Saints countdown to kickoff player of the day: Isaiah Foskey

The Saints open their season in 55 days so we open up Isaiah Foskey's player profile

The New Orleans Saints play the Arizona Cardinals in the season opener in 55 days. It'll be Saints fans' first opportunity to get a true look at Brandon Staley's system. It'll be interesting to see if Isaiah Foskey finally becomes a part of the defense with the new change.

After being drafted in the 2023 NFL draft, Foskey has failed to carve out a role in the Saints defense. The selection was highly praised at the time, but he has yet to live up to they hype. Through two years, Foskey hasn't registered a sack.

Staley's defense will widen the alignment of edge rushers. While the impact of the change will be most prominently felt on Carl Granderson, Chase Young and Cameron Jordan, it will also place Foskey in an alignment closer

Isaiah Foskey has struggled to see the field

The New Orleans Saints have had terrible luck drafting edge defenders recently. Isaiah Foskey has been the weirdest draft failure the Saints have had in recent memory. It's not that Foskey has played poorly. He hasn't been on the field enough to play poorly.

Last season, Foskey failed to appear in 20 percent of the defensive snaps in any individual game and has only achieved that feat twice in his career. The edge rusher has been relegated a special teams player.

In pure raw numbers, Foskey played 10 or more defensive snaps in 2024 three times. Two of those occurrences were in blowouts, a win versus the Panthers and a loss against the Packers. There were eight matchups that saw Foskey play no snaps.

Brandon Staley's system may finally involve Foskey

How does a player go from being the leading sack artist in Notre Dame history and a second round pick to not having a single sack in his first two seasons in the league. Dennis Allen simply didn't use him, and there are probably multiple reasons for that. A fresh start and change in system under Brandon Staley may lead to more snaps.

Foskey didn't play with his hand in the dirt in college, but that's what has been asked of him in New Orleans. That won't be the case. Staley's odd front system will allow Foskey to return to his natural element. Will that increase his effectiveness? It certainly can't drop it.

Seeing that he's played in this type of alignment in college, you'd have to assume the Saints will at least try to use Foskey. He's fourth in the edge rotation with a chance to climb to third. If he can show improvement in training camp, Foskey can get on the field and look to notch his first sack