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Saints hope to design a defense that’s multiple and easy to execute

Things looked different during each glimpse provided to outside eyes during the New Orleans Saints’ three organized team activities open to the media during the past month.

One safety, two safeties, three safeties. The defensive line going from four men to three and back again. The defense was doing all kinds of different things, never once settling into something that provided a sure glimpse of how things will look this season.



Maybe that’s the point. The team tried a lot of different things last year during OTAs, and it wasn’t until training camp that it became clear the Saints were going to be predominantly a single-high-safety team.

But it also doesn’t sound like Dennis Allen, in his first full season as defensive coordinator after taking over for Rob Ryan midway through last year, wants to be classified as being any one thing. He wants to be considered multiple.

“I don’t put a lot of stock in, ‘Are you going to be 4-3, 3-4?’ ” Allen said. “We’re going to be multiple. We’re going to have some 4-3 defenses. We’re going to have some 3-4 defenses. What we do best, that’s what we’re going to major in.”

All of that was true during OTAs. During the first two sessions open to the media, the Saints predominately operated with a four-man front. Then, during the third session, they ran a package with three down defensive linemen and six defensive backs.

If things go as planned, this is how the defense will operate throughout the season. It wants to be able to throw all kinds of different looks and make it difficult for the offense to identify what is happening.

Some of this started happening last season. Allen historically has been an aggressive blitzer who likes to disguise things. He could only get so far last season, but his stamp started showing as soon as he took over.

There were a lot of instances when the Saints made it look like pressure was coming from one side, only to bring it from somewhere else.

Another thing the team did was hide its coverages right up until the ball was snapped. One way they did that was by using an inverted Cover 2, where the safeties come down and pick up the receiver at the line of scrimmage and the cornerback drops back into a deep zone.
Saints hope to design a defense that’s multiple and easy to execute | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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