Saints DB Jonas Sanker: From 3rd-Round Pick in 2025 To No. 22 Player in 2026

One day when NFL historians look back at past drafts, they may take the New Orleans Saints and stare at 2024 through 2026. And in particular, the one in the middle might stand out most.

First round in 2025: Starting left tackle Kelvin Banks. Second round: Potential franchise quarterback Tyler Shough. Third round: What some were hoping was depth in the secondary is now starting star cornerback Jonas Sanker.

Indeed, Sanker enters this season as the unquestioned starter for defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, as the team puts more and more trust in a guy who has been playing professional football for just one season.

That being said, there was much made of the selection of Sanker because of his experience at Virginia, where he played 43 total games and led the Cavaliers in solo tackles in both his junior (73) and senior (65) seasons. In all, he collected 273 total tackles in his four seasons.

And he did almost all of that before he turned 22 years old.

Where does he fit this season? Let’s dive into our No. 22 player of 2026:

Please share your thoughts on our Top 25 Saints Heading Into 2026 by emailing the Saints On SI Publisher and Beat Writer Jim Derry at jim@jimderry.com. Jim also hosts the Dattitude Podcast with Jim Derry live at 11 am CT each Monday, Wednesday and Friday on YouTube

Why is Sanker so important?

First off, if one were to pick an area where the upcoming Saints were most shaky, it has to be defensive back.

Other than the five projected starters – Sanker, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Julian Blackmon, Justin Reid and Quincy Riley – there isn’t a whole lot there, so depth could become a major issue. Meanwhile, Sanker, McKinstry and Riley combined have four years of NFL experience, and the Saints just lost a key corner in Alontae Taylor to free agency.

In other words, the team has a lot riding on Sanker being able to keep progressing from a solid rookie season hardly any Who Dats were expecting.

Sanker’s strengths and weaknesses

His top strength might be his intelligence, which has helped him adapt to a move from safety to this hybrid defensive back spot. Last season, he made his presence known, and clearly was trusted almost right away by Staley.

Of course, part of that love from his DC stems from his aforementioned versatility, but he also is a fantastic open-field tackler with big-time leadership skills.

Jonas Sanker on the benefits of being a young defensive back room:

“There’s no egos”

Also what he sees in Kool-Aid and Quincy Riley going into 2026 https://t.co/VRLoUHcxc0 pic.twitter.com/e2U4T8ojWA
— kaj (@kadinjanisch) June 2, 2026

Sanker collected 80 total tackles and had two interceptions, but maybe most surprising was the fact he played in all 17 games and started all but one of them.

He also can be a factor in run defense, which we have told you the past two days with Bryan Bresee and Davon Godchaux was an obvious priority of this team in the offseason.

As far as weaknesses, he has had issues with covering the deep ball, and that could be an issue against opponents like Atlanta, Detroit and Cincinnati.

Background

Sanker was born on Nov. 23, 2002, in Charlottesville, Va., and went to high school there at The Covenant School. He wasn’t a big-time recruit, and was listed by On3 as the 1,236th overall prospect in the nation and the 113th safety. He was 37th in the state of Virginia.

He chose the Cavaliers over Boston College, Ohio University, Air Force and Georgia State.

Sanker comes from a big family, as he has six siblings, including two others who played college football and another who is committed to play at Harvard. His dad, George Sanker, played college football at Colgate.

In a post from written by Saints columnist John DeShazier last year, Sanker says he has family in Germany and likes to travel there and loves to spend time with his siblings in his off time.

The rest of the Top 25 so far …

25, RET Barion Brown, June 2

24, DE Bryan Bresee, June 3

23, DT Davon Godchaux, June 4

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