The long summer break between minicamp and training camp is a great opportunity to recalibrate and evaluate players around the NFL. Who is rising? Who is falling? How has the last year changed perceptions?
Here’s one good example. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco shared his list of the Top 100 Players of 2024. There isn’t any scientific criteria or studious film work going into this list, so think of it more as a heat check from a national analyst. How did the New Orleans Saints make out?
Two Saints players were included in Prisco’s top-100 and a third was singled out as an honorable mention, but so was their former teammate Trey Hendrickson; the defensive end rocketed up to No. 33 overall after bagging nearly as many sacks (17.5) as the entire Saints defensive line combined for (22). But which Saints players were featured?
After not being listed at all last offseason, linebacker Demario Davis slotted in at No. 50 on Prisco’s list:
He is one of the leaders of their defense and one of the more underrated players in the league. He excels in both pass coverage and the run game. The only issue is his age at 35.
Davis was selected for just his second career Pro Bowl in 2023, but he earned his fifth consecutive spot on the All-Pro team. He and Bobby Wagner are the only players in the NFL to accomplish that. And Davis wasn’t alone on Prisco’s list.
While he took a small slide down the rankings after clocking in at No. 81 a year ago, safety Tyrann Mathieu was still comfortably inside the top-100. Prisco put him at No. 92:
Even at the age of 32, he continues to be a playmaker on defense. He has a knack for the ball and can do a lot of things. He can play near the line of scrimmage and also excel on the back end.
Mathieu has been a great pickup for the Saints. He’s intercepted more passes (7) than anyone else on the team since he signed his contract, and while he didn’t match his career-high 91 tackles from 2022 he was still very active and made a positive impact at every level of the field. If the Saints had a safety with more range to hang back deep, his versatility and dynamism would be even more obvious.
Additionally, cornerback Paulson Adebo was recognized as an honorable mention. He bounced back really well from a 2022 season that was full of penalties and injuries, setting new personal-bests for interceptions (4), passes defensed (18), forced fumbles (2), fumble recoveries (2), and tackles (76). He’s well on his way to stamping himself as a top-10 cornerback in this league, and it’s happening at the perfect time for him in the final year of his contract.
What’s troubling is that all three of these players line up on defense. At some point the Saints need to make more investments in their offense and ensure they can score points when the defense gets outmatched. There are some encouraging young players on that side of the ball like Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, but they can’t do it all by themselves. Let’s see if anyone steps up at training camp in a few weeks.
