Staley has done a great job with this defensive unit since his arrival. One thing to watch will be how the defense responds following the loss of field general Demario Davis. However, the Saints reunited with Kaden Elliss this offseason, and he has steadily developed into one of the league\u2019s most underrated and versatile linebackers.<\/p>\n
One area that has really excelled under Staley is the pass rush. New Orleans had dealt with inconsistency on the edge for years before Staley arrived. Last season, we saw a rejuvenated Cam Jordan post his seventh season with double-digit sacks, while Chase Young recorded the first double-digit sack season of his career. Young is steadily developing into one of the league\u2019s premier pass rushers, while Carl Granderson has proven that he can consistently produce as well.<\/p>\n
New Orleans also traded for Tyree Wilson during the draft and added Anfernee Jennings, so the pass rush should be a major strength for the Saints this season.<\/p>\n
As far as an area that needs more growth, I\u2019d personally point to the cornerback room. Kool-Aid McKinstry is expected to take a significant leap this season, while Quincy Riley now has a season under his belt after a decent rookie year. The questions start after those two, though.<\/p>\n
The Saints added Martin Emerson, but he didn\u2019t play a single snap in 2025 and has dealt with injuries throughout his career. Seventh-round pick TJ Hall has made a name for himself during camp, but veteran Isaac Yiadom has really struggled. The depth in that room could become a concern down the stretch of the season, so it\u2019ll be interesting to see how they hold up against Jacksonville this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Staley has done a great job with this defensive unit since his arrival. One thing to watch will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,6621,148606,117],"class_list":["post-370393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-jaguars-news","tag-jacksonville-jaguars-preseason","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}