Brandon Staley is Defensive Coordinator

[texasjefe]

Always first with it, thanks SoN

I 1000% agree and I remember when SoN was a rookie threadstarter, but this @SonOfNOLA thread title is only a meager 5 words.

 

[Joodas Avila]

What current players fit Staley’s defensive philosophy and which do not?

I think our DL, especially the EDGE rushers across the board are borderline fits at best. Foskey & Granderson could be rush LBs, & Cam & Turner could possibly bulk up & be 5T/DEs in the odd front. Bresee could fit at both DE & DT. I think Saunders, Shepard & Boyd are serviceable DTs, but the position will hopefully be addressed in either FA, the draft or Both. Yeah…the Dline needs a major overhaul.

But the dude who i believe best fits Staley’s system is Alontae Taylor in the slot. Taylor has legit All Pro potential as a NB/Slot SAF. The dude is an average CB. I never really understood the hype about him playing outside. I mean, Adebo out played him the year they were competing to start opposite Lattimore, & last year went to doodoo for Alontae when Lattimore got dealt. But before that, Taylor was best guy we had on D.

Im pretty certain, at least i hope, Staley will recognize how disruptive & gamebreaking Alontae was in the slot. Alontae fits that Jalen Ramsey, Taylor Rapp, Derwin James role where he’s basically a Safetybacker, or STAR, where he’s both the extra man in coverage, & the extra force player vs the run. Super excited to see how they use Alontae next season, cause that dude has some elite traits for Staley to build around.

 

[GeneHansen]

below is the coaching staff, for 2023 BS's last year. I wonder if any of the defensive coaches will accompany him :

Derrick Ansley	Defensive Coordinator
Ryan Ficken	Special Teams Coordinator
Kellen Moore	Offensive Coordinator
Tom Arth	Passing Game Specialist
Chris Beatty	Wide Receivers
Tom Donatell	Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Secondary
Derrick Foster	Running Backs
Chris Gould	Assistant Special Teams
Will Harris	Assistant Secondary
Mike Hiestand	Front Seven Specialist
Jeff Howard	Linebackers
Kevin Koger	Tight Ends
Robert Muschamp	Defensive Quality Control
Brendan Nugent	Offensive Line
Doug Nussmeier	Quarterbacks
Jay Rodgers	Defensive Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line
Shaun Sarrett	Assistant Offensive Line
Phil Serchia	Offensive Assistant
Giff Smith	Outside Linebackers
John Timu	Assistant Defensive Line

DL Coach Jay Rogers is available. The Falcons let him go after the season.

There are rumors that Safeties Coach Walt Harris, who just took a job at U. of Miami, may be jumping back to the NFL.

A guy like Robert Muschamp (nephew of Will Muschamp), Defensive Quality Control, can’t be blocked from interviewing for a job as a position coach.

 

[DSnfla]

Not too excited, hard to look bad when you have Donald, Von Miller and Ramsey on that 2020 Rams defense.

Von Miller was not on the Rams when Staley was DC . All Staley had was Donald, Ramsey and Floyd.And it was Staley that pretty much turned Ramsey into the star he became

 

[ilvdsnts]

I’m curious how we got him from the 9ers. Wasn’t he their DC/ Asst HC, isn’t that a lateral move if not demotion? Did they fire him?

 

[TribuneUK]

I’m curious how we got him from the 9ers. Wasn’t he their DC/ Asst HC, isn’t that a lateral move if not demotion? Did they fire him?

He did not hold the DC post in 2024. He was AHC Defense. And Saleh is coming in anyway, so he's surplus to requirements.

 

[webster]

I think our DL, especially the EDGE rushers across the board are borderline fits at best. Foskey & Granderson could be rush LBs, & Cam & Turner could possibly bulk up & be 5T/DEs in the odd front. Bresee could fit at both DE & DT. I think Saunders, Shepard & Boyd are serviceable DTs, but the position will hopefully be addressed in either FA, the draft or Both. Yeah…the Dline needs a major overhaul.

But the dude who i believe best fits Staley’s system is Alontae Taylor in the slot. Taylor has legit All Pro potential as a NB/Slot SAF. The dude is an average CB. I never really understood the hype about him playing outside. I mean, Adebo out played him the year they were competing to start opposite Lattimore, & last year went to doodoo for Alontae when Lattimore got dealt. But before that, Taylor was best guy we had on D.

