{"id":849070,"date":"2026-04-02T11:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849070\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T11:11:15","slug":"the-new-orleans-saints-could-draft-an-edge-rusher-at-no-8-saints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849070\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Orleans Saints could draft an edge rusher at No. 8 | Saints"},"content":{"rendered":"

Year 1 of defensive coordinator Brandon Staley\u2019s scheme unlocked some of the New Orleans Saints<\/a> edge defenders.<\/p>\n

Chase Young had a career year<\/a> despite missing the first five games with a calf injury. Cam Jordan turned back the clock<\/a> by posting his first double-digit sack campaign in years. Carl Granderson exceeded his 2024 sack total despite playing 170 fewer pass rush snaps.<\/p>\n

All of those players had been 4-3 defensive ends before Staley arrived, and all delivered quality snaps as standup edge rushers in Staley\u2019s 3-4 scheme. Now the question is, what could Staley draw up for a player who is a more natural fit for what he is trying to do? The days of the Saints zeroing on edge defenders who fit their narrow prototypes are probably done.<\/p>\n

Young will still play a prominent role, there is no doubt about that, because his physical gifts would fit a lot of schemes. But this month\u2019s NFL draft could be the time New Orleans goes outside of its usual box and selects a player high who didn\u2019t fit its previous archetype \u2014 which was tall, long and heavy.<\/p>\n

This draft has three players who could fill that need at No. 8, but it dries up a little after that.<\/p>\n

The top-10 talents<\/p>\n

Ohio State LB Arvell Reese 6-foot-4, 241: A disclaimer: A team almost certainly will select Reese before the Saints\u2019 turn comes around at No. 8, so we\u2019ll keep this short. But players do have surprising slides, and if Reese made it to the Saints, he would have to be in the mix for the pick.<\/p>\n

Reese is a tooled-up version of Jalon Walker from a year ago, one of a new breed of defensive players who are physically gifted enough to play either off the ball or on the edge. He racked up 6\u00bd sacks for the Buckeyes a year ago while splitting his snaps between linebacker and edge.<\/p>\n

For someone like Staley, who has shown a knack for maximizing player\u2019s strengths in his time as a defensive play-caller, Reese would be a tantalizing option.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech edge David Bailey 6-4, 251: Who better to rev up the Saints\u2019 pass rush than the man who led the FBS with 14\u00bd sacks a year ago?<\/p>\n

Bailey used a lot of tools to win at the college level, showing a sophistication to his rush plan. Like Young, he is a \u201cspeed-to-power\u201d edge rusher, but he showed off an impressive array of counter moves to opposing pass blockers.<\/p>\n

He likely would have been too small to fit the Saints\u2019 previous rush end prototype, but under Staley, Bailey\u2019s traits should fit right in. He is another player who could hear his name called within the draft\u2019s first five picks.<\/p>\n

Miami edge Rueben Bain, 6-2, 263: If we\u2019re talking about players who don\u2019t fit old prototypes, Bain\u2019s name would probably be at the top of the list. He is the player in this year\u2019s draft cycle whose name drives the arm-length narrative.<\/p>\n

That may still be an issue for the Saints, who have long prioritized physical traits. Bain is decidedly not long, with his 30\u215e-inch arms being a talking point at the combine. The rest of his frame also doesn\u2019t necessarily fit the ideal for a 3-4 stand-up edge.<\/p>\n

So take that for what its worth. Because the rest of Bain\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is as impressive as it gets.<\/p>\n

The Miami star plays with controlled aggression and a high motor, and he was a menace for opposing offensive tackles throughout his college career, with 20\u00bd sacks, 33\u00bd tackles for loss and four forced fumbles in his three years in Coral Gables.<\/p>\n

After his pro day, Bain said, \u201cMike Tyson wasn’t the tallest guy. He wasn’t the longest-limbed guy. But when you felt him, you felt him. You kept your distance.”<\/p>\n

Later options<\/p>\n

Miami edge Akheem Mesidor, 6-3, 259: Bain\u2019s college teammate is not a candidate to go in the top 10, but there is a good chance he will come off the board before the Saints\u2019 turn comes around on Day 2.<\/p>\n

There are some factors that could push Mesidor down on draft boards, though. Like Tyler Shough last year, he\u2019s an older prospect who played six seasons of college football (Mesidor turns 25 in April). He also has some injury history, having missed most of the 2023 season with a chronic foot issue that required surgery.<\/p>\n

As a pure rusher, there is a lot to like about Mesidor, even if he is a bit undersized. He deploys an impressive array of moves, displaying an ability to beat tackles with both finesse and power, and he plays hard. Mesidor\u2019s college production also speaks for itself: He racked up 35\u00bd sacks in his college career, including 12\u00bd during Miami\u2019s 2025 season.<\/p>\n

Texas A&M edge Cashius Howell, 6-2, 253: Howell is another player whose size and arm length could be a red flag for some teams \u2014 but they\u2019d have to overlook a lot of other positives.<\/p>\n

Howell is an explosive pass rusher who specializes in getting after quarterbacks. He put up 25 sacks in his final three college seasons \u2014 one at Bowling Green, two at Texas A&M \u2014 with 11\u00bd sacks and 14 tackles for loss last season on his way to Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors.<\/p>\n

The question is whether he will be able to maintain that against bigger, more athletic NFL linemen. Howell\u2019s arms measured under 31 inches, and he\u2019s one of the smaller players among this class\u2019 top edge defenders. He might best be suited for a situational pass rushing role to begin his career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Year 1 of defensive coordinator Brandon Staley\u2019s scheme unlocked some of the New Orleans Saints edge defenders. Chase…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,4095,896,55,2572,2571,6,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-849070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-hardwall","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanssaints","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-saints"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116334814004190631","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}