2013 Defensive Starters and Analysis (1 Viewer)

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Defensive Line

RDE - Akiem Hicks
NT - Brodrick Bunkley
LDE - Cam Jordan

There shouldn't be any debate about this. they're are people that keep pushing this idea that a NT is a big need. Bunkley was excellent in Denver's 3-4 and wasn't resigned because Del Rio was moving the defense back to a 4-3. When Payton announced that the team had already been preparing for the 3-4 transition, Bunkley was one of the players he was referring too.

Will Smith and Sedrick Ellis will be released. they don't fit into the scheme, have underperformed and contracts are too big.


Linebackers

Sam - David Hawthorne
Mike - Curtis Lofton
Will - Anthony Spencer
Rush - Jarvis Jones or Junior Gallette/Martez Wilson

Hawthorne and Lofton should be obvious. The big arguments are about the OLBs. Everyone's been talking about a pass rush, but no one has said anything about a linebacker who can drop back in coverage. The saints desperately need one. A big reason the defense gave up big plays over the top was due to our Safeties moving up to cover TE's and only having 1 safety to cover the deep ball. Spencer was more of a coverage linebacker than an edge rusher. If Loomis can clear up enough cap (which is possible) and Sign Spencer this will change the entire draft strategy.

New Draft Strategy. If spencer is signed, more focus will go into an elite edge rusher. Now this is a big deal, because most of the natural OLB's in the draft are better suited for 4-3. Jarvis Jones is really the only true 3-4 edge rusher with 1st round talent. Ansah and Jordan are 4-3 D ends that can convert to OLB. But with Gallette and Wilson, the Saints already have that type of player. If Jarvis Jones drops to us in the draft, he will be the starting rush linebacker. If he doesn't, I believe they go for an OT or Safety and plan on letting Gallette and Wilson battle for the starting job.


Defensive Backs

RCB - Jabari Greer
LCB -Patrick Robinson
FS - Malcolm Jenkins
SS - Roman Harper

Cornerbacks are one of the most overvalued positions in the league. As much as some of us would like to see a change, it is going to cost way too much to sign a CB better than Greer. His 4 million salary is a bargain even if he was the #2 CB. PRob will get one more year to prove himself. He's a 1st round draft pick that had his first full year as a starter under a brand new D coordinator and no head coach.

This is the point where everyones going to get angry. Just hear me out. Even know I said it earlier, I just don't see the Saints going after a Safety. If they don't go after a pass rusher in the draft, the next will be a tackle. Even if Bushrod is signed, we still need depth. When Strief went down last year, there was no one to turn to.

With IAQ, there is a solid choice to take over at FS if Ryan doesn't want to stick with Jenkins. As for Harper, a restructure won't happen. If he's released or traded, the cap hit would cripple any FA pick ups the Saints would want to make. If Ryan doesn't want Harper, Loomis will over rule him. Plus I think any player who really only underperformed under Spags, will get a fresh evaluation. Remember, Jenkins and Harper were considered an up and coming young tandem under Williams.

The Draft will focus on OLB and OT. With the front office looking to grab depth at Safety and Dline in the late rounds.
 
I'm a big fan of this. I do have serious doubts Jones will fall that far to us in the draft. The guy is a beast and will probably need a sub-par combine to drop out of the top 10. Also, I like the point you made about Harper. People seem to think cutting him will free significant cap space, but we would be hit with a pretty significant penalty for it. Also this isn't a trading league. I personally will never bank on one happening, with the exception of draft picks obviously.
 
Good post. Your terms are a bit off. Here's the terms for Rex Ryan's D:

Strongside OLB "Sam" - Justin Houston, played 4-3 DE and 3-4 OLB at the University of Georgia

Strongside ILB "Ted" - Martez Wilson, played 4-3 MLB at the University of Illinois

Weakside ILB "Mike" - Quan Sturdivant, played 4-3 MLB at the University of North Carolina

Weakside OLB "Will"

And the responsibilities:

Much like the Lebeau scheme, the SS is in the box. Unlike the Lebeau scheme however the SS will drop back into deep coverage sometimes and will tend to blitz quite a bit as well. He will be in charge of cleaning up the strongside in the run game. The strongside OLB is in charge of the C-gap and the outside in the run game and is used in man coverage over 80% of the time on the TE. The other 20%, he will be either blitzing or playing a mid zone. The strongside ILB is in charge of the A and B gaps on the right side in the run game. In the passing game, he will be covering a mid zone and rarely blitzing. The WILB is in charge of the A and B gaps on his side and will be blitzing over 50% in the passing game. The other responsibility he will have is to play short to intermediate zones. The Weakside OLB will be blitzing over 75% regardless of the passing or running situation. When he isn't blitzing he will be playing a contain on the outside for the run game or will be playing a flat zone on the weak side. The scheme calls for a lot of overload blitzes to either side as opposed to the LeBeau scheme, which calls for balanced blitzes normally up the middle. The Ideal players for this scheme based on the roles in the 2011 draft. http://www.scardraft.com/RyanHybrid46.html

I think Anthony Spencer played the SOLB or Sam in Dallas covering TEs mostly.

Roman Harper may do better in Ryan's scheme as his roe would be similar to what he did with Gregg Williams.

Jenkins could get better with coaching, but I'm not convinced. I was doubtful of Jenkins since before the draft and he has yet to prove his mid 1st round selection. But I hope that changes.
 
I think we get and OLB in FA and a safety. We will have to get an OT in the first.

Jordan and Hicks are fast and can contain pistol formations. Our OLB are critical. We have man to man corners. I think Harper and Jenkins are so confusing to watch. One play they look lost the next a good play. I think Jenkins can stop the run and has better ball skills than harper and should be the SS.
 
