SmashMouth

The way Sean Payton sees it, the little area between the two guards and the few yards of space behind Drew Brees is the area of the field most worth fighting over on any given offensive snap.

The New Orleans Saints coach cherishes that area of the field. It has to be protected, guarded and respected at all costs. Lose that patch of turf, lose the play, lose the game.

“When we go into a game, this spot two yards behind the center is like the most important piece of property in football,” Payton said last week at the NFL’s annual meeting. “If we can occupy that spot, then we’re going to win the game.”

It’s long been theorized that with the way he plays the position and due to his height, Brees needs interior protection more than his counterparts around the league. He needs to be able to see down the field and his ability to climb the pocket is negated when there are men crashing this precious piece of property.

In some ways this makes the guards and centers more valuable to New Orleans than tackles, which is the opposite of how many teams assemble their offensive lines. General manager Mickey Loomis suggested that the line is not built from the inside out early last season, that it just happened that way, but it’s clear the team places a premium on shielding Brees from interior pressure.

Measures have been taken this offseason to improve the interior line by acquiring center Max Unger from the Seattle Seahawks as part of the package in the trade for Jimmy Graham. Guard Ben Grubbs was shipped to Kansas City and will be replaced by Tim Lelito. It’s also possible the Saints will spend a draft pick to further shore up the interior offensive line.

This was a clear area of need. After he team allowed pressure on 25.1 percent of Brees’ dropbacks in 2011, that figure has steadily increased. Brees faced pressure on 28.6 percent of his snaps in 2012, 29.8 percent in 2013, and a hefty 32.9 last season, according to Pro Football Focus.

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