Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

Alright, listen up!! I've got some serious questions for all you football purists.

It's being reported that the defense is going to be different in many different ways. We've talked about some of ways the defense is going to be different but here are some things that haven't been discussed:

1. The front 4 is going to decrease their gaps and play closer to one another.
What effect is this going to have? Give some explainations for or against. Or do you think it's not going to make any difference?

2. John Pease is going to rotate the front 4 as much as possible and says this is going to allow our defense to come on strong in the 4th quarter where games are won and lost.
Is this BS? Or do you think it's going to pay off? Let's hear your argument!!

3. Haslett says he's going to bring the heat on defense this year. No more of this sitting back and reacting. He's going to throw the kithcen sink at offenses.
Weren't we aggresive enough last year? Do we have the personnel to do this? Or is Haslett just talking out the side of is neck? Let's hear it!!

4. Tebucky is going to come up and play CB in certain situations.
What's the benefits of this?? Is this going to help or hurt?

Really think about these questions and give me your best stuff!!




[Edited on 28/6/2004 by GumboBC]

[Edited on 28/6/2004 by GumboBC]

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

1. The front 4 is going to decrease their gaps and play closer to one another.
John Pease has probably forgotten more about football than we\'ll ever know. But I think he thinks that with our D-line and LB talent, its a better approach. I don\'t think anyone is gonna argue we should leave it like last last years.

2. John Pease is going to rotate the front 4 as much as possible and says this is going to allow our defense to come on strong in the 4th quarter where games are won and lost.
Its worked for him before. If nobody has an ego problem with it it should work fine. I wonder if its gonna be Will Smith or pehaps Melvin Williams as the 3rd DE? I think it may take Will at least 1/2 the season to crack the rotation. Maybe a 4 man DE rotation?

3. Haslett says he\'s going to bring the heat on defense this year. No more of this sitting back and reacting. He\'s going to throw the kithcen sink at offenses.
Well we are as fast as any D in the league. We\'ve all been screaming for this since Zook left. We will get burned occasionally but I think overall I like it. Can Venturi disguise it adequately? I have my doubts but one thing is for sure; the read react BS has gotta stop if our D wants to take the next step. You really need a fast front 7 to do this.

4. Tebucky is going to come up and play CB in certain situations.
I don\'t see where this is a big deal. I guess it means Mel Mitchell or Bellamy drops back and Tebuckey becomes a nickle? I don\'t think its uncommon for a FS to play CB in certain packages.

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

(1) Ends will have a bit more trouble getting the QB, but DTs will be more disruptive. We will be slightly stronger against the inside run, but LBs will have to be more effective against outside and off tackle runs. On the whole, the effectiveness of tightening the DL will depend on the quality of our LBs this season.

(2) I\'m never really convinced that the rotation makes a huge difference. Sure those guys will get run down, but you want your most productive players out there as much as possible. I am also of the view that the combination of guys on lining up at DL makes a huge difference in their effectiveness (if it isn\'t obvious who to double team or cut, it is harder for the blockers). Thus, a rotation must have \"packages\" - that is, you don\'t just sub in one guy at a time, it is usually pairs or more (like defensive pairings in hockey). Thus, a defensive rotation will help, but if the defense is going to be worn out in the 4th, I think this will have minimal effect on that. It isn\'t like we didn\'t rotate players before.

(3) I don\'t think we have the linebackers or corners to really bring it. We\'d want to get more pressure from our DEs given our personnel and to do this most effectively, you\'d want to bring a MLB or a S. If our MLB ends up being Watson or Cie, I don\'t see Mike Blitzes being too effective. Is Bellamy going to charge the center or guards? I don\'t see that either. Unless Hodge or Allen totally step up (or we\'re gonna start corner blitzing), I don\'t see how much more heat we could bring than we did last season (EXCEPT THAT HOWARD WILL BE HEALTHY, maybe that is all that will be required).

(4) Billy, I thought I predicted that a couple of weeks ago. I\'m not big on saying \"I told ya so\", but I\'ve been saying that T-buck might well play the Nickle or Dime with Bellamy and Mitchell taking the Safety positions in those packages. T-buck would be an excellent extra \"corner\" in those packages (especially if he is inside, where he can get help tackling). He\'s got decent cover skills, speed, and SIZE. I think he could help us a lot in such a role.

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

Good answers guys!!!

One more question that doesn’t have anything to do with our defense.

