METAIRIE, La. -- Sheldon Rankins is a big dude at 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds. So if the New Orleans Saints were putting together a pickup basketball team, you wouldn’t necessarily peg him as the point guard.
But that’s exactly the kind of role the second-year defensive tackle is playing for New Orleans’ revitalized defense.
“Me and the guys are always talking about it. I’m Chris Paul out here tossing out assist after assist after assist,” Rankins said.
Make no mistake: Rankins is not content with just two sacks on the season. The 12th overall pick in the 2016 draft had 15 sacks in his final two seasons at Louisville. Then he had four of them in just nine games last year after returning from a broken fibula.
“It definitely pisses me off sometimes in a competitive way, just because I want to be able to make a lot of plays," Rankins told NOLA.com.
But Rankins said he “definitely” takes pride in the job he has been doing this year, which includes switching positions to defensive end when needed and taking on double-teams to help set up teammates such as Pro Bowl DE Cameron Jordan, who has 12 sacks this year.
“Oh, he knows he owes me so much. So much. And I won’t ever let him forget it,” Rankins said. “I definitely take pride in being able to set my teammates up to make plays for this defense and put us in position to be where we are now, competing for a division championship. But at the end of the day, I definitely want to make those plays as well.”
Rankins’ greatest strength is probably his versatility. He is strong and athletic, equally disruptive against the run and pass. And in the past month, he has spent at least half his time playing defensive end following Alex Okafor's season-ending Achilles injury.
And he has been a disruptive pass-rusher, even though it hasn't amounted to many sacks. Rankins is tied for second on the team, with nine quarterback hits. Rankins has been credited with between 32-40 pressures this season, according to various analysts.
“Rankins clearly is a flex guy,” Jordan said. “I mean, he wants to be a three-technique [tackle]. But honestly, when it comes to playing the run [at defensive end], he’s able to do his job well. He’s able to come off the ball and get rolling, which has maybe even improved his get-off as a three-technique. Last week he was rolling.”
Teammates and coaches have also praised Rankins for being a cerebral leader who gets guys lined up and makes adjustments before the snap. Add all of that together, and he has been a successful first-round pick so far, adding to the spectacular run the Saints have had in the draft for two years with guys such as Rankins, Michael Thomas and Vonn Bell last year and Marshon Lattimore, Alvin Kamara, Ryan Ramczyk and Marcus Williams this year, among others.
“He’s having a great year for us,” Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said of Rankins. “He’s been very disruptive inside. You don’t always receive credit when you create disruption, which allows other people to make plays.
“His versatility of being able to play inside and play outside, intelligence of knowing exactly what to expect, helping us to get things set up on the defensive line, as far as some different things that we’re trying to do up front, has been really good for us.”
Saints linebacker Manti Te’o explained that Rankins “plays horizontal well” -- not just vertical -- which opens some gaps for the guys behind him.
“And he can hold double-teams,” Te’o said. “He has a strong anchor where he can hold double-teams and hold 'em at that point and not get blown back.”
Saints coach Sean Payton said Rankins is a good example of a team-first guy.
“He thinks of that, regardless of what he has to do. He puts the team first,” Payton said. “You guys [in the media] have been around him. He’s a tremendous teammate.”