The Locked on Saints podcast said Kool-Aid and Quincy Riley at corner this year

Ask ya boy from Locked on Saints.

Sanker needs to be on the field as much as possible.

I believe they will fill holes on the D next year when we free up all the money. It’s going to hurt this year though.

This board doesn’t believe in development. Not every player is gonna come in and be productive like Olave, Marshon, Ramczyk, etc. Your gonna have players like Kaden Elliss, Cam Jordan, Trey Hendrickson, Akiem Hicks, David Onyemata, etc who are gonna need a few years.

Taylor was the most targeted DB and had the highest completion percentage against him last year.

he was pretty inconsistent he didn't really tackle all that well either.

not saying he was a bad player cuz he wasn't but I don't think we'll miss him that much.

I don't need to hear Kool Aids full name ever again

Thank you!

People on these boards don’t believe that players improve from year to year and coaches know more than they do.Thats why they are called fanatics.

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Barring some voodoo from the coaching staff, our defense is going to be a liability.

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Ross Jackson doesn't really know much, he regurgitates the talking points and but doesn't offer any actual reasons for his opinions. This is the same guy who countless times said that Alontae Taylor "is not a slot guy, he's just not, it's not going to happen, he can't do it". Taylor performed the exact same in the slot as he did boundary plus the added bonus of being able to blitz.

Onto the defense, I think overall improvement!
IDL-2025 Starters & main rotators were Bryan Bresee, Nathan Shepherd, Davon Godchaux
Bryan Bresee should continue to improve.
Nathan Shepherd should be the same or beat out by Vernon Broughton or Zxavian Thomas
Davon Godchaux possible to regress with age, but he should get beat out by John Ridgeway, Christen Miller, or Khristian Boyd

DE/Edge-2025 Starters & main rotators were Carl Granderson, Chase Young, Cam Jordan, Chris Rumph II
Carl Granderson & Chase Young are both young enough to still improve should going into 2nd year of this defense
Cam Jordan was damn good last year against run & pass. His 10 sacks from last season will be tough to account for this season even if he re-signs. Tyree Wilson should have the best chance to fill this pass rush role and Anfernee Jennings will get chances also. Hopefully one or both can offer some of what Cam could in run D
Chris Rumph II seems to be just another guy and should still improve somewhat, but at the least he should not regress

LB-2025 Starters & main rotators were Demario Davis, Pete Werner, Isaiah Stallbird, Danny Stutsman
Demario Davis was still good so there is going to be some regression, particularly from his pass coverage. Kayden Ellis is okay in this regard, but he should be an improvement in pass rush & blitzes. Isaiah Stallbird hopefully continues to improve and can be utilized in pass coverage.
Pete Werner is still pretty average, and likely will continue to be or possibly slightly improve. First 8 games he averaged 70.5% snaps then 54.4% for the last 9
Danny Stutsman through first 8 games only averaged 6.7% of defensive snaps then through last 9 games averaged 28.4%. He looked solid against the run. Not sure how many snaps he was in pass coverage, but he allowed 9rec on 12targets

S-2025 Starters & main rotators were Justin Reid, Jonas Sanker, Jordan Howden
Justin Reid underwhelmed last year, I fear father time is setting in
Jonas Sanker looked great at times as a rookie, should improve consistency in year 2
Julian Blackmon if healthy should either replace Reid or slide into the Star/NB role
Terrell Burgess is returning, when he played it was mostly due to injuries but I don't recall a drop off to be honest.
Jordan Howden played more in his rookie & 2nd seasons than he did last year, so I'm not expecting much from him and he may be casualty or PS guy
Lorenzo Styles Jr has some potential and good athleticism but I just don't think its fair to expect much from him this season


CB-2025 Starters & main rotators Alontae Taylor, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Quincy Riley
Alontae Taylor is gone. He was good but not great. He was underutilized as a blitzer from the NB spot IMO. I don't see much drop off from him to Kool-Aid McKinstry and Quincy Riley, both of which should continue to improve.
Martin Emerson Jr can hopefully return to form and challenge for a starting spot. He showed real promise before getting injured.
Isaac Yiadom is currently our #4 CB which is good depth. But I am curious to see if any of the young guys can challenge for that spot between Rezjohn Wright, TJ Hall, Dalys Beanum, Jayden Price, DaShawn Jones, or even Beanie Bishop if they utilize him as NB/Star

TL;DR
-Defense should not regress overall.
-IDL run D improves
-IDL/Edge rotational pass rush decreases. Jordan, Shepherd, & Rumph II accounted for 15 sacks last season. They all 3 have a chance to be there again, but whether it's them or others we I'd guess that combined sack total will be in the 10 range.
-LB drop off in pass coverage
-Safety improves
-CB improves