Rob Ryan's Defense Is Key for Saints to Become a Contender Again
A 7-9 record wasn't supposed to be the result.
An aggressive offseason strategy was supposed to send Sean Payton's New Orleans Saints team back to the playoffs in the NFC. Instead, they couldn't come out of the worst division in football, suffering their second seven-win season over the span of just three years.
Payton is a Super Bowl-winning head coach who has been in charge of the franchise since 2006. He has never been the kind of head coach who hides behind flimsy excuses.
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Instead, he is a forward-looking coach who doesn't entertain the idea of shifting blame onto specific individuals. That is exactly how he handled the disappointment of 2014 during his final press conference. Payton spoke generally about areas in which they need to improve.
In retrospect, the most significant thing that Payton said during that press conference was related to self-evaluation:
"Listen, every element of the program, I think it is important that we do that. I think we have to look starting with ourselves and then going through not only the coaches, not only the players. There’s a lot of things that you want to make sure that you look closely at and we will take our time and do that.
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Those weren't just empty words from Payton. The franchise backed them up by making major alterations to the roster as free agency began.
Unlike the previous year, this time the Saints were sending big names away instead of bringing them in. Starting tight end Jimmy Graham was traded to the Seattle Seahawks for a first-round pick and Max Unger. Kenny Stills and Ben Grubbs were traded away after getting on the wrong side of quarterback Drew Brees, according to the Miami Herald's Adam Beasley.
Importantly, those three moves took away from the offense, giving the Saints extra equity to invest in their defense. The Saints defense was the biggest reason for their failure to reach the playoffs last year.
| 26.5(28th) | 384(31st) | 31st | 27th | 32nd |
The Saints haven't ever had a great defense under Sean Payton. He has recycled defensive coordinators on a regular basis trying to create a unit that could simply complement his offense effectively. In 2014, the unit was one of the worst in the league both in terms of raw and advanced statistics.
Unsurprisingly, constant speculation about the security of defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's job hung over the franchise all season long.
From early on during the season, Ryan and Payton were shown arguing on the sidelines during TV broadcasts. Both coaches are outspoken individuals and emotive coaches, so that didn't come as a surprise. Friction and full-blown arguments are often overblown by outsiders looking in on players and coaches.
Friction can be an important ingredient for success in the NFL. Unfortunately, this friction could naturally be connected to the poor performances of the Saints defense. Late in the season, the speculation about Ryan's future with the team was ramped up to the point that Jason La Confora reported on CBS Sports that the Saints were going to move on from Ryan.
The statement that stood out from that report quoted one source as saying the pair hated each other.
Either that suggestion of hatred was overstated or the pair worked through their issues, because the organization retained Ryan for the 2015 season. He is clearly on his final chance, especially considering there is now an obvious successor to take over for him if he is relieved in the form of Dennis Allen.
Ryan is under pressure to save his own job, but he's also under pressure because the Saints desperately need their defense to at least be average in 2015 to return to the playoffs.
It appears that the Saints are using a two-pronged approach with their most notable defensive coaches. According to Joel Erickson of The Advocate, Allen will work with the secondary, leaving Ryan to focus on fixing the front seven.
The front seven will be a major key to fixing a run defense that was the worst in the NFL last year in DVOA by Football Outsiders. Most of the blame for that ranking can be shifted onto the linebacking corps.
Akiem Hicks, Broderick Bunkley and Cameron Jordan are carryover defensive linemen who all played well against the run last year. Bunkley and Hicks are decent players, but Jordan is the real star of the unit. That was reflected by the five-year extension worth $60 million that he recently signed.
Jordan is one of the most versatile front seven pieces in the NFL. He has the explosiveness and power to be an expert pass-rusher off the edge, but he also has the size, balance and awareness to line up between the tackles as a high-quality run defender.
On this play, Jordan is lined up just a shade inside of the Cincinnati Bengals left tackle. This 4-3 front essentially lines Jordan up as a 3-4 defensive end. He is enclosed on both sides, but there is significant space between he and both defenders next to him.
Jordan is going to be isolated with Andrew Whitworth, the Bengals left tackle who is one of the best overall offensive linemen in the whole league.
Both Jordan and Whitworth are quick off the snap. However, Whitworth is attempting to advance to engage the defensive lineman, while Jordan is following the left guard who is pulling across the formation. Whitworth is throwing his inside shoulder toward Jordan to try to overpower him.
Even though the left tackle gets a good hit on Jordan, he has sacrificed his footwork to do so. This allows Jordan to push through Whitworth's inside shoulder after showing off the strength to absorb his initial hit. This play highlights Jordan's relatively rare mixture of strength, balance and quickness.
Whitworth would have expected to have won against most defensive linemen on this play because they would either succumb to his initial hit or lack the athleticism to carry across the field.
