One of the most closely watched positions throughout the New Orleans Saints’ offseason appears to have its solution in place. Since the first day of Organized Team Activities, safety Jonas Sanker has been lining up at the team’s disruptive STAR defender role.
The position was held by former Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor, who departed the offseason on a major deal with the Tennessee Titans.
This year, the responsibilities appear to be turned over to the young safety Sanker. To help understand a bit more about the asks of the position, the necessary qualities it takes to fulfill them and why the former Virginia safety has transitioned so smoothly into the spot, defensive pass game coordinator Terry Joseph provided some insight.
“The toughest thing about STAR, you’re a safety, you’re a corner, or you’re a linebacker, maybe a (defensive end) based on a call,” Joseph explained. “It’s a lot of different jobs that you’ve got to be versed in to be a really good STAR.”
With all of those responsibilities, it wasn’t a major surprise to see Sanker be the player the team tapped early to take on the role. During his collegiate days at Virginia, he took more than 500 snaps at each safety, slot corner and in the box.
His versatility and football IQ helped to put him in position to earn consideration at the position. After starting 16 games as a deep safety during his rookie season last year, Sanker’s flexible playstyle has lined him up to hold another key role in the team’s defense going into 2026.
Joseph explained why the Saints are bullish on Sanker in this role:
“[Sanker] has speed, he’s very athletic, and then most times he was really good in coverage for us last year,” he said.” All of those are the characteristics of a good STAR, and then, with his athleticism, his blitz capability is something that really piqued our interest a little bit.”
Astute fans might notice something missing from the list of responsibilities for the STAR role in this context. In last year’s iteration, the STAR also lined up at the outside corner spot on base downs.
As it turns out, that had more to do with Taylor’s skill set than it did with the hardline responsibilities of the position. Don’t expect to see Sanker taking those snaps on the outside. However, don’t be surprised if he sees action as a deep safety in certain situations either.
“We have great depth at safety too,” Joseph said. “(Jordan Howden) showed that he could come in last year and really did a good job subbing in when (Justin Reid) was down a little bit. We have full confidence in (Terrell Burgess), so for right now we can major in STAR with Sanker. But he’s still going to get those safety reps because we might get in the game where we’re gonna play more base and so he has to still be dialed up on that.”
It sounds like the second-year talented safety is set to be in a fundamentally different but imperative role in 2026. One that should bolster many of the things he does well as a physical, versatile and instinctive player.
