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PlayerBryan Bresee · IDL, New Orleans Saints, Model Score 80.5Be the Saints GM

Bryan Bresee

New Orleans SaintsUNDERPAID
Pos IDL
Updated October 8, 2026
Compare Bryan Bresee IDL rankings →

Model Score

80.5 MODEL
2023
78.2
2024
83.5
2025
77.1

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

Tier 5 (#38) rookie to back-to-back tier 3 finishes (#19, #23) in 2024-2025 confirms the structural top-25 IDL ceiling exists for a 29th overall pick. The Clemson 2018 CFP National Championship pedigree plus the late-1st-round draft slot gives him real college foundation. The 2026 question is whether Bresee earns his first Pro Bowl plus crosses into tier 2 territory or whether the back-to-back tier 3 finishes become the stable late-prime baseline.

Bresee came out of Clemson as the New Orleans Saints' 1st-round pick (29th overall) in 2023 after winning the 2018 CFP National Championship with the Tigers as a freshman. He has anchored the Saints' interior across three seasons. His STTM career runs tier 5 (#38) rookie, tier 3 (#19) sophomore, and tier 3 (#23) in 2025.

Strengths

  • Clemson 2018 CFP National Championship pedigree plus the 29th overall draft slot plus back-to-back tier 3 finishes establishes structural top-25 IDL ceiling.
  • Three years of NFL starter reps at age 24 plus the Saints structural anchor role gives him the developmental runway.

Concerns

  • Career STTM range mostly tier 3-5 caps the realistic 2026 ceiling at top-25 IDL rather than Pro Bowl territory.
  • New Orleans's broader defensive identity transition plus the multi-year offensive rebuild compresses the structural support around Bresee.

What to watch: Whether Bresee earns his first Pro Bowl in 2026 plus crosses into tier 2 (top 15), the threshold for confirming the ceiling can climb further.

Comps

Coming out
pros whose college production, size and testing looked like his
Derrick Brown58%A'Shawn Robinson56%Muhammad Wilkerson52%

Bryan Bresee Injury StatusNot listed

Bryan Bresee is not on the injury report as of Oct 7. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.

Draft & College

Round 1, pick 29 · New Orleans Saints · 2023
Clemson (ACC)
Taken
#29
where he actually went
Consensus board
32nd
average of the public big boards that spring
Our college model
#40
among IDL in our college data

He went about where consensus had him.

In college · 2020-2022 · 36 games
9.0 sacks, 15 TFL, 15 pressures, 49 tackles

Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.

What this pick usually becomes

Of the 220 players taken as a late first-rounder between 2012 and 2021, 70% earned a second contract and 72% became starters. The median one started 58 career games.

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