jeanpierre

Danno

BTW: I think the defensive firings have Dennis Allen's fingerprints all over it.

I think the front office has decreed that Dennis Allen has become "the man".

As far as the Special Teams firings, everyone predicted that.

SmashMouth

So who do we hire as Defensive coaches?

Danno

I'm pretty sure they have a list. We just aren't CC'd on it.

jeanpierre

Not sure, we're in uncharted territory here...

Payton has been hiring coaching replacements alongside the lame ducks the past three seasons with the designation "Senior (Enter Specialty) Assistant"...

Why?!? Allen, within his own scheme, did a good complementary job; we just trashed the 3-4 for the 4-3...

As if rebuilding the defensive scheme every 2.5 seasons wasn't bad enough, are we now going to go year to year, back and forth, with the defense?

dizzle88

I don't know how excited I am about Dennis Allen being "the guy," especially after Atlanta hung 35 first quarter points on us and there wasn't a Saints defender in sight on a bunch of their TD's.

AsylumGuido

But those defenders will not be on the active roster next year. They were only makeshift replacements.

jeanpierre

We got Atlanta's best this year while they were having a special season...

D.A. managed to stop the second half debacles - that's a positive...

Let's let 'em finish installing this 4-3 defense and see if they continue to improve...

jeanpierre

Go back to what's been asked for three+ years...

Can anyone name one linebacker the Saints have developed under Joe Vitt's tenure?

Utah_Saint

I can't think of one but there are quite a few "coulda, woulda, shouldas".

Since Vitt has been with the Saints they have drafted.

2007 Marvin Mitchell 7th round.
He was active in 55 games over 4 seasons and started two. 125 tkls 2PD 2FF 2FR
He was an average back up LB. About what you might expect from a 7th rounder.

2009 Stanley Arnoux 4th round
He missed the 2009 season after tearing his achilles in the first minicamp. He was active in 10 games in 2010 but accumulated no stats. He tore his achilles again in game 11 was put on IR and released in following year during training camp. Injuries can be blamed for a disappointing career.

2011 Marten Wilson 3rd round Highly touted out of college and great combine stats, the Saints traded Jamalle Brown and a 5th round pick to get him. He lasted 2 1/2 seasons with the Saints before being waived to make room for Ryan Griffin. Hard to call this anything but a disappointment.

2011 Nate Bussey 7th round Earned a Big 10 honorable mention. Made the practice squad in 2011 and 2012. He played in 1 game but accumulated no stats. Again, most 7th rounders don't make it in the NFL.

2014 Khairi Fortt 4th round Fortt was placed on short term IR before the start of the 2014 season but was waived before activation. Not much can be said for such a short career.

2014 Ronald Powell 5th round Powell was listed as the 15th ranked OLB and projected to be a 5th round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He was active in 14 games in the 2014 season where he made 1 tackle. The Saints released him in 2015 and then placed him on IR. The Bears signed him to their practice squad in 2016 and the Seahawks claimed him to their active roster. One tackle for a 5th round pick.

2015 Stephone Anthony 1st round Anthony's first round pick was a part of the Jimmy Graham trade.
Anthony finished his rookie season with 112 tackles, one sack, one interception, and two forced fumbles. He had two scores and led all rookies in tackles. Anthony was also named to the Pro Football Writers Association all-rookie team.
Unfortunately, Anthony seemed to regress during the 2016 season. The Saints moved him to OLB in the offseason, presumedly to take the play calling responsibilities off his shoulders. Anthony was active in only 10 games and made 16 tackles. After a 1st round pick and a solid rookie season, Anthony's sophomore season can only be described as a complete disappointment.

2015 Hau'oli Kikaha 2nd round Considering Kikaha's injury history, he was a risk in the 2nd round. Kikaha had a very good rookie season, recording 32 tackles, 4 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 2 passes defended and 1 fumble recovery. Unfortunately, Kikaha tore is ACL in mini camp and was put on IR for the season.

2015 Davis Tull 5th round Projected to go in the 3rd or 4th round of the draft, Tull was considered a steal in the 5th. He was undersized by NFL standards but had excellent speed, great hands, and "football smarts". Unfortunately, early in the 2015 season, Tull was placed on IR after surgery for a labrum injury in training camp. Tull was released before the 2016 season.

Any one or even quite a few of these can be chalked up to injury or poor draft choice but in my opinion, after 10 seasons, 9 drafted and many undrafted LBs, Vitt should've been able to develop at least one linebacker to meet, let alone exceed his potential. Vitt may be a great locker room guy, and by all accounts he is, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence that he can coach up linebackers.

It's time to move on.