St. PJ
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The coaching staff and front office pool their knowledge together and develop a philosophy on how film is graded, what traits and skill sets are at a premium for each position, how their system utilizes each position, and ultimately sets guidelines for how their scouts interpret and judge a prospect.
Depending on the hierarchy, either the head coach (think Patriots model) or the general manger (think AJ Smith) has the final say as to what characteristics he places a premium on. With the Saints, if you consider the "looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane" players brought in under Haslett, as well as the offensive gems found in the Payton era, it seems that the head coach has had the final say with Loomis. Furthermore, it is obvious Loomis and Payton share a brain and work very well together.
Since Payton took over in 2006, this organization has been adept at finding value late in the draft and with UDFA's on the offensive side of the ball. From Colston to Nicks to Evans to PT to Strief and Moore and Morgan and Graham and Del La Puente to _____, the scouts know exactly what to look for to find offensive players that the staff can develop and utilize pretty quickly. It makes sense-- Payton is an offensive guru, and he knows just what will work in his system.
Scouts typically scout an area; not one side of the ball. As great as Sean Payton's model is at spotting offensive talent, I think there is much room left to improve when trying to find defensive talent. I think Payton has gone the route of deferring to the defensive guru (when he has had one) when it comes to telling the scouts what to scout for. I conclude that either the said guru (3G) either didn't chose the right talent or didn't develop said talent.
We now have another, less successful "guru". And though it is too late to make changes now, I propose a solution that comes from outside the box. Instead of changing the criteria for our scouts every time we change a defensive coordinator, why not double your scouting force?
Let me elaborate. Take a close look at the NFC West. Seattle, San Francisco, and Arizona all have had stellar defenses. Each has had the same kind of success finding late round or undrafted gems and gotten significant development and return out of those players. I say let's hire away some of those NFC West scouts, pair them up and send them out with the scouts we already have. The scouts we have are to focus just on offense-- that's what they do best, while the newly hired scouts focus on just defense. After a year or two, we'll have the best of both worlds.
The scouts we steal from those defensive juggernauts can share their secrets on the criteria they place a premium on. They can help our offensive guru head coach become a better all around head coach, redefining what he values on defense. Of all the coaches in the NFL today, I'd have to say Bill Belichick is the most complete-- he knows what to look for on both sides of the ball. He made a name for himself on defense, but we know that like Sean Payton, he's on the forefront of setting trends on offense. Sean's next step in development is refining what he looks for in a defensive player. Instead of changing defensive gurus, lets add some scouts who know what a bonafide defensive player is.
Depending on the hierarchy, either the head coach (think Patriots model) or the general manger (think AJ Smith) has the final say as to what characteristics he places a premium on. With the Saints, if you consider the "looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane" players brought in under Haslett, as well as the offensive gems found in the Payton era, it seems that the head coach has had the final say with Loomis. Furthermore, it is obvious Loomis and Payton share a brain and work very well together.
Since Payton took over in 2006, this organization has been adept at finding value late in the draft and with UDFA's on the offensive side of the ball. From Colston to Nicks to Evans to PT to Strief and Moore and Morgan and Graham and Del La Puente to _____, the scouts know exactly what to look for to find offensive players that the staff can develop and utilize pretty quickly. It makes sense-- Payton is an offensive guru, and he knows just what will work in his system.
Scouts typically scout an area; not one side of the ball. As great as Sean Payton's model is at spotting offensive talent, I think there is much room left to improve when trying to find defensive talent. I think Payton has gone the route of deferring to the defensive guru (when he has had one) when it comes to telling the scouts what to scout for. I conclude that either the said guru (3G) either didn't chose the right talent or didn't develop said talent.
We now have another, less successful "guru". And though it is too late to make changes now, I propose a solution that comes from outside the box. Instead of changing the criteria for our scouts every time we change a defensive coordinator, why not double your scouting force?
Let me elaborate. Take a close look at the NFC West. Seattle, San Francisco, and Arizona all have had stellar defenses. Each has had the same kind of success finding late round or undrafted gems and gotten significant development and return out of those players. I say let's hire away some of those NFC West scouts, pair them up and send them out with the scouts we already have. The scouts we have are to focus just on offense-- that's what they do best, while the newly hired scouts focus on just defense. After a year or two, we'll have the best of both worlds.
The scouts we steal from those defensive juggernauts can share their secrets on the criteria they place a premium on. They can help our offensive guru head coach become a better all around head coach, redefining what he values on defense. Of all the coaches in the NFL today, I'd have to say Bill Belichick is the most complete-- he knows what to look for on both sides of the ball. He made a name for himself on defense, but we know that like Sean Payton, he's on the forefront of setting trends on offense. Sean's next step in development is refining what he looks for in a defensive player. Instead of changing defensive gurus, lets add some scouts who know what a bonafide defensive player is.