Top 25 Saints of 2020: No. 4, Cam Jordan
Day two of New Orleans Saints training camp observations are in the books, and day three is upon us. Thus far, the news and reports have been promising. It's truly refreshing to see football moving forward, as we can only hope things keep progressing in the right direction. We continue focusing and profiling our Top 25 Saints of 2020, and today's spotlight is about the true heart and soul of the defense.
Here's where the journey has taken us up until this point.
The Countdown
- No. 25, Latavius Murray | No. 24, Taysom Hill | No. 23, C.J. Gardner-Johnson
- No. 22, Malcom Brown | No. 21, Marcus Williams | No. 20, Deonte Harris
- No. 19, Andrus Peat | No. 18, Cesar Ruiz | No. 17, Janoris Jenkins
- No. 16, Thomas Morstead | No. 15, Wil Lutz | No. 14, Marcus Davenport
- No. 13, Erik McCoy | No. 12, David Onyemata | No. 11, Malcolm Jenkins
- No. 10, Emmanuel Sanders | No. 9, Jared Cook | No. 8, Marshon Lattimore
- No. 7, Terron Armstead | No. 6, Ryan Ramczyk | No. 5, Demario Davis
Nov 28, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) shows emotion after a play against the Atlanta Falcons in the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
No. 4 - Cam Jordan
It's hard to find a Saints player more charismatic that Cam Jordan. Jordan made the Pro Bowl in 2019, and was an Associated Press Second-Team All-Pro. He was also selected to the PFWA All-NFC and All-NFC teams, as well as getting honors on The Sporting News All-Pro team. Jordan's 15.5 sack performance was tied as the fourth-highest single-season sack performance by a Saints player.
Jordan finished with 53 tackles (37 solo), racking up 99 total yards lost with sacks. He added three pass defenses and a fumble recovery. He finished at 10th out of 103 edge defenders on Pro Football Focus, grading out at 86.9 overall on 950 snaps. For perspective, Jordan hasn't finished lower than 82 overall since 2015. His best performance of the season was the Thanksgiving game against the Falcons when he had a four-sack game, which included sealing the victory on the final play.
Jordan's Outlook in 2020
Cam Jordan's 87 career sacks ranks him second on the team, trailing the great Rickey Jackson by 28 total. While it won't happen this season, Jordan looks to follow up last season's stellar performance with an even better campaign in 2020. Since Week 8 of 2014, Jordan has the third-most sacks in the NFL (64.5) behind Aaron Donald (70) and Chandler Jones (74). He's also ranked the same since 2017, having 40.5 sacks in the three-year span.
Jordan's ability to get after the quarterback is imperative to the team's defensive success, and he's also a player who can play inside when the Saints need him. There's little to no reason to suggest that Jordan won't be able to put together another strong season and be an instrumental piece of New Orleans making a big postseason run.
