GumboBC

Hi folks. This is BillyC. I'm back and this time it's legal. After demanding ( actually, I pleaded and begged and made lot's of promises I plan on keeping) I was allowed to come back. I'd also want to thank "the powers that be" for allowing me to return.

Anyway, I have a few thoughts and I'd like to get everyone's opinion on.

This is a little long, so bear with me………………ââ‚à ‚¬Ã‚¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦

As I usually do during the Saints off-season, I was sitting here wondering if the Saints defense improved from last season. I usually look at the players we lost on defense and the new players that were brought in and basically form my opinion based on that. But, I realized that that's only a small part of the overall picture.

This year I decided to look back at last year and determine what really went wrong with our defense. After all, how can we determine if we have truly improved on defense this year if we don't understand what went wrong last year. At least I think that is the starting point to really understanding where we stand this year.

OK here we go. First of all, what was Venturi's plan heading into last season? We know Venturi said there was a premium being placed on speed for the defensive side of the ball. One of Venturi's first moves was naming the fleet-footed Mel Mitchell (who run's a 4.5/40) to start at one safety position. At the other safety position the speedy Tebucky Jones was brought in to start.

Also brought in to upgrade the speed at WLB was Derrick Rodgers. I can remember thinking last year about how much more speed we were going to have on the defensive side of the ball. All that added speed to go along with the great speed we already had with Darren Howard and Charles Grant. I was real excited when Venturi said all this added speed was going to allow us to really attack opposing offenses.

But, before that defense ever got off the ground, something went terribly wrong. We lost Mel Mitchell in pre-season. Then to make matters worse we lose our best pass rusher in Darren Howard, in the first game no less. All of a sudden things aren't looking too good.

Then just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, we lose Dale Carter for a large part of the season. Now granted, Dale Carter was no spring chicken, but he still possessed good speed. I understand that injuries happen, and that other players have to step up, but that was a lot of speed lost at key positions. What was even more troubling was the players that had to step into those positions were mostly aging veterans that were not nearly as fast.

What effect was this going to have on the attacking style defense that Ventui was planning on running? Did Ventui have to adjust his scheme to fit the players that were stepping in for the injured players?? Boy, did he ever!!

Now what Venturi had was the slow-footed Jay Bellamy starting at safety, who did a fine job replacing the speedy Mel Mitchell, but doesn't have nearly the speed to match-up in pass coverage. Then Ashley Ambrose who has lost a couple steps had to step in for Dale Carter. And what made matters even worse is these guys were going to have to cover the receivers down filed even longer because of losing our best pass rusher in Darren Howard.

This was not a good situation Venturi was facing. He now had to drop Tebucky Jones way back in the secondary as a safety net to cover up for the lack of speed lost when Mel Mitchell and Dale Carter went down.

I think there's little doubt that injuries in the secondary affected what scheme Venturi could use. Then without Darren Howard teams were able to double-team Charles Grant.

But that wasn't the end of Venturi's problems. He also had big problems at defensive tackle. He knew he had a rookie starting at one defensive tackle and I think it's a well-documented fact that rookies usually struggle at that position. At the other tackle position he had Grady Jackson. Grady wasn't in the best shape in the world and really was a non-factor in the second half of most games because he was so worn down. Jim Haslett didn't ship Grady off to Green Bay for no reason. Grady was really hurting the run defense. Granted, Haslett really didn't have anyone any better to replace him with, but Grady was really setting a bad example for Sullivan and probably the entire team.

With runningbacks being able to run right up the gut of our defensive line at will, I suspect Venturi had to bring Bellamy up in run support more than he wanted to.

Injuries really hurt from a talent and speed standpoint, but I think more importantly, it really changed the scheme Venturi wanted to use. What Venturi really had to do to overcome the injuries on defense was to play a “PREVENT DEFENSE�. I think Venturi liked to call it a "BEND BUT DON’T BREAK" defense. What ever it was called, it was far from the attacking defense he wanted to use.

So, have we really improved on defense??

I think just the fact that we have the injured starters back we automatically improved.

I think we will be much improved up the middle at defensive tackle this year. Brian Young is a highly thought of player around the league. Also, if Sully improves like most second year DT, the middle of our run defense should be a strong suit. Also, let’s not forget that John Pease will be working with the D-line this year. If nothing else, it will bring a new approach to things on the D-line. But, I think it will make a difference for the better.

To wrap this up, all the players that were injured will be back this year and with the new additions we have it should be an upgrade in talent and this will allow Venturi to use an attacking style defense. The same attacking style defense Venturi planned on using last year until the injuries derailed that.

At least that is my take on things. I’d be very interested to hear everyone’s opinion on this subject.

[Edited on 6/5/2004 by GumboBC]