New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - NEWS Saints DT Sheldon Rankins' goals for Year 2: Stay healthy and dominate

Looking back on his rookie season with the New Orleans Saints, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins wishes two things had been different.

First, he wishes he'd been healthy for the full season instead of suffering a broken fibula in training camp that forced him to miss the first seven games. Second, after returning from that injury, he hoped to be more consistent.

Now, as the 2016 first-round pick prepares for his second NFL season, Rankins has two pretty basic goals.

"Obviously play all the games; that's the first one," Rankins said Thursday after organized team activities. "Second, just be more consistent. I think when I came back I flashed a lot, but consistently I wasn't as dominant as I felt like I wanted to be. So, I think that's my thing this year. ... With each play just try to look at it as each play is its own battle, dominate that battle, come back the next play and do the same thing. I think consistency with dominating a game is probably the biggest thing."

If Rankins achieves those goals, the Saints defense should be significantly better in 2017. Despite playing just nine games, Rankins had 20 tackles, three for loss, four sacks, six quarterback hits and a forced fumble -- impressive numbers for a defensive tackle in just half a season.

New Orleans re-signed Nick Fairley this offseason after he had a career year in 2016, and with Fairley and Rankins, the Saints should have interior quickness that's tough to match.

In addition to Fairley and Rankins, the Saints have nose tackle Tyeler Davison, who played through injuries nearly all of last season, and second-year pro David Onyemata, who adjusted quicker to the NFL than expected after coming from a Canadian college.

With that group, defensive tackle could be a strength of the defense. Sure, there are doubts about the team's defensive ends, but if the Saints consistently create interior pressure, it won't matter as much if the team has a lackluster edge presence -- outside of Cameron Jordan, of course.

"I think it can be a big strength," Rankins said of the defensive tackle group.

Obviously, the easiest way for that to prove true is for Rankins to live up to the lofty expectations that led the Saints to draft him 12th overall last year.

To ensure he stays healthy, Rankins said he tried to focus his training on his left leg, but he took a proactive approach by also working to strengthen his right leg, shoulders and arms.

"Whatever I needed to do to get my body feeling good, I did it, and I feel great right now," he said.

After the season, Rankins said he took some time to "literally rest." He didn't do much as he recovered from the season, but once it was time to train, he went hard as he tried to slim down a bit. He still wants to play between 305 and 310 pounds, but he wants to be slimmer and quicker with hopes of dominating in his second season.

"I'm looking forward to big things this year," he said.

Saints DT Sheldon Rankins' goals for Year 2: Stay healthy and dominate | NOLA.com