Cam Jordan continues to get inside pass rush reps as well as his usual outside rushes. Here he is against Ruiz and Penning pic.twitter.com/ioFMRx6vnd
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) August 2, 2024
Will Cameron Jordan be listed at a different position in 2024? No, but he won’t necessarily be a full-time defensive end anymore — at least not if the latest buzz out of New Orleans Saints training camp holds up.
Jordan has been taking a lot of snaps from defensive tackle alignments in team drills and individual work in recent days, particularly in pass-rush situations. It’s something NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill picked up on a few days ago, and which the Saints have been trying out more and more frequently as they get deeper into training camp.
This is new for him. According to Pro Football Focus charting, Jordan hasn’t lined up inside the B gap more than 7 times in a single season since 2012, his second year in the pros and his only experience with Steve Spagnuolo running the defense (and he did so on just 47 of his 1,035 snaps). He’s only logged one snap in the A gap during the last four years. Jordan has almost exclusively lined up over the offensive tackle or outside their shoulders throughout his 14-year career.
But it’s a change that some Saints fans have been requesting (and sometimes loudly suggesting online) for years. It’s no secret that Jordan has lost a step, even if his lack of production last season was blamed on a bad ankle rather than physical decline. He’s never been much of a speed rusher who closes in on the quarterback in a hurry. He wins with strength, power, and leverage. And moving him inside lets him use those skills against slow-footed guards who can’t force him to turn a corner like offensive tackles can.
This could be Jordan’s best path to remaining an asset along the defensive line. Getting him into those mismatches with Carl Granderson and Chase Young rushing off the edge puts everyone in a position to play to their strengths. The lack of quality depth at defensive tackle and sudden surplus of exciting edge rushers (not just Granderson and Young, who has dominated practices; Payton Turner and Isaiah Foskey have each had their moments) are good excuses for moving Jordan around. If he can help supplement the interior pass rush and open snaps for those younger players to take outside, everyone wins.
At least that’s the hope. We should expect Jordan to remain a starter in the base defense at his usual left end spot until someone displaces him. He’s a better run defender than pass rusher at this stage in his career, which has been the opposite case for Chase Young. Maybe lining up Jordan on the edge for early downs and obvious running situations, then kicking him inside with Young crashing down next to him for third downs and clear passing scenarios, is the best way to get the most out of both players. It’s not a bad theory. Let’s see how it plays out in practice.
