Saints got ‘a hell of a player’ in Demario Davis, who has led the NFL’s top rush defense

SmashMouth · 11-15-2018, 07:42 AM

When the New Orleans Saints were looking into linebacker Demario Davis this offseason, they saw a big, fast and intelligent linebacker they could plug into their defensive system at a number of positions.

“You saw a physical tackler,” Saints coach Sean Payton recalled from his evaluation this offseason. “We saw leadership in him. We felt he had position flexibility between Will and Mike (the weakside and middle linebacker positions).”

But when Davis looked at the Saints, he did not think of how he would fit in to the Saints defense. Really, he did not even consider his side of the ball.

“I feel like I can fit in, defensively, anywhere,” Davis said. “It was more (quarterback Drew Brees) and Sean that attracted me. Having a chance to play for coach Payton and play on the same team as Drew Brees, that is what attracted me.”

The pairing has worked out tremendously thus far for both sides. In his first nine games with New Orleans, Davis has been an enthusiastic sideline witness to the league’s most prolific offense — something he could hardly dream of in previous stints with the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns.

And in Davis, the Saints have a game-changing linebacker who has turbocharged a unit that leads the NFL in rushing defense, yielding just a bit more than 80 yards per game — a drastic improvement from a year ago, when they allowed the sixth-highest rushing yards per attempt.

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11-15-2018, 07:42 AM	#1
SmashMouth I donated, did you? Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Mandeville, LA Posts: 38,554 Blog Entries: 29	Saints got ‘a hell of a player’ in Demario Davis, who has led the NFL’s top rush defense When the New Orleans Saints were looking into linebacker Demario Davis this offseason, they saw a big, fast and intelligent linebacker they could plug into their defensive system at a number of positions. “You saw a physical tackler,” Saints coach Sean Payton recalled from his evaluation this offseason. “We saw leadership in him. We felt he had position flexibility between Will and Mike (the weakside and middle linebacker positions).” But when Davis looked at the Saints, he did not think of how he would fit in to the Saints defense. Really, he did not even consider his side of the ball. “I feel like I can fit in, defensively, anywhere,” Davis said. “It was more (quarterback Drew Brees) and Sean that attracted me. Having a chance to play for coach Payton and play on the same team as Drew Brees, that is what attracted me.” The pairing has worked out tremendously thus far for both sides. In his first nine games with New Orleans, Davis has been an enthusiastic sideline witness to the league’s most prolific offense — something he could hardly dream of in previous stints with the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns. And in Davis, the Saints have a game-changing linebacker who has turbocharged a unit that leads the NFL in rushing defense, yielding just a bit more than 80 yards per game — a drastic improvement from a year ago, when they allowed the sixth-highest rushing yards per attempt. read more on NOLA Attached Thumbnails foreverfan and 44Champs like this.