Jordan isn't your typical defensive lineman. He is able to pull Whitworth with him before making a technically sound tackle that prevents the running back from advancing past the line of scrimmage. These are the types of plays that the Saints can reasonably expect from him on a regular basis.
Bunkley and Hicks aren't as dynamic as Jordan, but both can hold their positioning against blocks and eat up space on the inside.
The defensive line should give the linebackers adequate support against the run, but there are more questions at the second level than there are answers. That is because the Saints are hoping for two new players to start in the spine of their defense.
You never want to disrupt the continuity of your team, but you especially don't want to when you're bringing in unproven players. Both Dannell Ellerbe and Stephone Anthony are unproven players.
Ellerbe is at a completely different stage of his career to the rookie Anthony, but both need Ryan to refine their technique and improve their decision-making. The team should have higher hopes for Anthony after selecting him in the first round of the draft.
At Clemson, Anthony primarily relied on his outstanding athleticism to force his way to the football. Athleticism alone won't let him prosper in the NFL, but the Saints don't appear to be anticipating an elongated adjustment period for the linebacker.
According to Mike Triplett of ESPN, Anthony has made a strong first impression on Ryan.
"He's been working really hard with [linebackers coaches Joe Vitt and James Willis], and he's really looking good," Ryan said. "And he loves football. So he's the guy we expected when we drafted him."
The expectations engulfing Anthony are similar to those that engulfed Ellerbe when he joined the Miami Dolphins back in 2013. Ellerbe signed a huge contract in free agency after playing an important role in the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl-winning defense.
He would go on to play just 16 games over two seasons for the Dolphins because of a hip injury that cost him 15 games of the 2014 season.
Because he hadn't played well during his first season with the franchise, the Dolphins were expected to release Ellerbe during the offseason. Instead, he agreed to a pay cut so the Dolphins could include him in the Kenny Stills trade.
Durability and consistency have been problems for Ellerbe throughout his whole career. In truth, he has never put together a full season of quality football or even anything close to it. He has the physical talent to be a three-down linebacker, but his play was overhyped because he played on a defense that went far in the playoffs.
Ryan and his coaching staff need to get the most out of his ability while hoping he can stay healthy. At 29 years of age, this is likely Ellerbe's last shot at establishing himself as a quality starter, so he should at least be motivated.
Both Anthony and Ellerbe have potential in pass coverage, but their primary focus should be on playing disciplined, aggressive run defense.
While fixing the run defense will go a long way to creating an average overall unit, Ryan also needs to revitalize the team's pass rush. The Saints ranked 25th in the NFL in sacks last year, managing just 34 in 16 regular-season games.
Jordan is once again the primary piece for the pass rush. Just like against the run, he has proven to be versatile and explosive as a pass-rusher, lining up in different areas of the field while sustaining his effectiveness.
At least, that's how he played in 2013.
In 2014, he struggled more with his consistency. Jordan managed just 7.5 sacks last year, down five from the previous season. His overall level of disruption simply wasn't where it needed to be. The Saints have shown their faith in Jordan to rebound with his new contract extension.
Even if Jordan does rebound, there will still be more questions about the team's ability to get to the quarterback. He is the only interior defensive lineman who can consistently penetrate the pocket, putting pressure on the edge-rushers to be more effective.
The Saints selected two edge-rushers in the draft this year to bolster that area of the depth chart, but an injury to Junior Galette looks set to diminish that improvement.
According to NFL Media's Albert Breer, Galette may miss the whole season with a torn pectoral muscle. He is a limited overall player, but he offered a proven pass-rushing threat off the edge. Without Galette, more will be expected from the two rookies. Hau'oli Kikaha was a second-round pick in the draft, and Davis Tull was selected in the fifth round.
It's unrealistic to expect anything from Tull, but Kikaha has the kind of skill set that could translate instantly to the professional level.
Kikaha is a technically sound and versatile pass-rusher who proved his worth at the college level as a key piece for the Washington defense. However, he fell in the draft because of medical concerns with his knees and question marks about his athleticism.
His athleticism is the greatest concern for the Saints. If he isn't athletic enough to be effective against the better athletes at this level, his value may not just diminish, it may completely disappear.
An improved pass rush is a huge need for the Saints, but just as important is better play in the secondary. Injuries hit the team's defensive backs hard last season, but it would be unfair to completely blame their poor play on injuries because of how the unit played when healthy early in the year.
Safety Jairus Byrd was a surprise signing in free agency. One of the top available players and one of the best safeties in the NFL, he signed a six-year, $54 million deal in New Orleans.
Byrd was supposed to form one of the best safety partnerships in the NFL with the emerging Kenny Vaccaro. Rafael Bush was also retained as a restricted free agent to play prominently in nickel packages. However, for a variety of reasons, things didn't turn out as intended.
The high-priced new addition would play just four games before suffering a meniscus tear that landed him on injured reserve. Pointing to Byrd's absence would be a convenient excuse, but he hadn't made the impact expected of him before that point.
