Why the Saints should sign DE Yannick Ngakoue

Mar 21, 2023 - 2:00 PM

The New Orleans Saints are in the process of revamping the entire defensive line. After not resigning key players on the defensive line and hiring Todd Grantham, the team clearly wanted to move in a new direction.

They’ve made some progress signing Khalen Saunders and Nathan Shephard, but the team shouldn’t be done yet. The team lacks real pass rushers except for Cameron Jordan. All successful NFL teams are able to put pressure on opposing QBs. This is why the team should sign DE Yannick Ngakoue.

To put it simply, Ngakoue is a sack machine. The former third rounder has had eight or more sacks in every season he’s played in. He had 9.5 sacks last season with the Indianapolis Colts.

Ngakoue also had an above pass-rush win rate of 14.1%. Ngakoue is a speed rusher who uses his foot movement and speed to get by linemen. He also has fluid hips and good balance. Ngakoue is also known for his cross-chop move.

The other great part about Ngakoue is his passion and leadership. Ngakoue was coaching up some of the other rookies in Indianapolis. Former Colts head coach Frank Riech had this to say about Ngakoue, “What I’m coming to appreciate about Yannick more and more is really what a leader this guy is. He’s going to put up great individual performance and production but ultimately, it’s about the team, and I really believe that he’s going to be a great fit for us going forward.”

This type of passion is needed in the Saints locker room. Fellow Saints DE Cameron Jordan would absolutely thrive off this energy. The two veterans playing together could create a QBs worst nightmare next season.

While Ngakoue is an excellent pass rusher, he’s a below-average run defender. This does knock his value down a bit, but the team already brought in capable run defenders. This would allow Ngakoue to focus on what he does best: rushing the QB.

If the Saints can get the pass-rush guru on a reasonable deal, they should pull the trigger.

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