Here’s some big news for NFL stat heads: the team at Pro Football Reference announced that they have gone back to log sacks before they were officially recorded in 1982, giving a more comprehensive history of pro football’s greatest pass rushers. But it’s a tough break for New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan, who finds himself a bit further behind Rickey Jackson in his quest for the franchise sacks record.
The PFR researchers found that Jackson bagged 8.0 sacks in his 1981 rookie year, raising his career total with the Saints to 123.0. That means Jordan (94.5 career sacks) needs 28.5 more takedowns for New Orleans to tie the Hall of Famer for first place, or 29.0 sacks to win the title.
It’s a tall order, but Jordan has gotten this far. He’s averaged 0.59 sacks per game in 160 appearances for New Orleans compared to Jackson’s 0.63 sacks per game in 195 outings; at that rate, he would have to play in 49 more games, or a little under three years, to claim the top spot. If he does go the distance and total 209 games with the Saints, that would rank second-most in team history behind Drew Brees (228), ahead of Morten Andersen (196), Jackson (195), and Thomas Morstead (190).
But Jordan’s contract is set to expire after the 2023 season, which is the end of this projected 49-game sequence for him to take Jackson’s spot. And he’ll be 34 then. If his down year in 2020 (just 7.5 sacks, tying the second-lowest total of his career) is the beginning of a slump, he could very well come up short. That’s very possible considering the Saints drafted Payton Turner in the first round this year as part of a contingency plan should the team move on from him or Marcus Davenport in the near future.
Will Jordan reach the mountaintop before his time in black and gold runs out? We’ll just have to wait and see. But the stakes couldn’t be higher for the 6-time Pro Bowler (the same number of all-star game appearances Jackson earned, by the way). If anything, it goes to show just how special Jackson was that the best Saints defender of his generation is still chasing him.
And Jackson benefited in the all-time rankings from PFR’s new research, too, not just for his spot in New Orleans’ record books. He’s now tied with Jared Allen for the 16th-most sacks in NFL history (136.0) despite having started playing in an era when teams were passing 5% less often than they would in Allen’s day. Jordan is enjoying an epoch where almost half the league is throwing on 60% or more of downs, but it might not be enough for him to catch up. It really puts into perspective how rare talents like the Dome Patrol’s best player really are.
While these updated numbers haven’t been vetted by the Saints or the NFL, defensive stats are, well, historically played with fast and loose. Here is how the unofficial top-20 from PFR shakes out, with Jackson among them:
| Rank | Player | Sk | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bruce Smith+ | 200.0 | 1985-2003 |
| 2 | Reggie White+ | 198.0 | 1985-2000 |
| 3 | Deacon Jones+ | 173.5 | 1961-1974 |
| 4 | Kevin Greene+ | 160.0 | 1985-1999 |
| 5 | Julius Peppers | 159.5 | 2002-2018 |
| 6 | Jack Youngblood+ | 151.5 | 1971-1984 |
| 7 | Chris Doleman+ | 150.5 | 1985-1999 |
| 8 | Alan Page+ | 148.5 | 1967-1981 |
| 9 | Lawrence Taylor+ | 142.0 | 1981-1993 |
| 10 | Michael Strahan+ | 141.5 | 1993-2007 |
| 11 | Jason Taylor+ | 139.5 | 1997-2011 |
| 12 | Terrell Suggs | 139.0 | 2003-2019 |
| 13 | DeMarcus Ware | 138.5 | 2005-2016 |
| 14 | Richard Dent+ | 137.5 | 1983-1997 |
| John Randle+ | 137.5 | 1990-2003 | |
| 16 | Jared Allen | 136.0 | 2004-2015 |
| Rickey Jackson+ | 136.0 | 1981-1995 | |
| 18 | John Abraham | 133.5 | 2000-2014 |
| Carl Eller+ | 133.5 | 1964-1979 | |
| 20 | Leslie O’Neal | 132.5 | 1986-1999 |
