Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
The first major injury of the New Orleans Saints’ regular season dealt a hard hit to the team’s safety room. Starting safety Julian Blackmon is expected to undergo surgery this week on a shoulder injury that will likely end his 2025 campaign with the team.
That’s a big hit for New Orleans, who worked hard to quickly rebuild its safety room this offseason following the free agency departure of Will Harris Jr. and the retirement of Tyrann Mathieu.
Now, the Saints will turn to a young safety to fill the role. Kellen Moore announced the team would turn things over to its exciting, versatile rookie, Jonas Sanker.
“Jonas is going to do an awesome job,” head coach Kellen Moore said during his Wednesday media availability. “Jonas is prepared, ready, he’s done a phenomenal job this whole entire training camp, preseason games. There’s other guys that’ll rotate in there as well.”
Moore said that the team won’t load Sanker with all the weight of replacing Blackmon, who took 100% of the defensive snaps last week and was in on two near-interceptions.
What Sanker Brings
All offseason, coaches and players praised the versatility of the starting safety tandem of Blackmon and Justin Reid.
Sanker is likely the best option to replace Blackmon for that very reason. The rookie third-rounder saw at least 500 defensive snaps in the box, at deep safety and in the slot during his four years at Virginia.
He also made more than a few standout plays in both camp and the preseason while making his transition to the pros.
A Uniquely Important Opportunity
Getting a chance to see the young rookie in action is a good thing not just for Sanker, but for the Saints. A rebuilding team looking to take inventory of its future building blocks will now get eyes on one of the team’s talented and highly-anticipated rookies.
New Orleans could have taken to the free agency market with names like Justin Simmons, Vonn Bell and Marcus Williams available in an attempt to quickly fill the void with a veteran. Instead, the Saints will roll out their promising rookie. Adding another veteran to the practice squad could still be in the cards.
Sanker’s Collegiate Production
During his time at Virginia, Sanker piled up 176 solo tackles while leading the ACC in that category each of the last two years. He also accounted for 273 total tackles, two sacks, a pair of interceptions and 17 passes defended.
As a physical player, he forced four fumbles and 14 tackles for a loss.
“Certainly his physicality that he plays with,” Moore said about one thing that stands out about Sanker. “But to think he plays it in a manner that is still sound. He’s not reckless. I thought he had a ton of examples through preseason football (that) he showed up in the team meetings every week because of these big, aggressive plays.”