5. Mike McCarthy is going to call the game from upstairs in the booth. Good move? Bad Move? Why?


I’m going to give my answers later on all of the questions but here’s my answer to:

1. The front 4 is going to decrease their gaps and play closer to one another.
I think when defensive linemen play with a wide gap they are inviting teams to run on the inside. If you have linebackers that can shed blocks and stuff the run up the middle this is effective. But, if those same linebackers don’t have the speed to get to the outside, then teams are going to run more to the outside.

Conversely , if teams play with narrower gaps it clogs up the middle and keeps offensive linemen off of the linebackers allowing them to better make the play. It also frees up the linebackers to diagnose the play better and determine if the run is going to the inside or outside because they can peek in the backfield better by not having to worry about 300lb. offensive linemen coming at them. Just my opinion. FWIW…..

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

1. Agree with JKool.


2. Depends. Is Whitehead going to be OK by start of the season? Rotating Grant, Howard, Whitehead, and Will Smith seems like a great idea to me. Not sure we can do that inside with as much effectiveness, and that\'s where the rotation really matters. Sullivan and Young seem OK, but questions remain about both. You want Kenny Smith and Leslie playing at the same time?

It should help our starters stay fresh later in games, but big (bigger) plays may abound in the middle of the game.


3. We shall see. Last year the team was too dumb to understand a complex scheme so Venturi used the read and react. Add in a bunch of very young and/or first year players and now they\'re smart enough for a more complex scheme? Uh....

The Saints have players better suited to rush the passer this season (I won\'t say that they\'re well suited until I see them all play). However, if those blitz packages aren\'t well disguised or come at the wrong time or to the wrong side, etc, our young team will get exploited. With Venturi calling the shots, this makes me nervous. It\'s not like Ron Zook is running the show (that\'s when we could really blitz).


4. Depends. Everyone was telling me how great Craft was and how he was going to start for us a few weeks ago. Now they\'re saying Fahkir Brown is competing with Ambrose for the starting job. If Thomas and Brown are our two best corners, then yes, Tebucky in coverage is probably an OK idea. If Thomas, Brown, Craft, and Ambrose all play as well as they are capable of (in theory), then give me a corner playing corner over a safety playing corner any day.


5. Good move. He\'ll be able to see 11 players in between the tackles and short yardage and maybe he\'ll call something other than a zero dive.

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

Ok folks. Here\'s what we got so far. Seems some think the Saints have some good ideas, bad ideas, and unsure about others.


1. The front 4 is going to decrease their gaps and play closer to one another
Danno- Yes. This is a good thing
JKool- Don\'t know. Depends on our linebackers.
WhoDat- Don\'t know. Depends on our linebackers.

2. John Pease is going to rotate the front 4 as much as possible and says this is going to allow our defense to come on strong in the 4th quarter where games are won and lost.
Danno- Yes. Pease had had success using the same formula in the past.
JKool- Won\'t make much of a difference.
WhoDat- Don\'t know. It depends.

3. Haslett says he\'s going to bring the heat on defense this year. No more of this sitting back and reacting. He\'s going to throw the kithcen sink at offenses.
Danno- Have doubts but better than playing a reactive defense.
JKool- Not a good idea. Don\'t have the players to use this type of scheme.
WhoDat- Not really sure.

4. Tebucky is going to come up and play CB in certain situations
Danno- See no problem with it.
JKool- Great idea.
WhoDat- Denpends but would rather have a true CB playing the position.

5. Mike McCarthy is going to call the game from upstairs in the booth. Good move? Bad Move? Why?
Danno- No vote yet.
JKool- No vote yet.
WhoDat- Edit: Good idea.





[Edited on 28/6/2004 by GumboBC]

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

5. Mike McCarthy is going to call the game from upstairs in the booth. Good move? Bad Move? Why?
Good move. the further we can get McCarthy away from the field the better. ;)

Some coaches see things better up there, some don\'t. I don\'t think it could hurt.

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

Wow - looks like I\'m taking a hard line on these answers. Depends, Depends, Not sure, Depends, Probably.

Now if those aren\'t direct answers I don\'t know what is. LAMS (Laughing At MySelf). :)

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

WhoDat --

That\'s Ok man. You gave some GOOD reasons for your answers. And that\'s what I was looking for......... ;)

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

I have no opinion on the McCarthy thing. I\'m not really sure what difference that kind of persepective makes.

I agree with WhoDat; the summary makes all of us look dumber than we are. However, I think everyone who wrote something gave me something to think about.

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

Aight -- Here\'s mine............

1. The front 4 is going to decrease their gaps and play closer to one another.
I think when defensive linemen play with a wide gap they are inviting teams to run on the inside. If you have linebackers that can shed blocks and stuff the run up the middle this is effective. But, if those same linebackers don’t have the speed to get to the outside, then teams are going to run more to the outside.

