New Orleans Saints: 3 Standouts from Preseason Week 1 vs. Vikings

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - AUGUST 09: Teddy Bridgewater #5 of the New Orleans Saints throws the ball during the first half of a preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on August 09, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

2. Taylor Stallworth, DT

Last year, the Saints picked up defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth off the pile of undrafted free agents in early May. The South Carolina product took the field for New Orleans in the preseason in 2018 and made quite an impression, enough so that he earned a spot on the 53-man roster. On top of that, he even carved out a small role on the defense in the regular season.

Stallworth appeared in 14 games as a rookie last season and was solid, though he certainly didn’t fill up the box score. He finished the year with eight combined tackles, one quarterback hit, two tackles for loss, one sack and a fumble recovery. As he got his 2019 preseason underway on Friday night, though, he made a big impact.

Just looking at the box score, the former Gamecock made his presence felt as he finished the matchup with four combined tackles, three of them solo efforts. However, that doesn’t tell the entire story of his performance. Stallworth was a constant force on the Saints defense, creating pressure more often than not up the interior, giving the Vikings interior offensive line all they could handle.

With Sheldon Rankins currently on the PUP list, Stallworth still sits behind the likes of Malcom Brown and David Onyemata on the depth chart. That leaves him possibly battling with Ziggy Hood and Sylvester Williams for positioning and reps. If he can keep up this type of play throughout the preseason, he’ll be impossible to keep behind those guys.

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