Saints Jonas Sanker establishing himself as a playmaker on defense
- Ellias J Williams
- Sep 30, 2025
- 2 min read
Only the elite and or potentially elite players flash an ability to take over a series the way Jonas Sanker did vs Buffalo.
Demario Davis established himself as one of those guys, so did Marshon Lattimore and Cam Jordan earlier in their respective careers but outside of that the defense has been void of difference makers.
Until the Saints used the 3rd rounder received from Washington to draft Jonas Sanker 93rd overall.
Jonas showed glimpses of his playmaking prowess during pre-season with some routine big hits, showcased a high motor, and some block destruction ability that Kellen Moore singled out.
Sanker eventually got his chance in Week 2 after Julian Blackmon was lost for the year and he's since been one of the Saints highest graded defenders per PFF.
His breakout game came Sunday vs the Bills in which he totaled 3 pass breakups, 1 INT and 5 tackles.
Football is a team game, so what stands out is how Sanker made back-to-back impact plays that single handedly ended the Bills march.
On the first play the Saints played Cover 1 Man with Jonas in off coverage vs Knox. Knox attempts to bump him at the top of his route, but Jonas keeps his balance and remains in Knox's hip pocket for the pass breakup.
The next play appeared to be Cover 1 again, but from a different look. This time Sanker is the deep safety, and Reid moves up to play man. Jonas doesn't have to do much except play over the top, and range to the ball but here's the kicker.
He makes the catch; he could have gone full Werner.
Sankers performance wasn't flawless, however.
He struggled bringing down ballcarriers resulting in five missed tackles. He and Demario combined for nine missed tackles on the day, something you can't have from your stars on defense.
To deploy quarters coverage, you need elite safety play and Jonas is well on his way with a bright future.
Great find by the scouting department.
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