Bo Davis has a specific goal for keeping opposing teams in check. The New Orleans Saints defensive line coach tells his defensive tackles that he wants them to hold opponents to an average of 3.2 yards per carry.

For context, that would make the Saints the league's best run defense.

“It’s just like my grandma used to say, ‘You shoot for the stars, you may fall amongst the moon,’” Davis said earlier this season.

Almost midway through the season, the Saints are still earthbound. As it prepares for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans is giving up 4.8 yards per carry — the seventh-worst average in the NFL. And Davis’ unit is a large part of the problem.

Whatever plan the Saints had at defensive tackle entering the year hasn’t unfolded as envisioned. Bryan Bresee, the interior’s best player, suffered a season-ending ACL injury on the first day of training camp. But the two other projected starters next to him also haven’t lived up to expectations. Nose tackle Davon Godchaux’s snaps have dropped dramatically from last year, while veteran Nathan Shepherd has missed the last three games — the first two because of an illness and most recently as an inactive despite being medically cleared to play.

Over the last three games, the Saints’ leading defensive tackles in terms of snaps have been Colby Wooden, Khristian Boyd and Vernon Broughton.

That notably does not include Christen Miller — whom the Saints drafted in the second round and who has played just 32% of snaps in that span.

“We’re trying to find the right combination of players,” defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said. “I think that’s a spot where there’s going to be a lot of competition in the second half of the season.”

Staley will rightfully note that stopping the run takes all 11 defenders. But the coordinator also added that the team’s run defense starts “inside out.” And that takes the defensive line, specifically the tackles, setting the tone inside.

“That group is going to have to lead the way,” he said.

It hasn’t thus far. New Orleans hasn’t had it easy, either. The Saints have faced Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs, Baltimore’s Derrick Henry, Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson and Pittsburgh’s Jaylen Warren — four of the top backs in the league. And outside of Henry, who they kept in check with 68 yards on 16 carries, the Saints allowed the others to cross the 100-yard mark.

Limited to running backs, the Saints have hit Davis’ 3.2 yards-per-carry threshold only once, doing so in a Week 5 win over the New York Giants. But the Giants still finished with 4.2 yards per carry, thanks to big gains from quarterback J.J. McCarthy and wide receiver Darnell Mooney.

During the bye week, Staley reviewed the team’s run defense and concluded New Orleans was “inconsistent but not far off.” The team had to do a better job at turning 4-to-5-yard gains into 1-or-2-yard gains, if not tackles for loss, he said.

“We have to establish ourselves as run defenders first,” defensive end Cam Jordan echoed. “These third-and-shorts are cool, but that’s not winning football. Winning football is third-and-7, third-and-8 … and we can get off the field.”

Asked what would make for an ideal defensive tackle in his scheme, Staley listed three criteria. The first is to have the versatility to play in a number of different fronts and formations. Next is to be a run stuffer who would hopefully have interior pass rush skills — but the latter, he said, is usually reserved for first rounders. And then third is to have lateral quickness, how fast they get into space.

“It's not an easy position to play and it's a very hard position to transfer to the NFL into from college,” Staley said. “Some guys can hit it right away and you can find some examples, but much more often there's a learning curve.”

But little has been ideal about the Saints’ defensive tackle situation this season. Wooden, who now ranks second among the team’s defensive tackles in snaps, wasn’t even on the roster until Aug. 31 — when the Saints claimed him off waivers following league-wide roster cuts.

The Saints liked that Wooden started 16 games in Green Bay last season and have been pleased he got up to speed quickly. But the claim took Wooden by surprise: The 2023 fourth rounder said he wasn’t expecting to be cut by the Indianapolis Colts after the Packers traded him months earlier.

But Wooden is in New Orleans now and that means he’s among those tasked with stopping the run. He said the group has to take the job “personally” — and when asked about his position’s coach goal of 3.2 yards per carry, Wooden was ready to take the mantra a step further.

“Shoot, I don’t want ‘em to get nothing,” Wooden said.