In 2021, the New Orleans Saints had a versatile and athletic set of linebackers that helped lead a defense that ranked near the top of the NFL in most every category. Demario Davis led the unit as a playmaker all over the field and leading the team in tackles. Veteran Kwon Alexander was Davis' athletic and versatile running mate. Rookie Pete Werner fortified the position as a second-round draft choice.
Alexander was not re-signed last offseason and instead joined the New York Jets. Few doubted Werner's ability to excel in an expanded role. However, nearly everyone had concerns about the position's depth.
Veteran signings Jon Bostic and Eric Wilson were not retained in training camp, increasing those doubts. Promising rookie fifth-round pick D'Marco Jackson was also lost in training camp with a season-ending injury.
When Werner suffered a mid-season injury that sidelined him for several weeks, it could have spelled disaster for the defense. Instead, it opened up an opportunity for one of the Saints' biggest breakout players of 2022, as we'll see in our year-in-review.
Kaden Elliss
Saints Year-In-Review
Second-year LB Pete Werner was having a huge season before going down with an ankle injury in Week 9. Werner would miss five of the next six games, but the defense didn't miss a beat thanks to fourth-year LB Kaden Elliss.
A seventh-round pick out of Idaho in the 2019 NFL Draft, Elliss was a special teams standout that played sparingly on defense over his first three seasons. At the beginning of 2022, Elliss was the third linebacker behind Davis and Werner in a New Orleans defense that typically deploys just two in most alignments.
Elliss actually started four of the Saints' first eight contests. However, his snaps were usually just limited to early downs or short yardage situations. Over those eight games, he recorded a sack and 15 tackles.
When Werner suffered an ankle injury early in a Week 9 game against Baltimore, it opened the door for the 27-year-old Elliss to flourish.
Elliss finished with 7 sacks, 11 pressures, two passes broken up, and 7 tackles for loss among 78 total stops. All were career best numbers. Six of his sacks, along with 63 tackles, came in the last nine games. He was not only disruptive against the run and as a pass rusher, but also showed vast improvements in coverage, thought to be a weakness in his game.
Despite not seeing full-time duty until the mid-season point, Elliss was second on the team in sacks, third in QB hits, and fourth in total tackles and tackles for loss. His 2022 statistics dwarfed the combined numbers he had over his first three NFL seasons.
In the last nine games with Elliss in full-time duty, the Saints gave up an average of less than 15 points and 309 yards per contest while recording 29 sacks. Elliss was as disruptive as any of the more highly publicized New Orleans defenders over this stretch.
An unrestricted free agent entering the offseason, Elliss should be a top priority for the Saints to re-sign. His emergence, along with Werner's development and the elite presence of Davis gave New Orleans one of the league's best trio of linebackers.
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