Saints Film Study: Sheldon Rankins Through 6 Games

“Whatever the stats don’t show and do show, this guy is clearly evolving into a better pass rusher," Jordan said. "He’s able to call out a lot of different things for us. I don’t want to give it away. I’m simply saying he’s becoming the mastermind of the defensive line.”

This is what Cameron Jordan told the media and Nick Underhill when asked about Sheldon Rankins. Fans across Who Dat Nation seem to be growing impatient with the young defensive linemen as, to them, they see very little production coming from him in the interior for the New Orleans Saints.

However, Rankins’ film shows a different story. While yes, the sack total on the stat sheet shows a goose egg for the 2nd year player, what doesn’t show up is how well he is eating gaps and winning his matchups against opposing linemen. Sean Payton commented on this saying, “he has a good feel for his gap, his responsibilities.” With thirteen pressures through six games Rankins actually finds he’s making more of an impact than during his rookie campaign.

In the below film study myself and John Michael from here at Canal Street takes a look at some of the plays from his first six games this season to see what type of impact he is making.

As always, thanks for watching. Who, or what, would you like to see a film study on next? Who Dat and God Bless!