New Orleans Saints First Round Draft Choices: Cameron Jordan (2011)

The first round of the 2016 NFL Draft will be held on Thursday, April 28, in Chicago, Illinois.

Between now and then, we’ll be looking back at all of the drafts of the New Orleans Saints, from 1967-2015.

Yesterday, we looked back at 2010.

Today: 2011

The 2011 draft was the 45th draft in the history of the Saints.

The selection turned out to be a good one for the Saints, landing a player who has been named a Pro Bowler on multiple occasions, and is still an extremely good starter for the team today.

The Saints actually had two first-round picks in 2011, but we're going to focus on the first one.

The pick: Cameron Jordan, a defensive lineman from California.

A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jordan, who was the 24th-overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft, played five years for the Saints, from 2010-2014.

The 6-foot-4, 287-pound Jordan played in all 16 games, including 15 as a starter, at defensive end as a rookie in 2011, while compiling 18 tackles, including one sack.

In 2012, Jordan once again played in all 16 games, all as a starter, generating 41 tackles, to go along with 8 sacks, and two fumble recoveries.

During 2013, a season in which he was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time, Jordan totaled 29 tackles, to go along with a career-high 12 sacks, and two fumble recoveries.

After a little bit of a drop off in2014, where he slipped to 31 tackles and 7.5 sacks, Jordan rebounded with another Pro Bowl year in 2015, compiling 32 tackles and 10 sacks.

In 5 seasons in the NFL, all with the Saints, Jordan has not missed a game, appearing in 80, while starting 79, accumulating 151 tackles, 39 sacks, and 8 fumble recoveries.

With their second first-round selection in 2011, four picks later, the Saints selected Alabama running back Mark Ingram, who was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2014, after rushing for 964 yards and 9 touchdowns.

There's not much to brag about after Jordan and Ingram in 2011, with the team selecting Illinois linebacker Martez Wilson and Louisville defensive back Johnny Patrick in the third round.