Todd Grantham joins Saints staff (1 Viewer)

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One thing about Grantham is he will bring the fire/alpha personality that I think Allen lacks.

Woods seems to bring a similar energy, although I think Grantham has more of a reputation for being rough, cranky, lol.
 
SUGrad03 said:
Maybe they anticipate the entire division shifting to heavy run since no one has a QB. Our D was built to stop Ryan & Brady, this could be an evolution to stop run & RPO stuff?
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I would say the division already made that shift to heavy run with Carolina and Atlanta, Tampa may try to join in but they were abysmal running the ball last season.

Since 2017, our defense has been top 8 in DVOA, so my thought is that our defensive scheme is very far at the bottom of the list of problems the Saints need to focus on going into this season.
 
Rouxble said:
Only one of those three DL is under contract, and Cam is a free agent next year.
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I know. But I don't see Cam signing anywhere else. I don't think the suitors for Davenport will be plentiful if he wants too much money. I don't think we let Onyemata walk. We can't afford high priced replacements so I'm hoping we can at least keep what we had.
 
Sea Fog said:
Grantham runs a 3-4. Woods runs a 3-4. I don't think this is a coincidence. DA is planning to switch to a 3-4.
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I sure hope so.. it would get better play out of Kaden Ellis and Marcus Davenport. Dav did a good job of rushing when his hand wasn't in the dirt. Kaden needs to be resigned and given a significant snap/role increase. We need to grab a massive NT and this defense could swarm. Especially with a healthy Pete Werner and Demaro Davis at ILB
 
brianw37 said:
I sure hope so.. it would get better play out of Kaden Ellis and Marcus Davenport. Dav did a good job of rushing when his hand wasn't in the dirt. Kaden needs to be resigned and given a significant snap/role increase. We need to grab a massive NT and this defense could swarm. Especially with a healthy Pete Werner and Demaro Davis at ILB
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If we retain key free agents and grab a true NT, we could pretty easily switch to a 3-4.
 
Jesse Custer said:
Yup. Pass rush specialist. 12.5 sacks during his final season at tOSU.
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I want to see it, but I’m just not seeing it. Baun played 83 defensive snaps last year, has zero sacks in three years, and our plan is to convert to a 3-4 in the last year of his rookie deal and make him a primary pass rusher?

And resign several free agents who have never played 3-4 (at least not at the NFL level) and hope they can perform?
 
Rouxble said:
I want to see it, but I’m just not seeing it. Baun played 83 defensive snaps last year, has zero sacks in three years, and our plan is to convert to a 3-4 in the last year of his rookie deal and make him a primary pass rusher?

And resign several free agents who have never played 3-4 (at least not at the NFL level) and hope they can perform?
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They've played Baun as an ILB. Like I said, it made no sense to draft him and then make him play a very different position with different responsibilities to what he excelled at in college.
 
If there was an offseason to make a switch on defense, it would be this offseason. We have 1 DT under contract for 2023, Prince Emili. We have 2-3 DEs who can play inside (Cam, Turner and Granderson) and 2 LB who can play OLB, Baun and Zuniga. Zuniga played OLB for Grantham at Florida. Re-sign Dav, Street and Kpassagnon and now there's depth at the DEs in a 3-4. Street and Kpassagnon came into the league as DEs in a 3-4. Re-sign Ellis and that's another OLB.

Rough depth chart:
LOLB: Granderson/Zuniga
LDE: Cam/Street/Kpassagnon
NT: TBD (Draft Ika)
RDE: Dav/Turner
ROLB: Ellis/Baun
 
Sea Fog said:
If there was an offseason to make a switch on defense, it would be this offseason. We have 1 DT under contract for 2023, Prince Emili. We have 2-3 DEs who can play inside (Cam, Turner and Granderson) and 2 LB who can play OLB, Baun and Zuniga. Zuniga played OLB for Grantham at Florida. Re-sign Dav, Street and Kpassagnon and now there's depth at the DEs in a 3-4. Street and Kpassagnon came into the league as DEs in a 3-4. Re-sign Ellis and that's another OLB.

Rough depth chart:
LOLB: Granderson/Zuniga
LDE: Cam/Street/Kpassagnon
NT: TBD (Draft Ika)
RDE: Dav/Turner
ROLB: Ellis/Baun
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Why would we re-sign a bunch of players that were effective in the scheme that has been top 8 in DVOA since 2017 to convert them to 3-4 roles? Five players on that list are UFA’s. As far as fit goes:

LOLB
Granderson seems to lack all the tools for the position. While he played 94% of his snaps outside the tackle, he only played 28% in a 2-point stance. Only got pressure on 9% of his pass rush snaps, not great. Also only 27 pass coverage snaps in four years, another area of concern because he will need to play at least twice that many per season.

Zuniga couldn’t find a fit in the Jets 3-4 scheme as an OLB. In 104 career pass rush attempts, he has 3 pressures. He played one coverage snap in three years. Depth on running downs at best.

LDE
Cam played 93% of his snaps lined up outside the tackle (46% of his snaps in a two point stance), asking him to go practically 100% over an OT in a three point stance is a big change for our all-time leading pass rusher with a pass rusher’s cap hit. He may fit anyway due to his career success as an NFL DL.

Kpassagnon played 15% of his snaps over an OL, switching to 100% is a big change to make it worth re-signing him.

Street doesn’t have the height or arm length to play 3-4 DE, no point to re-sign him if we switch.

NT
Hopefully whoever we draft can play NT at an NFL level in their first season and avoid injury, otherwise it will be a long season defending the run.

Emili was projected as a 3-tech, he’s undersized for a 3-4 NT role and might be be better off moving to DE if we keep the UDFA from the Bills.

RDE
Davenport plays like Cam, outside the tackle (90%) and in a 2-point stance (38%). No point to re-sign him as a 3-4 DE based on his injury history and play style, resources invested in coaching him up will be wasted.

Turner played limited snaps, but also lined up outside the tackle (92%) and on his feet (38%). Still, he has great size for the position and is under contract until 2025, we may have good ROI converting him to a 3-4 DE.

ROLB
Baun played the position in college, but hasn’t been tested at the position in the NFL. On a small sample of 34 pass rush attempts in three years, he has 4 pressures. He has played some pass coverage with limited success, giving up a 121.7 QB rating when targeted.

Elliss had a breakout year rushing the passer (8 sacks) and defending the pass (97.1 rating when targeted). He showed versatility lining up at every LB position, and played all 17 games. I think he is a top priority defensive UFA to re-sign in whichever scheme we play.

ILB
Davis has played in a 3-4, but has been our leading tackler as a 4-3 MLB for five years in a row with the Saints. He would likely be relegated to lining up over the strong side guard to keep Werner clean because Werner doesn’t have the build to go to war with guards on a regular basis.

Werner could play well if Davis steps up in his new role and if we get a legit 3-4 NT, but we would need more depth opposite him to keep him clean to pursue the ball.


So we have maybe 3 or 4 players total under contract (Cam, Turner, Davis, Werner) where switching should be neutral at worst, everyone else would need to be replaced or upgraded.
 

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