Brett Davis-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
Many will point to the New Orleans Saints’ run defense as the team’s best path to improvement on the defensive side of the ball. While that area of the game could certainly see some continued progress from how it ended the season last year, the competition level will be remarkably high to start off the year on the ground.
Instead, the team’s pass rush may be its quickest path to marked improvement on the defense, where so much promise is already attached following last year’s surge under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.
The Saints’ pass rush didn’t underperform last year. The team finished top-10 in sacks with 45 and No. 5 overall across the league with a 7.9% sack rate. However, New Orleans’ 32.6% quarterback pressure rate fell outside of the top-20 to No. 21 overall, per Next Gen Stats.
That means the Saints still have some progress to make even after Staley’s pass rush surge yielded some positive results.
Improving the pressure rate could be very well in the Saints’ best interest not just from the obvious benefit of impacting the opposing quarterback on a greater number of snaps, but also because of something the pressure unit did impressively well last year.
In 2025, the Saints had one of the best pressure-to-sack conversion rates in the league. Their 22.8% sack percentage on snaps where a pressure was generated ranked No. 4.
This was recently an area where New Orleans struggled.
Pressure-to-Sack Rates In Previous Seasons
- 2025: 22.8%
- 2024: 17.2%
- 2023: 16.2%
- 2022: 25.8%
- 2021: 21.6%
- 2020: 18.7%
The Saints’ 2025 rate was the best since 2022, which was also the last time the team eclipsed 40 sacks in a season.
This means New Orleans is already on the trajectory needed to continue seeing improvements here. If the run defense can hold on to its progress and the Saints’ offensive game puts points on the board at a higher rate earlier in games this year, it will set up obvious passing situations for opponents. That would provide opportunities for edge rushers Chase Young and Carl Granderson to have a massive impact on games week in and week out.
Another space where the Saints could see some improvements to its defense in this area will be in fourth-quarter pressure generation. New Orleans generated just 53 pressures and a 31.5 pressure rate in the fourth quarter. Those numbers ranked No. 24 and No. 26, respectively.
Some of this is because New Orleans was often playing catch-up late in games while opposing offenses were trying to run the clock out. But in some pivotal circumstances, late-game pass rushes made all the difference.
Against the Carolina Panthers in Week 15, the New York Jets in Week 16 and the Tennessee Titans in Week 17, Young registered at least a half-sack, tallying 2.5 sacks and nine pressures during that stretch. Each helped to tilt or establish the game in the Saints’ favor late.
A continued focus on the run defense will help, yes. But the Saints’ quickest path to defensive improvements in 2026 will be with its already ascending pass rush. Whether by creating sacks or rushing a quarterback’s clock leading to turnovers, this area of the game can turn the tide of any contest, especially late in games.
Building on a strength may be the key to the team’s defensive success.
