Cameron Jordan is playing outside linebacker in Brandon Staley's system. Playing in a standup role is unfamiliar for him, but he's excited for the potential. "More sacks then," Jordan tells Kay Adams while rubbing his hands together like a mad scientist.
Jordan's sack numbers have tapered in recent seasons. He has amassed 6 sacks in the last two seasons combined after having no less than 7.5 sacks in any of the previous 11 seasons. He was able to put together a miniature late season surge with four sacks in the final 8 games.
When Jordan says "more sacks," this isn't just excitement for himself. The joy and anticipation extends to all the edge rushers. The Saints only got 17 sacks from their edge rushers in 2024, and that's a number that can't be replicated this season.
New alignment will help Saints edge rushers
Jordan gave a simple equation to explain the perks of Staley's defense. "More opportunities equals more sacks. More edge rushes equals more quarterbacks devastated." More edge rushes are the operative words here.
Jordan sees taking his hand out of the dirt as "keeping me on the edge where I always thrived at," instead of putting him at 3-4 defensive end. He mentioned Chase Young, Carl Granderson and Isaiah Foskey, but Young got the most hype. Jordan positioned Young as the biggest benefactor of the wide alignment, alongside himself.
"We extend out Chase Young, keep him on the edge. You see the damage that he does when he's in an outside, edge-setting type role versus lining up head up on a tight end or an offensive lineman," Jordan said. Clearly, he prefers his fellow edge defender to be outside of the widest player on the offensive line instead of being head up.
That's the biggest difference. In Staley's system, the edge rushers will rarely have offensive players directly in front of them. Jordan sees Young as a strong edge setter in the run game from this alignment as well.
In Jordan's mind, the change in philosophy allows him to stay more comfortable and puts his running mates in their best position as well. He understands the value of sacks and believes the altered alignment will boost those numbers off the edge.
