New Orleans Opens the Season Without Its Pass-Rush Anchor

Cameron Jordan is out for Week 1. I noted that two days ago, and the situation hasn't changed — the hamstring injury he picked up in mid-August held him through the preseason and he won't play against Detroit. What's worth sitting with now, as the game actually arrives, is what that absence means structurally. Jordan has been the edge of this defense for the better part of 15 years. He chose to come back to New Orleans this offseason — "we love New Orleans," he said — and now he opens the year watching from the sideline at 37.

Colby Wooden is the name at the top of the depth chart. That's not a knock on Wooden; it's just the reality of who New Orleans is asking to fill that role in Week 1. The Saints don't have the luxury of easing him in. Bryan Bresee is gone for the season with a torn ACL. Dillon Radunz is gone too. The defensive front that was supposed to anchor this team has been stripped down to depth pieces and young players who haven't faced a regular-season snap yet.

The broader problem is that this isn't a rotation you can fix mid-game. When the pass rush stalls on Sunday, there's no veteran to reach for on the bench. What's there is what's there. My read is that the Saints will need their secondary — Kool-Aid McKinstry and the corners — to compensate for whatever pressure the front four can't generate. That's a lot to ask of a group that also lost Lorenzo Styles Jr. to injured reserve this week.

Jordan may return at some point, and the offense has enough pieces to stay competitive. But the defensive edge situation is thin in a way that won't resolve itself quickly, and Week 1 is as good a time as any to find out exactly how thin.