Haz on Tebucky..........
 

Saints report: Inside slant
July 14, 2003


Strategy and personnel | Notes, quotes, anecdotes

When the Saints hit the practice field for the first day of training camp on July 26, all eyes will be on the overhauled defense -- a unit that could have as many as eight starters that weren't in those positions last July.
But the position that's sure to receive the most scrutiny is free safety, where Tebucky Jones will be among those trying to tighten up a defense that allowed 20 points or more in all but one game in 2002.

Jones, who signed a seven-year, $29.25 million deal with the Saints after he was acquired in a trade with the New England Patriots, combines the speed and cover skills of a cornerback with the size of an outside linebacker at 6 feet, 2 inches and 230 pounds.

"He's a big man," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "He's got a certain presence out there. I think he's ready to blossom."

Jones started for the Patriots in their stunning Super Bowl XXXVI win over the St. Louis Rams -- a victory which came in his new home stadium -- and Haslett expects Jones to bring that winning edge to the Saints' defense.

Haslett said it all starts with Jones' versatility.

"We had problems last year when teams came out with three and four wide receivers and you don't know what you were getting," Haslett said. "They mask it and they've got halfbacks like Deuce (McAllister) that can go out and play wide receiver. If you don't have a safety that can go out and cover and play some man-to-man or disguise and play zone and go out and play bump and do some different things than blitz, I think you're limiting yourself on defense.

"Tebucky gives us that ability that we don't have to worry about having 10 personnel groupings." He said. "He'll get more reps if we have one, two, three personnel groupings and he can see things more. I think this gives you flexibility in your defense that we haven't had since I've been here."

"Tebucky has speed and range, and he's a big man," said defensive coordinator Rick Venturi. "He gives you a little different dimension at safety than you normally would have. I've always liked him."

Haz on Tebucky..........
 

How do you tell when a safety is out of position or makes a mistake? This is one position on the defense that doesn\'t get pointed out when they make a mistake because it\'s assumed that the cornerback just got beat.

Fact is that haveing a great safety with great speed makes the whole secondary much much better. Sammy Knight made some picks and laid some leather on the opposing teams receivers but he lacked the speed to get to a receiver once the ball was in the air.

Tebucky Jones has all the qualites that Sammy Knight has with one very important difference. SPEED!!!

I actually think our seconday has the potential to be one of the best in the league this year.

Haz on Tebucky..........
 

How do you tell when a safety is out of position or makes a mistake? This is one position on the defense that doesn\'t get pointed out when they make a mistake because it\'s assumed that the cornerback just got beat.

Fact is that haveing a great safety with great speed makes the whole secondary much much better. Sammy Knight made some picks and laid some leather on the opposing teams receivers but he lacked the speed to get to a receiver once the ball was in the air.


Tebucky Jones has all the qualites that Sammy Knight has with one very important difference. SPEED!!!

I actually think our seconday has the potential to be one of the best in the league this year.

Haz on Tebucky..........
 

With Sammy, you knew what kind of play you would get out him. Tebucky has had some inconsistencies in the past. Just ask any Pats fan.

Haz on Tebucky..........
 

Like I said they have the same qualites. Sammy Knight allowed a lot of deep passes to get completed in the seconday last year. He did not have the speed to cover the 4th receiver or the back out of the back field.

Haz on Tebucky..........
 

But, was that due to inconsistent play or lack of speed? Don\'t say both, either, Sammy was probably the hardest working player on the defense last year.

Haz on Tebucky..........
 

Don\'t get me wrong I loved Sammy Knight. One of his biggest assets was his work ethic. He was a classic over acheiver. He had an instict for the football but in my opinion his lack of speed has hurt the secondary for the last few years.

I think Tebucky will have a big of an impact on the defensive side of the ball as anyone, but we\'ll see....

Haz on Tebucky..........
 

Sammy is very good at anticipating where the QB wants to throw. Even with his lack of speed he still was considered a \"ball hawk\". Jones is pretty good in this department, but not as good as Sammy. I would also consider as the harder hitter (marginal). Overall Jones is an upgrade, but not a huge upgrade.
Regarding the second part of your quote I can only ask: REALLY?!? I said before that I expect the unit to be solid and strongly support the decision not to draft a CB in the first 3 rounds (would have liked one later on though), but all of the projected starters have question marks of different sizes next to their names. We\'ll see, I guess.

Haz on Tebucky..........
 

Who considered him a ball hawk? Not me!! He made some picks but as many times as the ball was thrown against us, that\'s not unexpected.

You put Jones back there and you see how many picks he gets.

And yes I think our secondary will be very good this year along with the rest of the defensive side of the ball.

Sammy Knight had some skills but Jones is a big upgrade because of the style of defensive Haslett wants to run this year.

[Edited on 17/7/2003 by BillyCarpenter1]

Haz on Tebucky..........
 

\"Knight has been a part of so many turnovers in his career ? 32 with one game left on the schedule ? it can no longer be explained as good fortune. Some of his teammates call him a ball hawk, and others say Knight is a playmaker. Either way, he?s a football magnet.\" (neworleanssaints.com)
\"Safety Sammy Knight is an opportunistic ball hawk.\" (CBFans Forum - Chicago Bears)
\"Hard-hitting ball hawk ...\" (from his nfl.com bio)

And most importantly I said so.