What Defense?
 

I've heard all kind of things about what kind of defense the saints are going to play this year, but I'm still unclear on if they are going to play more man coverage or zone. Does anyone know?

What Defense?
 

According to an interview with Venturi....no link to back it up now.....he stated more zone would be used to assist the transition of two new safeties. Smoke screen??

What Defense?
 

Nothing new to add except that I remember reading that same Venturi interview that lumm0x mentioned.

What Defense?
 

Doesn\'t zone allow more short passess to be caught and take something away from the pass rush? I thought since we had all this speed on defense that maybe they were going to play more man and let the safties take up the slack.

What Defense?
 

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/team.../20030627.html


Attempting to counter QB Michael Vick of division rival Atlanta, the Saints overhauled their defense with younger, faster athletes. Also, coordinator Rick Venturi plans to use more zone coverage. In man coverage, defenders often end up with their backs to the offense, allowing the quarterback to run free. The club also has games against mobile QBs Donovan McNabb, Kordell Stewart and Steve McNair, so Venturi wants to improve the defense\'s vision into the backfield by playing more zone.

What Defense?
 

I think with the volume of big plays we gave up last season this may be the way to go for this year. Although the athleticism of our defense has vastly improved, the coverage ability of some players like Mitchell, Hodge, Allen, Ruff, etc. have yet to be determined and could open the door for more of the same this year in a man2man scheme. Any zone scheme will definitely allow plays to develop in front rather than behind and allow our faster defends to jailbreak when the ball is thrown and hopefully cause some turnovers in gang tackles. I just hope Venturi shows enough mix of 2,3, and 4 zone and works some man/zone around enough so that veterans QB\'s like Johnson, Peete, McNair, etc don\'t find holes in the armor too quickly. A true zone will limit our blitzing, but I think everyone hopes that with Howard, Grant, Sullivan and DT-X, we don\'t need the blitz to generate pressure.

Maybe in a year or two when Cie Grant, Allen, Hodge and Mitchell prove more than competent in island coverage we will have more flexibility to expand the look of our D and really mess with a QB\'s mind.

What Defense?
 

That\'s about as good as an explanation as you could ask for. One more thing. If Dale Carter is able to cover man-to-man, will that allow Venturi to send an extra man on the blitz?

What Defense?
 

There\'s no question that Carter has the speed and ability to cover almost any WR we will face. Venturi will just need to mix that aspect into the game plan as a stunt rather than the norm, because it wouldn\'t take long for an OC to run crossing plays that pick Carter or split seams into other \"zone players\".

But, no question, every now and then, strand Carter and send the heat. We also know that Tebucky has coverage skills so we can send the corner blitz and he can provide the man.

The speed alone of our safeties and linebackers has opened the door for much improvisation. Venturi vowed to keep it simple, but the more tools you get, the more grand the project becomes.

What Defense?
 

I just hope to see a more aggressive defense this year. I\'ve never been a big fan of zone defenses. I prefer an attacking defense as opposed to a bend but don\'t break defense.

I agree that Venturi has more options as far as what he can mix in the defensive game plan. I\'m sure I\'m in the minority here, but, I think this defense has a lot going for it.

I don\'t think it takes as long for defenses to gel as it used to. Looking at the rise of defenses from year to year, I think it is a real possibility that the defense can do great things this year. IMO, the talent is there.

What Defense?
 

Well just like you said about the Bucs offense in preseason, the potential of our young defense means nothing until they shove Hassleback\'s head in his a$$ and Shaun Alexander starts faking injury because he\'s sick of not seeing the line of scrimmage.