For a team with as much talent as the New Orleans Saints, there are bound to be arguments about who the top players on the roster are. Recently at Pro Football Focus, Ben Linsley gave his thoughts on who the top three players for each team in the NFL are. For the Saints he listed Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, and Cameron Jordan.
For his reasoning, Linsley said this:
“The Saints are in an odd spot as a franchise. They’re entering the second season of the post-Drew Brees era, yet they have refrained from hitting the rebuild button. Instead, they continue to push their chips further and further into the pot. And it’s not difficult to see why when you do an exercise like this, as there is still a lot of talent on this roster.
Lattimore, Ramczyk and Jordan are some of the best players in the league at their respective positions, and the same could be said for Michael Thomas, Demario Davis, Alvin Kamara and Tyrann Mathieu when those players are at 100% and fully healthy.”
Lattimore is an easy choice for a top-three player on the team in my opinion. He has moments where he slips up, but at cornerback that is to be expected. He is a leader on the defense who has made his case as one of the best cornerbacks in the league, making the Pro Bowl in four out of his five seasons in the league.
Ramczyk is less of a lock as a top-three player in my opinion, but he certainly deserves to be in the conversation. I believe that 2021 was a step back for him, especially in terms of pass blocking. To be fair to Ramczyk, he was battling injuries last season, and a rotating supporting cast in the offensive line certainly doesn’t help. Should he bounce back and return to an All-Pro level this season, the argument in his favor here would be even stronger.
Jordan is a beloved player, but I do believe his time as a top-tier player on the team is behind him. He is still a great leader, run defender, and had a great second half of the season in 2021 as a pass rusher.
I think another player on the defense that should have been listed was Demario Davis. Davis has been consistently underrated, I believe there is an argument to be made that he is flat out the best player on the team. You could also make that argument about newcomer Tyrann Mathieu, of course it remains to be seen how he will fit in on the defense but they brought him in for a reason.
