One breakout candidate for each NFL team in 2018

The New Orleans Saints had won only seven games in each of the three seasons heading into 2017, and head coach Sean Payton entered the year on the hot seat. Well, the Saints took care of business in a big way, changing the way they play the game, focusing on the defensive side of the ball and boasting the best running back tandem in the league.

What could have been Payton’s last season in New Orleans turned into a playoff season, and entering the 2018 campaign, many believe they will take another step forward. However, one half of the running back duo, Mark Ingram, will miss the first four games due to suspension, so it will be up to Alvin Kamara to shoulder an extra load to start the year.

Kamara was the NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2017, as he ran all over the league in helping the Saints to the playoffs. The Saints also had the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year in Marshon Lattimore, who came into the NFL and became one of the best shutdown cornerbacks the league has to offer.

In 2018, the Saints are hoping they can get that same kind of production from their current first round draft pick, edge rusher Marcus Davenport. Davenport showed an incredible ability to get to the quarterback during his time at UTSA, where he was the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Davenport joins a Saints defense that already has Cameron Jordan and Sheldon Rankins at the defensive end position, so he is going to have to work his way into the starting lineup. He has the  talent to be a double-digit sack guy in the NFL, and could be a breakout player on a very good defense in 2018.