METAIRIE - The strength of the Saints the past couple of seasons has been the play of their front seven, led by all pro linebacker Demario Davis.

The Black and Gold have been among the best run-stopping defenses in the league, and they hope that trend continues with the development of Pete Werner in year two.

“I just see a more confident player. Confidence in what we're doing schematically, you know, he's kind of he's kind of stepped into into that starting role at the Will linebacker spot,” Saints head coach Dennis Allen said. ”One year under the belt, things start to slow down and becomes a little bit easier. You can pick up on certain tendencies played a little bit faster, understand what's coming rather than kind of reacting in certain situations,”

For the past two seasons, Kwon Alexander lined up next to Demario Davis in the Saints linebacking core, but with Alexander gone, coach Dennis Allen believes Pete Werner has the traits to complement Davis.

“They're both big athletic linebackers that have the ability to help us, both in the run game and in the passing game,” Allen said.

”We played a good amount of football, and having a year with chemistry helps a lot. So we can only build on that,” Werner said.

As a rookie, Werner started eight games for the Saints, racking up 62 tackles.