{"id":996170,"date":"2026-09-09T15:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/996170\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:09:17","slug":"two-saints-players-lions-must-worry-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/996170\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Saints Players Lions Must Worry About"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Detroit Lions should have the upper hand in their season-opening contest<\/a> with the New Orleans Saints.<\/p>\n

Yet, there are a couple of Saints players who could wreak havoc against Dan Campbell’s squad on Sunday.<\/p>\n

With the Lions dealing with issues in their secondary and facing a more-than-capable New Orleans pass-rush, two players in particular should worry Detroit: wide receiver Chris Olave and EDGE Cameron Jordan.<\/p>\n

WR Chris Olave<\/p>\n

The Lions\u2019 injury-hampered secondary<\/a> will have its hands full with Olave.<\/p>\n

Olave, entering his fifth NFL season, is coming off a career-best 100-catch, 1,163-yard campaign in 2025. He also secured a career-high nine touchdown catches a season ago.<\/p>\n

Additionally, in each season where he’s played in at least 15 games, he’s gone for north of 1,000 receiving yards.<\/p>\n

The Ohio State product<\/a> has had an impressive start to his NFL career, and there’s no doubt he’ll be the Saints’ leading receiver in 2026.<\/p>\n

Expect the former first-round pick to be a tough cover for D.J. Reed and Detroit’s cornerbacks all Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

EDGE Cameron Jordan\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jordan remains ultra productive headed into his 16th NFL season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2011 first-round pick has spent his entire career in New Orleans, and is undoubtedly one of the best players in franchise history.<\/p>\n

Jordan, an eight-time Pro Bowler, is coming off a 10.5-sack campaign in which he earned a 76.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus<\/a>. Plus, as he has his entire career, he proved to be ultra reliable against the run in 2025, amassing an 82.1 PFF run-defense grade. It ranked as the fourth-best mark among 115 qualified EDGE defenders.<\/p>\n

Jordan is battling a hamstring injury which caused him to miss the entire preseason. However, there is still a solid chance the 37-year-old is active Sunday, and if he is, expect him to make his presence known in the Lions\u2019 backfield.<\/p>\n

And even if he’s unable to suit up, expect Detroit offensive tackles Blake Miller and Penei Sewell to still have their hands full with Jordan’s EDGE counterpart<\/a>, Chase Young.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Young, the former No. 2 overall pick of the Washington Commanders, gave quarterbacks fits all season long a year ago. He finished the 2025 campaign with a career-best 10.5 sacks, along with 49 total pressures, while logging just 542 snaps. And for his efforts, he earned a 78.0 overall grade from PFF, including an 86.3 pass-rush mark (ninth-best among all qualified EDGEs).<\/p>\n

Both Young and Jordan certainly have a knack for getting after the quarterback. It’s why there’s little to no question Detroit’s offensive line<\/a> has a big time test ahead of itself in Week 1.<\/p>\n

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