Few teams committed as many resources to a single position group as the New Orleans Saints have used to revamp their defensive line, and all that activity has caught the attention from some analysts covering the league.
With the 2023 NFL draft behind us, Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuinness ranked the Saints defensive line among the most-improved units in the NFL, writing:
The Saints used their first two selections in the draft on defensive linemen, and while both were slight reaches against the PFF big board, both players do fit the type of players they like on their defensive line.
Clemson’s Bryan Bresee produced a career-high 82.0 pass-rushing grade in 2022 and can play multiple spots across the unit.
Notre Dame’s Isaiah Foskey has the size and speed that the Saints seem to love on the edge and can dominate tight ends from the alignment. He racked up 23 sacks, seven hits and 35 hurries across 595 pass-rush snaps over the past two seasons.
Take those two highly-drafted rookies with the veteran free agents the Saints have brought in — including former New York Jets standout Nathan Shepherd and nose tackle Khalen Saunders, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs — and New Orleans is close completing the overhaul they started up front. Gone are David Onyemata, Marcus Davenport, Shy Tuttle, and Kentavius Street. We’ll see if Bresee, Foskey, Shepherd, and Saunders are up to the task of replacing them, but it’s a good start.
Should the Saints call it a day and pivot to other positions of need? Or would it be worth looking into more help? Activity is picking up in the free agent market and there are some appealing players still out there looking for work. Defensive tackles like Matt Ioannidis and Shelby Harris could help push depth players like Malcolm Roach, Prince Emili, and Jerron Cage (undrafted out of Ohio State).
You have to think the edge-rush rotation is set, but it wouldn’t hurt to add a player like Al-Quadin Muhammad or Dawuane Smoot to the mix, putting more pressure on Payton Turner, assuming New Orleans isn’t in on the undersized sack artists like Leonard Floyd and Yannick Ngakoue.
