Todd Grantham joins Saints staff (1 Viewer)

[Saint Spud]

If they're running a 3-4, then Baun and Elliss both become priorities to keep. Along with getting a legitimate nose tackle.

Agreed. I could see Cam and Davenport as legit 3-4 DEs if we choose to keep Davenport. I could also see Granderson transition to a 3/4 edge LB fairly smoothly.

But yeah, it’s hard to see a Nose on this current roster.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

playcaller in the last 2 mins of each half at least.

Got damnit FACTS!

 

[reason2believe]

What role?

 

[B_doggman47]

Agreed. I could see Cam and Davenport as legit 3-4 DEs if we choose to keep Davenport. I could also see Granderson transition to a 3/4 edge LB fairly smoothly.

But yeah, it’s hard to see a Nose on this current roster.

You are correct. We have no legitimate NT on the team. We could draft one of Mazi Smith 6'3"/337#, Siaki Ika 6'4"/357#, Keeanu Benton 6'4"/315# or Gervon Dexter 6'6"/312#. We could pick up a veteran in FA. I could see us re-signing Malcolm Brown or going after Davlin Tomlinson 6'3"/325#.

 

[cant]

As a gators fan I am going to say this is terrible. He was awful for us. Maybe it’ll end up different but I am not a fan of this hire at all

 

[B_doggman47]

As a gators fan I am going to say this is terrible. He was awful for us. Maybe it’ll end up different but I am not a fan of this hire at all

Maybe he'll be better as an assistant rather than a DC. He won't be in control of the whole defense just a part of it. They hired him to specialize on a certain part of the defense that he is good at.

 

[Jesse Custer]

You are correct. We have no legitimate NT on the team. We could draft one of Mazi Smith 6'3"/337#, Siaki Ika 6'4"/357#, Keeanu Benton 6'4"/315# or Gervon Dexter 6'6"/312#. We could pick up a veteran in FA. I could see us re-signing Malcolm Brown or going after Davlin Tomlinson 6'3"/325#.

Gimme the Samoan. Every time.

 

[ChrisinNOLA]

Saints have a sign on Airline right now "Hiring $25/hr plus benefits to play LB, DL or K"

QB too?

 

[B_doggman47]

Gimme the Samoan. Every time.

I like him too. The weaknesses he has is his lateral movement leaves a lot to be desired and he is a little slow off the snap. I believe his weight has a lot to do with it. At 357#, I believe he would need to get down to at least 330# to be more effective coming off the snap with more speed. I would like to see us draft either Mazi Smith or Keeanu Benton. I'm worried with Ika he would have weight problems in his career.

 

[Rexman100]

Its a good hire. We wanted him a long time ago. However, It could mean we're losing Davenport to FA? I hope not because a good one is expensive.
Bama fans second guess Sabin and want coordinators fired after every loss. Their opinions mean nothing.

 

[sportsaint]

would be interesting if that is the case

Do we have the personnel to run that? I’m asking cause I don’t know anything about this but I know how to ask stupid questions lol

 

[SweetT]

Do we have the personnel to run that? I’m asking cause I don’t know anything about this but I know how to ask stupid questions lol

Currently constructed, I would say that we don’t necessarily have the personnel to run a 3-4. That is what makes it an interesting observation

 

[Rouxble]

It depends on what we do with Street, Davenport, Turner, and Jordan, all of which are built for 3-4 DE. Onyemata can also play 3-4 DE well. Granderson is about the same size as Davenport, but he seems more finesse, and Roach, and Tuttle are not big enough to play NG, and probably not quick enough to play DE, so they may not fit the scheme as well. Granderson may be our best pass rusher, so maybe he stays as a specialist. I think we would need a couple of true NGs and a couple of LBs to start with Werner, Davis and Ellis. This could be achieved in 1 offseason.

We might have seven people lined up in a 3-4 in one offseason, but we won’t have the personnel for it to be successful. We only have Jordan, Granderson, and Turner under contract from the DL players you listed. Jordan is 34, we would be asking our all time leading pass rusher with pass rusher’s paycheck to convert to a two-gapping 3-4 DE.

As for LB’s, Elliss is a UFA, and as with other UFA’s on the DL we would need to pay them first and hope they can play a new position later. For the two inside LB’s, either Werner or Davis will need to swap from pursuing the ball carrier to regularly absorbing blocks from strong side guards, if they aren’t already getting blocked by the weak side guard due to a lack of a true NT commanding a double team. We can draft one, but will they be ready to play full time snaps right out of college?

If not for salary cap issues, maybe we could bring in a few FA’s to speed the transition, but we are a long way off in my book. Besides, we played with 5+ DB’s on 73% of our defensive snaps last year, investing resources to build a 3-4 front when we hardly played a base 4-3 personnel seems like a lot of cost for not much payoff. We played against 11 personnel 59% of the time and 12 personnel 23% of the time, a hybrid 4-2-5 scheme makes more sense for what we’re seeing on the field and what we have on our roster.

 

[reason2believe]

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.

Why now? I don't get it. Hasn't he been running his own defense this whole time?

 

[Mr. Coach Klein]

You are correct. We have no legitimate NT on the team. We could draft one of Mazi Smith 6'3"/337#, Siaki Ika 6'4"/357#, Keeanu Benton 6'4"/315# or Gervon Dexter 6'6"/312#. We could pick up a veteran in FA. I could see us re-signing Malcolm Brown or going after Davlin Tomlinson 6'3"/325#.

I can't believe we didn't sign one. Losing Malcolm Brown has hurt this defense. Really big (and slow) run stopping DTs are easy to come by and cheap. Major oversight last year.

ETA: the ones that can't rush the passer. The ones that can play 0 & 1 and rush the passer are worth DE/WR money. Like Sapp and Suh in his prime.