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The New Orleans Saints have employed several starting quarterbacks since Drew Brees’ retirement just 16 months ago.
Four men in total marched the crew out onto to the field last season, and the squad’s ever-changing QB room resulted in an incredibly shaky offense that posted the fewest passing yards in all of football.
This year, the Saints get Jameis Winston back from a torn ACL that caused him to miss 10 games in 2021, and the coaching staff is wholly gratified with the progress he’s made during rehab. The question is whether he can strike a better balance between the gunslinger that got himself into trouble early in his career, and the conservative, mostly ineffective version from last year.
Regardless, the team is going to hang its hat on defense, according to Cameron Jordan, and be able to win games no matter who’s at QB.
“We were still able to win at such a high clip that our confidence was boosted through that roof,” Jordan said, recalling the 2019-20 Saints, who went 8-1 with Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill starting in place of an injured Brees. “We realized that defense can not only sustain games or win games because of us, as well as we can win with a multitude of quarterbacks.
“That confidence is unreal.”
The Saints’ defensive numbers back up Jordan’s sentiments. Last season, New Orleans finished fourth in the NFL in points allowed per game (19.7), INTs (18) and opposing passer rating (81.7). And it remained consistent throughout the season while defending the fort for Winston, Hill, Trevor Siemian and Ian Book. This offseason, the Saints signed Andy Dalton to serve as Winston’s backup.
“You go in two seasons ago, go [5-0] with Teddy Bridgewater, next season we go, what was it [3-1] or whatever that is with Taysom Hill,” Jordan reflected. “And then Jameis, we start off 5-1 until he gets injured and then go through three other quarterbacks in a rotation respectively from Trevor Siemian, Taysom Hill and Ian Book, and still come out with a 9-8 season. If other teams had to face that, would they even break .500?”
Dennis Allen’s returning presence only elevates Jordan’s confidence. Allen is set to take the team’s head coaching reins after seven seasons as its defensive coordinator and 10 years in the organization alongside Sean Payton.
“He’s been there a long time, where we know we have established trust,” Jordan said of Allen. “That trust is something that has to be built over time, and it’s already there.”
One of the best defensive linemen in the game, Jordan is fresh off his seventh Pro Bowl campaign (fifth straight) after registering 59 total tackles, 12.5 sacks, six pass deflections and two forced fumbles. He rejoins the potent trio of Marcus Davenport, Marshon Lattimore and Demario Davis, while the squad welcomes new forces in safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye.
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