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It's down to 53 days before the New Orleans Saints 2026 regular season will officially begin. New Orleans kicks off the year on the road when they travel to take on the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13. Linebacker Jaylan Ford wears No. 53 for the Saints as they enter training camp.
Ford is looking for his third season in the NFL, all with the Saints. He's made a minimal impact so far, and may have to show something significantly more to hold on to his roster spot. Before those battles begin, we take a look at Ford as our Saints Player of the Day.
- Name (age): Jaylan Ford (24)
- Hometown: Frisco, Texas
- Position: Linebacker
- Height, weight: 6-foot-2, 240 pounds
- College: Texas Longhorns
- Relative Athletic Score: 8.30
- Drafted: Round 5, 175 overall in 2024 (Saints)
- NFL experience: 2 years
- 2026 salary cap hit: $1.4 million
Ford was a three-star recruit at Lone Star High School in Texas who decided on the in-state Longhorns. He was a reserve during his first two years, combining for 67 tackles that included seven for loss. His breakout was in 2022, when he had 10 stops for loss and 2 sacks while leading Texas with 119 tackles and 4 interceptions. As a senior, Ford again the Longhorns with 11 tackles for loss and 101 total stops with intercepting 2 balls and recording a sack. He was back-to-back first-team All-Big 12 in each of his final two seasons, with third-team All-American honors in 2022.
New Orleans selected Ford with their third of three choices in Round 5 of the 2024 NFL draft. Injuries slowed him a bit during the preseason, but New Orleans still saw enough to keep him on the active roster. In fact, the Saints kept him off the practice squad all year to make sure no other team could sign him away. Ford played in eight games during the course of the season. However, all of that action, 104 snaps, was on special teams with no defensive snaps. A broken leg suffered in Week 17 kept him limited through that offseason, but he was ready for the start of preseason.
Ford was tabbed as a potential breakout candidate in 2025 for the Saints defense. It didn't work out as expected. He made the active roster out of training camp and appeared in every contest. However, Ford again made no impact on the defensive side. Ford played a meager seven defensive snaps all year, all coming during a Week 16 victory over the New York Jets. He contributed 330 special teams snaps, making 7 tackles, but more is needed. Jaylan Ford will most likely have to show something defensively through training camp to stick on the New Orleans roster in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Jaylan Ford is the Saints Player of Day 53
