Stephone Anthony's role will be determined by growth he shows in diagnosing plays (1 Viewer)

[Andrus]

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Sean Payton admits the Saints never got a full evaluation of Stephone Anthony at strongside linebacker.

That was the vision for the defense this offseason, to have Anthony, who played in the middle as a rookie, to move outside and have veteran linebacker James Laurinaitis take over in the middle.

Instead, Anthony ended up the bench. Craig Robertson took over in the middle after Laurinaitis landed on injured reserve and a third safety replaced the third linebacker.

It’s hard to argue with the results. The defense has shown considerable improvement in a lot of key areas not just from last year, but also from the first few weeks of the season, and appears to be on the right track after battling futility the last two seasons.

But the question now, with the Saints essentially playing out the string the next three weeks, is if Anthony, a first-round pick two seasons ago, is going to have a place within the defense.

That's not yet clear.

“That’s a good question,” Payton said when asked where he envisions Anthony playing. “I think it’s something that obviously the sooner, the better we can sort out.”

BY NICK UNDERHILL

Full Story - The Advocate

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