If we had already been preparing for the transition, then I wonder why we didn't keep Aubrayo Franklin around. Whatever though
 
Good post. Your terms are a bit off. Here's the terms for Rex Ryan's D:



And the responsibilities:



I think Anthony Spencer played the SOLB or Sam in Dallas covering TEs mostly.

Roman Harper may do better in Ryan's scheme as his roe would be similar to what he did with Gregg Williams.

Jenkins could get better with coaching, but I'm not convinced. I was doubtful of Jenkins since before the draft and he has yet to prove his mid 1st round selection. But I hope that changes.

Thanks, didn't know Ryan's terminology was different.

I was under the assumption that in Ryan's 3-4, He kept the same terminology as a basic 4-3, moving the Sam position inside and adding a "Rush Linebacker" on the strong side. This is the terminology and set up the Ravens use and a few other teams.
 
If we had already been preparing for the transition, then I wonder why we didn't keep Aubrayo Franklin around. Whatever though

We only signed Franklin to a one year deal. I think Payton and Loomis saw the Value in Bunkley and decided to sign him over resigning Franklin.
 
David Hawthorne will not be an outside linebacker in the 3-4...he will be teamed with Lofton at MLB and Galette will be the rush linebacker and Wilson will be the SAM OLB who covers the tight end...

LE: Jordan
NT: Bunkley
RE: Hicks

LOLB: Wilson
MLB:Lofton
MLB: Hawthorne
ROLB:Galette

CB: Greer
SS: Harper
FS: Jenkins
CB: Robinson

I cam guarantee you this will be the lineup going into camp, we will add through the draft at NT, Outside Linebacker...I think with Johnson and Walker we have depth behind starters Hicks and Jordan but we will probably add another 3-4 type end in the draft of free agency...but I really think this will be a smooth transition.
 
I think we get and OLB in FA and a safety. We will have to get an OT in the first.

Jordan and Hicks are fast and can contain pistol formations. Our OLB are critical. We have man to man corners. I think Harper and Jenkins are so confusing to watch. One play they look lost the next a good play. I think Jenkins can stop the run and has better ball skills than harper and should be the SS.

Completely agree. I think if a talent like Jones falls to us, we take him. But if not it's OT.

Can't agree more with your Harper/Jenkins observations. I've watched a lot of film on them and it looks bad, but the closer you look you really start to notice bad coverage Schemes.

Check out the 2nd Falcons games this past season. In the first half Ryan throws a TD pass to Gonzalez. At first glance it looks like Harper and Jenkins give up on the play and blow their coverages, but after watching it a few times you can tell they both were suppose to play shallow zone and Lofton was left to cover Gonzalez one on one. I went back and starting noticing similar plays like this all season. Where Harper and Jenkins play way up close to the linebackers and leave other players hanging.
 
Wilson may be able to play SOLB. He has the speed to keep up with TE's and RB's and is a pretty good pass rusher. He played both MLB and OLB in college. The Saints would probably be better off fliling the WOLB with a FA as you suggest since they may want someone to fill that spot that is proven. I just don't know if they will be able to afford any high priced talent. I also wonder if Galette could fill the WOLB on 1st and 2nd bc of his speed and strength. He was projected as a 3/4 OLB by some.
 
David Hawthorne will not be an outside linebacker in the 3-4...he will be teamed with Lofton at MLB and Galette will be the rush linebacker and Wilson will be the SAM OLB who covers the tight end...

LE: Jordan
NT: Bunkley
RE: Hicks

LOLB: Wilson
MLB:Lofton
MLB: Hawthorne
ROLB:Galette

CB: Greer
SS: Harper
FS: Jenkins
CB: Robinson

I cam guarantee you this will be the lineup going into camp, we will add through the draft at NT, Outside Linebacker...I think with Johnson and Walker we have depth behind starters Hicks and Jordan but we will probably add another 3-4 type end in the draft of free agency...but I really think this will be a smooth transition.

I have Hawthorne as a MLB. I was corrected above on my terminology. But i went by the Ravens' position names, where they call the 2nd MLB a Sam, because he plays the same role as the Sam in a 4-3. The OLB in this scheme is just called a rush linebacker.
 
We only signed Franklin to a one year deal. I think Payton and Loomis saw the Value in Bunkley and decided to sign him over resigning Franklin.

I guess you're rite...proof is in the puddin. I guess I wouldve been more comfortable with Franklin cause' he has a lil more weight on him. But Bunkley's very strong n his play last season has been grossly underrated by some on this board, so we're good. Just need depth now
 
I had the same "fantasy" today.

Imagine having Jones, Lofton, Hawthorne, and Spencer as our LB group......behind Jordan, Bunkley, and Hicks.

Our front 7 would be so scary.
 
I had the same "fantasy" today.

Imagine having Jones, Lofton, Hawthorne, and Spencer as our LB group......behind Jordan, Bunkley, and Hicks.

Our front 7 would be so scary.

It's definitely a fantasy.

It would take brilliant cap restructuring by Loomis and just plain luck for Jones to drop to us.

I think Loomis can make the Spencer move happen, if Ryan pushes for it. But most likely Gallette will be our edge rusher.
 
It's definitely a fantasy.

It would take brilliant cap restructuring by Loomis and just plain luck for Jones to drop to us.

I think Loomis can make the Spencer move happen, if Ryan pushes for it. But most likely Gallette will be our edge rusher.

I'd settle for Jones at RUSH and Tez at WILL.

:hihi:

But I agree with you. Especially in regards to signing Spencer.
 

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