Im pretty certain, at least i hope, Staley will recognize how disruptive & gamebreaking Alontae was in the slot. Alontae fits that Jalen Ramsey, Taylor Rapp, Derwin James role where he’s basically a Safetybacker, or STAR, where he’s both the extra man in coverage, & the extra force player vs the run. Super excited to see how they use Alontae next season, cause that dude has some elite traits for Staley to build around.

Thanks for your insight. What about our current linebackers? Good fits?

 

[rlemieux]

I’m curious how we got him from the 9ers. Wasn’t he their DC/ Asst HC, isn’t that a lateral move if not demotion? Did they fire him?

No. He only held the assistant head coach title. He was not the coordinator. They also had brought in Salah as the new DC so Staley was still just an extra defensive coach, one that wasn’t picked by Salah on top of that.

 

[Rouxble]

Von Miller was not on the Rams when Staley was DC . All Staley had was Donald, Ramsey and Floyd.And it was Staley that pretty much turned Ramsey into the star he became

Ramsey was a star before Staley, the Rams traded two 1st round picks and a 4th to get him.

To an extent, Ramsey allowed his scheme to succeed because he could wipe out the other team’s #1. Staley could keep five on the LOS with five players to cover the other four eligibles.

Without that lockdown corner, you end up with something closer to what Fangio had this year, using an even front to keep seven defenders to cover five receivers.

 

[Saint_Ward]

I like the hire but we're gonna need a true nose tackle to run that 3-4 defense.
Charger fans seem to think that we've made a huge mistake. Time will tell.

Chargers Filmroom: The positioning of Brandon Staley's secondary is a problem for the whole defense

The Chargers’ secondary have allowed the most explosive passes in the league and the system is a big reason why as we explore in this week’s filmroom

www.boltsfromtheblue.com

This is probably a worst case view. Running a system without the right talen and too far off the ball. Don't think it was as much of an issue with the Rams.

 

[Rouxble]

Chargers Filmroom: The positioning of Brandon Staley's secondary is a problem for the whole defense

The Chargers’ secondary have allowed the most explosive passes in the league and the system is a big reason why as we explore in this week’s filmroom

www.boltsfromtheblue.com

This is probably a worst case view. Running a system without the right talen and too far off the ball. Don't think it was as much of an issue with the Rams.

The stills from that article highlight what I was talking about a few posts up, trying to play with five on the LOS but not having a way to effectively defend the pass with six. With the Rams he had Ramsey shutting down the #1, and likely one eligible stayed in to at least check release against a potential five rushers. That gave Staley five pass defenders to close windows for the remaining three receivers.

 

[MikeyF]

Defensive Assistants That Could Join Brandon Staley With Saints

Brandon Staley is officially the new defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. Staley rejoins Saints head coach Kellen Moore after hiring Moore as his offensive coordinator in 2023 when he was head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers. On the offensive side, five of Moore's seven new...

www.yardbarker.com

 

[Mr. Coach Klein]

I think our DL, especially the EDGE rushers across the board are borderline fits at best. Foskey & Granderson could be rush LBs, & Cam & Turner could possibly bulk up & be 5T/DEs in the odd front. Bresee could fit at both DE & DT. I think Saunders, Shepard & Boyd are serviceable DTs, but the position will hopefully be addressed in either FA, the draft or Both. Yeah…the Dline needs a major overhaul.

But the dude who i believe best fits Staley’s system is Alontae Taylor in the slot. Taylor has legit All Pro potential as a NB/Slot SAF. The dude is an average CB. I never really understood the hype about him playing outside. I mean, Adebo out played him the year they were competing to start opposite Lattimore, & last year went to doodoo for Alontae when Lattimore got dealt. But before that, Taylor was best guy we had on D.

Im pretty certain, at least i hope, Staley will recognize how disruptive & gamebreaking Alontae was in the slot. Alontae fits that Jalen Ramsey, Taylor Rapp, Derwin James role where he’s basically a Safetybacker, or STAR, where he’s both the extra man in coverage, & the extra force player vs the run. Super excited to see how they use Alontae next season, cause that dude has some elite traits for Staley to build around.

Agree with AT playing star. He's had kind of a raw deal. After rookie yr he switched to slot and kept learning outside. Last yr he trained slot then wound up outside. I think he can be really good at either we just need to keep him in one spot IMO.

As far as star he's shown he has a killer instinct and good at blitzing. I think he has all the traits you want for that spot especially if he put on 5-10lbs.

 

[AARPSaint]

Time to get the rest of the defensive staff assembled.