Part of his failure was a result of his own play, and part was a result of how he was used.
Byrd's performance issues within his role saw him miss too many tackles in space and make some bad reads of the offense in coverage. However, he was set up to fail by Ryan who consistently used him, and the rest of the secondary, in illogical alignments.
The Saints will be hoping that Allen's attention to detail can improve the play of the secondary over Ryan's less detail-oriented approach.
Each of Byrd, Vaccaro and Brandon Browner appear set to start for the Saints in 2015. While it may be unfair to label Byrd and Vaccaro as narrow-skill set players, all three are players who need to be used in specific ways to maximize their impact and mask their flaws.
In Byrd and Vaccaro, the Saints have a defined strong and free safety. Vaccaro is better suited to play closer to the line of scrimmage, while Byrd is a deep-lying specialist.
Both players are veterans at this stage, but they need to prove their quality after the disappointment of 2014. Byrd obviously didn't play well before being injured, while Vaccaro remained healthy but was eventually benched for failing to execute in his role.
With Rafael Bush offering more versatility as a third safety, Allen should find ways to play to both players' strengths.
Browner won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots last season. He proved to be an important part of their secondary, but only because Bill Belichick used him the way he needs to be used. Browner isn't a fluid or quick-footed athlete who can play in all kinds of coverages and match up to all kinds of receivers.
He needs to be aligned in press coverage, mostly on the outside, against bigger, linear athletes who he can initiate contact with early in routes.
It's hugely important that Allen understands this and only matches Browner up against receivers who won't expose his flaws. The Patriots were able to do this with great regularity because they had the versatility of Darrelle Revis and the coverage quality of Devin McCourty.
Per the Times-Picayune's Katherine Terrell, Browner was one of many players who highlighted Allen's awareness of each individual's skill set recently:
"It's awesome. He's a very detailed guy. That's always big, someone who emphasizes the details and won't let you slack in your technique. That makes you a better football player. You need both of them [Ryan and Allen]. The guy who's going to keep it loose and the guy who's going to work on the details and finer things, which D.A. does.
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While the Saints may not have a Revis to play across from Browner and a McCourty to cover in behind, Keenan Lewis is a quality starting cornerback who can move around the field, while Byrd and Vaccaro should help mask Browner's flaws if they return to form and are used correctly.
Surpassed working with the starters, Allen will also need to develop the younger defensive backs on the roster while trying to get the most out of some maligned veterans.
P.J. Williams is the player who is most likely to unseat Browner as a starting cornerback. Williams isn't as talented as Patrick Peterson, but he plays to a similar style. He is an outside cornerback with some potential to move around the field and follow receivers.
He may be less imposing than Browner, but he is more flexible and could be less of a liability in space if he adapts to the NFL quickly.
Second-year player Stanley Jean-Baptiste has quick feet and good size, but he is a raw player who couldn't force his way onto the field during his rookie season. Jean-Baptiste told ESPN.com's Mike Triplett (h/t 247Sports' Jeremy Warnemuende) that he believes a second year in the same system will help him play faster and earn more playing time on the field.
Jean-Baptiste and Williams will be competing with Kyle Wilson for playing time. Wilson is a former New York Jets' first-round pick who is best suited to playing over the slot. He and safety Kenny Phillips are talented veterans who are trying to re-establish themselves as starters with the Saints.
The Saints defense isn't stacked with talent, but it is significantly better than it was 12 months ago. Ryan and Allen have enough pieces to create an average or opportunistic unit to complement the offense.
Payton has constantly watched over quality offenses in New Orleans, but he appears to be making a shift in the unit's identity entering 2015. With Drew Brees declining physically, the Saints made efforts to alleviate pressure on him.
First-round pick Andrus Peat was brought in to help the offensive line. It's still unclear how they can get their five best offensive linemen on the field with three starters who are naturally tackles, but the quality of Peat should have a major impact on Brees' pass protection.
Pass protection may be less of an issue, though, as the Saints look to put a greater emphasis on running the ball well.
The franchise was quick to retain running back Mark Ingram as a free agent. Ingram's abrasive running style was then complemented with the addition of C.J. Spiller in free agency. Spiller is the more explosive option who is a naturally dangerous receiving option.
When you add in Khiry Robinson and fullback Erik Lorig, the Saints have plenty of talent to build the running game around next season. That is how the Saints hope to offset the departure of Jimmy Graham and any potential drop-off in the passing game.
Payton's offense wasn't at its best in 2014, but it still ranked seventh in DVOA by Football Outsiders and was perfectly balanced.
The offense should still be the identity of the team as a whole, but the importance of the defense is higher than it has ever been with Payton as the head coach. If we presume that the Saints are at least above average on offense again next year, they should be able to compete for the NFC South with an average defense.
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