Conversely , if teams play with narrower gaps it clogs up the middle and keeps offensive linemen off of the linebackers allowing them to better make the play. It also frees up the linebackers to diagnose the play better and determine if the run is going to the inside or outside because they can peek in the backfield better by not having to worry about 300lb. offensive linemen coming at them.

2. John Pease is going to rotate the front 4 as much as possible and says this is going to allow our defense to come on strong in the 4th quarter where games are won and lost.
Yes I do think this is going to help greatly. Two reasons: Will Smith and Rodney Leisle. I think both players are going to play an instumental part in our front 4 rotation. And I think both players are going to be better at coming off the bench at their percspective positions than what we had last year.

3. Haslett says he\'s going to bring the heat on defense this year. No more of this sitting back and reacting. He\'s going to throw the kithcen sink at offenses.
This is a no-brainer, IMO. I don\'t care what the results MIGHT be. Defenses are meant to attack. Not sit back and wait.

4. Tebucky is going to come up and play CB in certain situations
I don\'t think we\'ll see too much of this and don\'t expect any significant results.

5. Mike McCarthy is going to call the game from upstairs in the booth. Good move? Bad Move? Why?
I think it\'s doubtful this is going to make much of a difference. Coaches have their philosophies on what makes something work and I don\'t believe McCarthy being up in the booth is going to change much.

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

Question -

So then based on your answers is it safe to assume that you see the defense improving this season? How much?


Do you think the offense will get better, worse, or stay the same? You seem to like McCarthy opening up the offense (scheme), but not the fact that he\'ll be upstairs. What will affect the offense more? Personnel or scheme?

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

Wow! Something to chomp on!

Filling in the gaps in the interior will make it tougher to run between the tackles. I hope that this will free the linebackers to get to the ballcarrier. Stopping the run is the foundation of having a successful defense this season. We want to make opposing offenses one dimensional.

Of course it\'ll pay off! If our defense is above average (and I think it can be) and the offense simply does its job with the talent available, then by the 4th quarter of most games, teams will be trying to play catch up, which means throwing the ball. Creating schemes that will disrupt the passing game is the second cornerstone for the defense being successful this year. Having a fresh front line will facilitate that

Chuckle. I won\'t even dignify that with a response.
I think we do. It\'s going to depend a lot on the new (Young, Smith) and young (Grant, Watson, Hodge) guys being
tough and making good decisions. I think that blitzing from a three safety package, bringing Mitchell into the
backfield, can also help bring the heat.

I\'m sure that some days this approach will be frustrating. The defense will get burned. It\'s an acceptable loss if
it\'s not too bad, and doesn\'t happen too often. But the read/react approach simply facilitated offenses getting
comfortable and marching down the field last year. That has to come to a stop.

No. It\'ll hurt. He can\'t tackle. He needs to get rid of that human missile mentality and just get the receiver down.
Also we have enough corners to cover. And isn\'t Mitchell faster anyway?

SFIAH

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

I think we\'ll cut [avg. per att.] to under 4 yards. It might only be 3.9- but that\'s a significant improvement on 4.7. I think our [sacks] will go WAY up. Near the top of the league. Meaing top 10.

I think our pass defense will give up more yards but will have many more interceptions this year because of a very effective pass rush. Overall, I look for our pass defense to be ranked around the middle of the pack.

I think our defense will hold opponents to under 20 points on average.

Overall, I expect our defense to be greatly improved and I think John Pease is going to have more of an impact than some might think.

Of course this is just speculation on my part. The players are going to have to step up.

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

Forgot to answer this one. ;)

I think the offense will be greatly improved. IF, Donte, Brooks, Deuce, and Horn can stay healthy all year.

Like always, I believe that the players make the biggest differnce on how effective any schems is. That said, I think our personnel is best suited by going to the spread offense more.

I think our offense SHOULD be in the top 5 this year. No offense is more talented.

[Edited on 29/6/2004 by GumboBC]

Things that haven't been discussed for our defense.
 

If T-buck\'s tackling is SO bad (which it isn\'t), then moving him to the Nickle spot can only HELP and not hurt. Here is where you have the best chance to use your athleticism to make plays on the ball WITH HELP OVER TOP (that includes help tackling). Moving him inside to the slot or a three deep or flat zone CAN ONLY HELP HIM given what everyone thinks about his tackling. The only time the corners need to make solo tackles (in a cover two or three - frequent in nickle) is when there is an OUTSIDE run (and this is usually not the Nickle\'s job, it is the corner\'s).