By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
Ex-LSU Tiger and current New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Davon Godchaux is poised to have another big season in his second year back in Louisiana.
Godchaux was a three-year starter on the LSU defensive line from 2014-2016 after leaving Plaquemine High. In 37 games, he made 145 tackles, 18.5 for loss and 12 sacks. He entered the 2017 NFL Draft after his junior season and was selected 178th overall by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round.
Godchaux played four seasons in Miami, where he tallied 179 total tackles. A bicep injury in 2020 limited his final year as a Dolphin to just five games. He signed with the New England Patriots the following off-season and became one of the NFL’s most consistent nose tackles.
At 6-foot-3 and 330 pounds, Godchaux was a force in the middle of the Pats’ defensive front while starting all but one game in four seasons for New England. He returned to his home state last year when the Saints traded a 2026 seventh-round pick for him.
The veteran defender played in all 17 games in 2025, making 43 tackles with two for loss and forced a fumble. Now, he expects to improve on that in his second season under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.
“I feel good, down 10 to 12 pounds from last year, I feel really good,” Godchaux said last week at Saints training camp. “Second year in Staley’s defense after the ebbs and flows of it last year, but second year, I feel comfortable. I feel great. I know what he wants.”
What Staley wants, Godchaux said, is a little bit of everything. The nine-year NFL veteran said he cut the weight so he could stay healthy and feel better on and off the field. He wants to be on the field as much as possible this year.
“Just doing whatever this team asks me to do,” he said. “Especially in the early downs, I can do it all. Nickel base, penny, whatever we do, I’m just ready to have a big season, and it’s going to start fast for us. I want to feel great about myself, and I want to feel great about dominating this season.”
Unfortunately, the interior defensive line start this season was halted by a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament knee injury to former first round defensive tackle Bryan Bresee in the first practice of training camp. Godchaux will likely be called upon to continue stepping up in his absence, but he said it will be a group effort.
“I expect us to have a big year, if we handle our part and everybody stays healthy,” he said. “Bryan Bresee – first day. Man, it was like a freak accident. There was hardly even any contact. Really, it was just a pass-rush move, and he felt his knee buckle.”
Former LSU defensive line coach Bo Davis will be coaching the Saints’ defensive line for the second straight season after leaving the Tigers. Davis played at LSU from 1990-1992 before returning as a graduate assistant from 1995-1997. He won the 2003 national championship with the Tigers under coach Nick Saban after returning as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, where he remained through 2005. Davis coached under Saban with the Miami Dolphins (2006) and at Alabama (2007-10) before moving on to Texas (2011-13) and Alabama again (2014-15).
He coached in the NFL with Jacksonville in 2016 and Detroit (2018-20) before returning to Texas (2021-23) and finally to LSU for the 2024 season. He is known as an intense coach.
“I’m excited to spend year two with him for sure,” Godchaux said. “Bo’s going to be Bo. I tell guys, ‘Just take what you need, and all the rest, just tune it out. Because Bo’s going to say a lot of stuff. Some stuff you should hear and some stuff you don’t want to hear.'”
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