What is one burning question for the New Orleans Saints at each position on defense?

The New Orleans Saints have had a ton of turnover over the course of the last calendar year, between the coaching staff and roster. The team is going to be very different entering the 2025 season. With a new defensive scheme setup, there are many questions to be answered before the campaign kicks off, especially surrounding the front seven and who may remain on the roster.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the biggest question for each defensive position group prior to the preseason:

DT: Is there a clear starter at nose tackle, or will it be a rotation?

With things changing around a bit for the Saints, the defensive front three is going to see some different faces at new positions. The assumption would be that Cameron Jordan and Bryan Bresee run outside of Davon Godchaux, but nose tackle is an intriguing position. The competition there is seemingly between Godchaux, Khalen Saunders, John Ridgeway, Khristian Boyd, and potentially rookie Vernon Broughton, unless he runs defensive tackle like Bresee.

Brandon Staley tends to run a 0-tech nose tackle, one or two 4i-techs (usually one true defensive end and a defensive tackle), and then the two edge rushers from outside linebacker. Godchaux would presumably be the 0-tech here and, for now, can be seen as the starter, but it will be an interesting battle coming up.

DE: Which players from the original core are utilized in the front three, and which will be outside linebackers?

This question becomes a bit of a mix between the previous and following questions. There is a ton of defensive linemen on this team, with Jonathan Bullard, Jonah Williams, Godchaux, Broughton, Chris Rumph, and Fadil Diggs all being added to the rotation among the current core of Jordan, Carl Granderson, Chase Young, Bresee, Isaiah Foskey, Saunders, John Ridgeway, Boyd, and more.

The presumed depth chart as of now would be Bresee, Godchaux, and Jordan as the front three, with Young and Granderson at edge. Then, rotating the remaining players at various spots, as has been seen with Staley's scheme previously.

EDGE: Can Chase Young make the transition to outside linebacker, and will it actually benefit him?

Presuming that the rotation up front is Jordan, Godchaux, and Bresee, Chase Young will be the odd-man-out and will have to move to outside linebacker as an edge. For what it is worth, he has an edge rusher frame, at 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, so this could ultimately benefit him. His biggest difficulty has been that he generates a ton of pressure but rarely gets a clear opportunity to complete a sack.

Having someone like Jordan or Bresee in front of him, depending on what side he plays on, could help push the pocket back enough to give him a shot at the quarterback. He has an extremely quick and explosive jump off the line, so doing so with a full head of steam instead may improve his sack totals.

LB: Is Pete Werner ready for a full-scale breakout, or is someone else going to have a shot?

The interior linebacker position could be an intriguing one this season, as Demario Davis is the clear starter at MLB, but then at WLB, it becomes a bit more interesting. Pete Werner has been very solid in his time with the Saints and is extended through the 2027 season. However, his capabilities in coverage are less than optimal, especially for a WILL, so the team has some decisions to make on how they want to handle their rotation.

With Danny Stutsman entering the picture from the fourth round of the 2025 NFL draft, he could get some playing time off the bat in specific scenarios.

CB: Which young cornerbacks can take the spots left behind by Lattimore and Adebo?

The cornerback room for the Saints is practically completely different than it was about two seasons ago at the same time. The starting group at the position is going to be extremely interesting to watch pan out, as Kool-Aid McKinstry is a definitive starter, and Alontae Taylor is likely the nickel, but who starts alongside them?

There are certainly some good options, such as Rico Payton, Isaac Yiadom, and Quincy Riley. It will just be a matter of who is able to win the training camp battle, but Yiadom likely has the job for now, given that he has starting experience with the team previously.

SF: Does the Mathieu and Reid connection improve the defensive back room immediately?

Another offseason acquisition for the Saints was bringing in a former teammate of Tyrann Mathieu, Justin Reid. While they never overlapped in Kansas City, they did have one year together with the Houston Texans in 2018, where they both played all 16 games and started at least 12 each (Reid missed out on four starts). Having them back together could be an extremely fun pairing, as they both look to work under new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley and defensive pass game coordinator Terry Joseph.

While it has been quite a while since they paired up, they both are enormously talented players and should bring some improved performance to an otherwise extremely young defensive back room.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 6 burning questions the Saints defensive position groups must answer