Look at Chase Young and Cameron Jordan and you’ll see two players in very different stages of their careers. Jordan is putting the finishing touches on a career he hopes will earn him a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Young is joining the New Orleans Saints with visions of catapulting his career to greater heights, where he’ll earn a life-changing contract in a year or two and join Jordan on that Hall of Fame trajectory.
And Jordan, 10 years Young’s senior, is a different player now than he was a decade ago. He’s still reliable in run defense; few defensive ends set a harder edge and give up less ground when opposing offenses test them. However, age and injuries and wear and tear have taken a toll, and Jordan lacks that extra step to close in on the quarterback and finish a distracting pressure with a drive-killing a sack.
Young is in the opposite situation. He’s as disruptive against the pass as they come, consistently beating his blocker off the snap and getting into the backfield to breathe down the quarterback’s neck. But he’s known as someone who shies away from contact when teams run at him, with a bad habit of loafing around and letting his teammates rally to the ball instead.
So this is a unique opportunity for them to bring out the best in each other. At this stage in his career, Jordan should be a two-down player who can stop the run and bring some pressure when teams drop back to pass. And Young is exactly the type of player who should be stepping in for him on third downs and obvious long-yardage passing situations, where he won’t be asked to hold ground in run defense. They can play to each other’s strengths while minimizing their weaknesses.
Having the two of them together is a good teaching opportunity, and it’s something Young says he’s looking forward to experiencing. Young was asked about the situation the Saints have set up for him to learn from Jordan, which he says he’s eager to embrace.
“That’s definitely something big for me, that I’m excited to do,” Young said Monday during his introductory press conference. “A future Hall of Famer, a guy who I can spend time with, who I can just absorb the game from. I’m definitely excited about Big Cam.”
Jordan was miscast as the Saints’ No. 2 pass rusher last year even before an ankle injury set him back through the back half of the season; Carl Granderson is a fine No. 2 option himself, but the group was missing a lead rusher to stet them both up for success. Young can do that. He had more pressures (74, including the playoffs) than both Granderson (58) and Jordan (45).
Even if Young is focused on playing the pass, there should be plenty of snaps to go around. The Saints faced 226 third downs last year. Opposing offenses needed 10 or more yards on 15 first downs and 133 second downs. If Young subbed in for Jordan on that exact number of plays (and, for the sake of this exercise, they were all passes by the offense) then it would be 374 pass rush snaps, which is comparable to the split Bryan Bresee saw at defensive tackle in his rookie year; he played the pass on 386 snaps while stopping the run just 148 times. A similar rotation could benefit Young and Jordan, too.
Letting players do what they do best sounds easy enough, but it can be tough to pull off. Ambitious young men don’t want to leave the field any more than their prideful elders. But the Saints didn’t sign Young without a clear vision for how he’ll fit into their rotation. If he takes point on passing downs (which, for the Saints, were about 67.2% of their defensive snaps in 2023) with Granderson rushing off the opposite end and Jordan putting his efforts into stopping the run, it just might bring out the best in everyone. That has to be the plan with Jordan’s career drawing to a close and Young hoping to cash in after playing out this prove-it deal in New Orleans. Let’s see if the team can carry out that vision, or if they have something else in mind.
