Kaden Elliss has turned pre-snap clues into a real edge, and the Saints are already cashing in.
The linebacker’s game starts long before the ball is snapped. Former New Orleans coach Dennis Allen used to tell him that every formation tells a story, and Elliss took that to heart. The cadence, the motion, the look of the huddle breaking apart - he’s built a habit of reading it all, fast enough to anticipate what’s coming before the offense can fully disguise it.
“People are pretty basic creatures,” Elliss said. “And they’re gonna give away a lot of things.”
That ability is a big reason Elliss has become one of the NFL’s best blitzers. It’s also a big reason New Orleans welcomed him back after losing Demario Davis in free agency.
Elliss, a Saints seventh-round pick in 2019, returned after three years with the Atlanta Falcons, where he developed into a top-tier off-ball linebacker. The move gave defensive coordinator Brandon Staley a weapon Davis couldn’t quite replicate.
Through two games, the Saints have used Elliss all over the place. Across 135 snaps - every one of them with Elliss on the field - New Orleans has sent him through the A-gap, dropped him into coverage, lined him up in the B-gap between a tackle and edge rusher, and even put him off the edge at times.
That kind of flexibility matters because Elliss isn’t just filling a spot. He gives the defense something different.
Davis was still effective and could move around too, even at 36, but Elliss brings another layer. Staley has leaned into that, and the clearest proof is how often the linebacker is attacking the quarterback.
Elliss has blitzed on 26.3% of his snaps so far, which is twice the rate of Saints linebackers last season. On 21 pass-rush reps, he’s produced seven pressures, second among off-ball linebackers in the league this season behind Minnesota’s Blake Cashman.
“You watch the first couple games and he’s just got great timing,” former Saints linebacker Scott Shanle said. “He’s got great rhythm with the snap count of the offense, and he seems to be just a half-step ahead of the offensive lineman, tight end or whoever he’s blitzing against.
“He’s just got an uncanny way of just timing up the snap counts.”
That showed up in New Orleans’ upset win over Baltimore last weekend. Ravens running back Justice Hill was caught flat-footed when Elliss shot downhill with perfect timing, leaving Hill with no chance to protect Lamar Jackson. Jackson got the ball out quickly to a nearby receiver, and Hill’s missed block was one of four pressures Elliss recorded in the game.
Elliss still doesn’t have a sack this season, but the pressure he creates is exactly why Kellen Moore wanted him. Moore had to game plan for Elliss three times over the last two seasons - first as the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator, then twice while coaching the Saints - and each time Elliss was a priority.
There are only “handful of guys” like that, Moore said.
“Timing, anticipation, FBI,” Moore said. “Physical play. He’s really a multiple player.”
FBI?
“Football intelligence,” Moore said with a grin.
Elliss doesn’t want to overcomplicate what he does. He studies, yes, but he also trusts feel.
He said he’s at his best when his assignments change from snap to snap, because it keeps offenses from settling into a pattern. Staley understands that too, and Elliss is careful not to show his hand before the play starts.
He wants to be the one doing the reading.
The Saints see a different player now than the one who first came through the building. Cam Jordan and Pete Werner both pointed out that Elliss has changed since his early days as a backup and even since his breakout 7 ½ sack season in 2022.
“He’s totally different,” Werner said. “And I think it starts mentally.”
“Kaden, when he was first here,” Jordan said, “the lights were bright.”
His three seasons in Atlanta clearly helped. Elliss piled up 100-plus tackles, became a tough matchup, and earned captain status along with the “Green Dot,” which let him relay the defensive calls. He has those same responsibilities again in New Orleans.
“I think going to Atlanta and having to be the man … it gave him a lot of confidence,” Shanle said.
Staley called Elliss one of those “chess pieces” every modern defense needs, especially with offenses moving weapons all over the field. Dan Orlovsky also pointed this week on ESPN to the return of more under-center looks, saying it can create chances for linebackers like Elliss and Werner to be “blitzing machines.”
Staley also sees the physical mismatch in Elliss: 6-foot-2, 228 pounds, too big for running backs and too fast for linemen. But he started with the family tree.
Elliss is the oldest of 11 children, and pass rushing runs deep in the family. His father, Luther, was an All-Pro defensive tackle with the Detroit Lions, and his younger brothers Jonah, with New England, and Christian, with Denver, are also in the NFL.
“He’s got the genes, for sure,” Staley said.
“We always tried to play some offense (growing up), but at the end of the day, college coaches said, ‘You’re probably going to be a defensive player,’” Elliss said with a laugh. “And that’s when our dad was able to teach us the most.”
Ask Elliss whether he’d rather snag an interception or get a sack, and there’s no hesitation.
“Sack,” Elliss said. “Sack is more work.
… You’ve got to beat a really good offensive lineman. Then you get one of the best athletes in the world on the ground and you need everyone on the back end to cover long enough for you to do it.
“So sack.”
That’s the kind of ending Elliss loves to read.
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