For the first time since 2018, the New Orleans Saints will have a new leader in single-season tackles in 2026.
Since he joined the team in 2018, linebacker Demario Davis has paced the team in combined tackles every year. Now that he has departed to rejoin the New York Jets, the door is open for a new name to sit atop the list.
The last player to lead in tackles before Davis was former safety Vonn Bell. That season, 2017, was also the last time the Saints failed to field a 100-tackle player on defense, a feat that Davis achieved in each of his seasons in New Orleans.
This year, the frontrunner to lead in this stat is also the frontrunner to take on a vital leadership role in defense: linebacker Kaden Elliss.
Elliss Will Lead the Team in Tackles This Year
It wouldn’t be a first for Elliss. He led the team in combined tackles in two of his three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. In 2024, he did so with a whopping 151 total takedowns and in the lone season he did not pace the team, 2023, he still amassed 122 total tackles on the year.
Simply put, Elliss is a tackling machine. He’s a fast processor that’s quick to the ball and doesn’t often miss tackles.
Per Pro Football Reference, Elliss’s missed tackle percentage has never exculpated 7% as a starter. Davis has only one season since 2019 in which he’s come in below that mark. Fellow linebacker Pete Werner cashed beneath that threshold three times in his five seasons, but hasn’t done so in the last two years.
Not only will Elliss lead the team in tackles in 2026, he’ll provide a steady, reliable and stabilizing force upon which the defense can rely.
