AsylumGuido

A deep dive into what makes Cam Jordan one of the league’s best defenders

We see the sack numbers and the tackles for loss, but what makes Cam great are the things he does that don’t show up in the box score

By Andrew_Bell@andy_b_123 Jul 9, 2020, 8:00am CDT



Cameron Jordan was always among the most underrated players in the league towards the earlier stages of his career. Drafted in 2011, he couldn’t crack the NFL Network’s Top 100 list until 2015, at No. 99, despite that even not being his best season in terms of sacks or pressures.

The following year, he didn’t even make the list at all (!!!), when he ranked fourth among edge rushers in overall grade at a crisp 90.0, via Pro Football Focus. Too bad all the people who make those lists look at are sacks when weighing pass rushers’ performances — about one or two percent of their total snaps in most cases — but I digress.

Jordan finally started to garner the respect he deserved after stellar seasons in 2017 and 2018, to go along with sufficient sack numbers. He ranked 26th and 41st, respectively.

Respect or no respect, the man has been a wrecking ball on that defensive line ever since 2012 (we don’t talk about his rookie year). Known for his completeness as an edge defender, specializing in both run and pass situations, he really doesn’t come off of the field.

This simple fact gets overlooked far too often. Cam is an absolute ironman on the defensive line, more so than pretty much anyone.

According to PFF’s snap count statistics, no defensive lineman in the NFL has played more snaps than Cam Fam since 2012, and by a pretty wide margin. Sean Payton has spoken about how important Jordan’s stamina is to the defense on numerous occasions, and his sentiments are backed up by the data and play of the field.

When Jordan is able to play around 95 percent of the defense’s snaps at left end, three-tech or standing up somewhere, it allows Dennis Allen and the defensive coaching staff to alternate guys like Marcus Davenport and Trey Hendrickson on the other side of the ball without altering the rest of the unit.

More importantly, no matter the load he carries on defense, it doesn’t see to affect his performance negatively. For a guy who reportedly lied to his eighth-grade football coach about having Asthma because he didn’t feel like running, Cam’s come a long way in the endurance department.

Being on the field so much has aided in the California-product racking up a myriad of impressive career statistics — 87 sacks, 168 QB hits, 113 tackles for loss, 41 batted passes, etc.

All of these are nice, but they don’t tell the whole story. The tale of a pass rusher is generally told by the plays that don’t make the highlight reel.

The plays that elite pass rushers display on tape week in and week out of destroying offensive linemen with perfect technique, speed or power right as the QB lets the ball go, or pushing the pocket and causing the QB to back up into their teammate’s sack — If you’re putting these plays on tape as often as the highlight plays, then you’re probably an elite pass rusher. And you can bet your bottom dollar Cameron Jordan does just that.

For reference, I went back and watched one of Jordan’s best games of the 2019 season, Week 2 versus the Rams. While it won’t look like it on the stat sheet, his presence in this game was felt in a major way, making it a perfect game-example of the value he brings to the Saints defense beyond the box score.

He finished the game with only one sack, but I charted six pass rush snaps where he beat his blocker(s) and the QB got the ball out too quickly for him to make a sack.

Read the rest here including video examples ...

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

AsylumGuido

I can't wait to see what Cam does this season with a healthy Davenport on the other side, or God forbid, an Everson Griffen in the rotation.

SaintGnome

If he sold out on sacks and got as many as he could, he probably would have twice his already very good numbers. He plays the run just as intensely and sacrifices #s. We're lucky to have him.