The New Orleans Saints have seen some of their key defensive players make important strides in one of the league’s most pivotal categories: tackling. In the midst of the opening of a season in which the Saints have faced a series of talented running backs.
Going into Week 4, the Saints have players ranked inside the top-five defenders in solo tackles without giving up a missed tackle, per Pro Football Focus.
Safety Jonas Sanker leads the list with 19 tackles, linebacker Kaden Elliss is tied for No. 2 at 18 while linebacker Pete Werner is T-No. 5 at 15. Cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry isn’t far behind either with 12 solo tackles without a miss.
This is a significant progress for the team, who fielded two players in the second level alone last year that tallied double-digit missed tackle percentages by season’s end. Approaching the first quarter of the season, the team has seen a marked improvement in these efforts for the better.
Conversely, the Saints’ defensive line dominates the list of players with the highest missed tackle percentage on the team. Seeing missed tackles weighted toward the trenches isn’t a major surprise, however.
One of the biggest surprises so far is the missed tackle rate of linebacker Danny Stutsman. The second-year linebacker carried only a 5.4% missed tackle rate last year, but is currently set at 16.7% so far this season, but that’s with only three misses thus far, with a ton of time ahead to correct the trend.
With Elliss and Werner having missed Thursday’s practice, Stutsman may have a big opportunity ahead against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday to make a statement and heighten his trajectory under the lights.
