity to shine. One guys who has really caught the eyes of the diehard Saints fans who watch the preseason games is Anfernee Orji, who leads the LB room with 74 snaps played this preseason. He’s allowed just two catches for seven yards and has recorded 12 tackles and five run stops. He and D’Marco Jackson (69 snaps, two receptions for 25 yards, six tackles, two stops) seem to be getting the most work and will seemingly be in the rotation this season.
Newcomer Willie Gay has also had a pretty strong start to the preseason. In 34 snaps, Gay has totaled five tackles and three stops while allowing 20 yards in coverage. He needed to get some good reps in with his new...
