For a dominant stretch – seven seasons out of eight – there’d been a constant and consistent sack leader for the New Orleans Saints: Cam Jordan.
The defensive end shot up to the top spot in franchise history, with 117.5 career sacks coming into his 14th NFL season.
However, defensive end Carl Granderson topped the list last year after recording a career-high 8.5 sacks in his fifth season—or 37% of his 23 career sacks. Additionally, Granderson found more, which he intends to include in his ledger this year.
Granderson believes he can hit the peak he wants if he can become more consistent in his play rather than having a strong beginning, middle, and finish.
“It’s always good to start off strong, but looking back at last year, it got rocky in the middle,” he said after Tuesday’s OTA practice. “For me, it’s maintaining and being consistent, and the numbers will come.
So moving forward to this season, I expect my production to start off hot and in the middle keep it going, and then toward the end crank it up even more.”
Still, it was a significant jump in production from 2022 (5.5 sacks and nine quarterback hits), which had been his best pro season.
“Overall, just getting smarter as a player in the offseason, watching film and just breaking down my game and understanding plays,” he said. “That helped going into the season. And what also helped me was my teammates.
“A lot of my sacks came from effort, and the guys around me. Coach put me in the best position to make big plays, so I just worked my butt off and kept going. I should have gotten more than eight-and-a-half, but it’s God’s plan. I’m looking forward to a big year this year.
“You’ve just got to focus on your craft, that’s the main thing. Just focus on getting better in the offseason, working on what you have to work on during the offseason. You can’t pay attention to (increased attention from opponents).
“They’re going to send a double team, they’re going to do what they’ve got to do but if you’ve got other guys on the D-line to back you up, they can’t double you. Everybody is going to go hunt. So looking forward to this season, I’m ready and we’ve got a good group of guys. We’re hungry, we’re out there in the heat and we’re preparing for the season now.”
