Saints33":2vj8iqyi said:
Hi everybody, I'll try to do a bit of a breakdown on our defensive players for the Saints.
Cameron Jordan DE- Was drafted more to be a run stuffer and has been great since we drafted him stopping the run. He played pretty well last year despite how bad our overall defense, but this year he has done excellent on run stopping and pass rushing.
Bunkley DT- Basically a run stuffer, does well against double teams and usally dominates single blockers. Not gonna provide much of a pass rush normally.
Hicks DT or DE in 3-4- Drafted last year in 3rd round and showed a lot of potential. He has been a beast against the run and pressuring the qb. Still extremely raw, but has come on faster than expected
Jenkins DT- A rookie and a huge man. Showed a lot of great plays earlier in the year and that has tailed off some since Bunkley is back and healthy. Better pass rusher than Bunkley but still needs time to develop. Plays the run well
Edit: just realized someone typed a whole lot better description above me, hahaha
Gallette DE or OLB in 3-4- Great speed rusher and surprisingly stout against the run. Never got drafted and has been our camp beast for a few years. He has really stepped it up this year, very explosive off the snap.
Hawthorne- Ya'll pretty much know about him
Lofton ILB- Great against the run in the box. Can get washed up if blockers get to him. Dline has to keep him clean and average at best in coverage. Sometimes doesn't get to the edge quick on runs outside but almost always makes the play on runs in between the tackles.
Kennan Lewis CB- Big physical corner who has been shutdown pretty much all year. Biggest pickup of the offseason and grew up a Saints fan, took a paycut to come here. If I'm not mistaken he led the league last year in pass deflections at the Steelers. Has a lot of speed also for a physical type corner his size.
Corey White CB- Took the place of starting a couple weeks ago now that Greer is on IR. I would have loved to seen Greer matchup against Percy. White is an excellent tackler and very physical. He has a lot of speed and doesn't have much experience but has played well since his name has been called upon. Struggled early against Falcons but played great in 2nd half. As long as he can get in the receivers face at the snap he is good. If he plays off the receiver it might be a long night for us.
Vaccaro SS- rookie who is also a great tackler and shows a lot of upside. Has made some great plays this year and has the ability to play the nickel also. Might be matched up on Percy some. Good speed, physical, and smart player
Malcom Jenkins FS- Struggled mightily last year but has made a huge turnaround this year. He can also cover the nickel. Sometimes takes poor angles, this year he hasn't been bad at all though. Will miss some tackles in space.
Harper SS- Average at best in coverage but excels at stopping the run and blitzing. Had his worse game as a Saint against ya'll in the playoffs a few years ago.
We really don't blitz as much as we thought Rob Ryan was going to since our dline has done a good job at getting pressure. I believe we are tied for 1st in NFL in sacks. We have been exposed some on runs off the edge but that has been cleaned up somewhat since the Jets game. Our Oline is playing lights out better since bye week which seems to be the case the last few years.
This is a great write-up, Saints33, you beat me to it. I agreepretty much with all you've said and I want to add a few more things to some players and add in some more players.
Hicks, DE - plays with a very low pad-level making him hard to "get under" him to stonewall him; him and Cameron Jordan both have a VERY high motor in regards to playing whistle to whistle; also great at setting the edge
Galette, OLB - plays with his hand in the dirt 2/3rds of his snaps (he can be considered a DE, honestly); his biggest strength is his speed moves, as he's not much of a "power move" guy bullrushing; if he's standing up, he's either dropping back or the speed move is coming; can set the edge pretty good as well; he's a guy to be watching for Monday night
Lofton, ILB - elaborating further specifically on the "slowly getting to the edge on runs", Lofton usually is slower doing so because he's usually still watching the hole waiting for a cut-back
White, CB - may struggle early since it takes him awhile for him to "take a chance" and make a play on the ball if he's getting beat, when he does it normally results in an INT or a bat down
Vaccaro, FS/SS/5CB - considerable for a rookie, Rob likes to use this guy
everywhere and
anywhere; he's pretty much the Swiss army knife of our defense; he'll be plugged in at FS, SS, nickel corner and even almost as a LB in some situations (along with Roman Harper) in what Ryan considers his "SUB" package, or a 3-2-6 (3 DL, Galette in the dirt as an OLB, Lofton/Hawthorne and Vaccaro at "LB", and 5 other DB's)
Bush, FS - likes to bring the thunder, and like Harper is a great run stopper near the line, but not so much off it as he'll miss tackles in open space and can take horrible angles like Jenkins; he's almost directly in the middle of Harper and Jenkins; his coverage is solid though, more so than Harper
Humber, ILB - just like Lofton and Hawthorne, he's a thumper and seeks contact between the tackles in the running lanes, he's a pretty good tackler as well, in addition to being pretty good in coverage
The_Z_Man":2vj8iqyi said:
May I just say, you Saints fans are awesome... very knowledgeable about football. How is it that you guys are so on the ball and Falcon's fans are so dense?
Well, thank you very much for the compliment! As for an answer, wouldn't you
want to be dense if you were a Falcons' fan though? :lol:
