Latest / AFR Saints / Why Saints Hiring Brandon Staley Signals A Franchise Shift For New Orleans

Transcript

Why Saints Hiring Brandon Staley Signals A Franchise Shift For New Orleans · AFR Saints

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: AFR on Demand is brought to you by Breck Golf.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Try Beaver Creek today, just twenty minutes from downtown Baton
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Rouge in the Zachary area. They've got a PGA toward
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: driving range, a short game practice area, thirty to forty
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: yard practice shots. It's a great place to chip and
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: putt and practice. If you don't have time for a
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: full round. Book your tea time today. Golf dot Breck
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: dot org, Golf dot Breck dot org.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I think Brandison a real good job, you know.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: He helps us out in all types areas.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Works with the Nichols, probably the most real good at
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: helping Nick with the game plan and stuff like that.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Does our ball meeting.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Diners head coach Kyle Shanahan this year talking about New
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. News breaking on Friday, which
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: we all expected that Staley was going to become the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. That now has
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: been pushed across the finish line. Ross Jackson from Locked
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: On Saints and Louisiana Sports dot Net. It's been all
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: over and he's with us now. Yeah, dude, how are you.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Heybody doing great, doing great, glad to be here.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: No surprise here with this news, But let me just
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: get an opinion on the higher before we dig a
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: little deeper.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. I think the biggest thing for me
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: and my biggest takeaway in this higher is I'd rather
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: watch a team fail by trying something new than fail
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: by continuously doing what has failed them in their past.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: And I think that a guy like Brandon Staley represents
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: a big time departure from the Saints past when it
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: comes to the defense in New Orleans that has struggled
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: over the course of the past few years. So I
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: like the hire. Is it going to turn them into
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: a playoff team in twenty twenty five? Probably not, right, Like,
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: this is a multi year situation that we're looking at
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: for Kellen Moore and his coaching staff, But I like
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: what it represents in terms of a new path forward,
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: new innovations, and new ideas.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Okay, how is Staley a new path forward from what
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: they've been doing?
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah? So he defectively has worked throughout his career in
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: what's called a three four defense asposed to four to
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: three defense. So a four to three defense would be
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: four players on the defensive line, four defensive linemen and
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: then three linebackers up over the top, and then the
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: three four defensive approach kind of flips that three defensive linemen,
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: four linebackers with two of the outside linebackers are guys
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: that can rush the passer or drop back into coverage,
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: while the two inside guys are typically coverished guys or
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: run defense guys. And so it kind of flips your
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: defense from being one that relies on big body physicality
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: and kind of takes it rather instead to a place
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: of speed and athleticism, particularly at the edge rusher positions
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: and things like that, so that better counteracts what it
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: is that today's NFL teams are doing, which is the
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: outside zone run where you're running outside the tackles trying
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: to get over to the edge, and the mobile quarterbacks
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: as well, who of course have given the things a
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: lot of trouble throughout their Dennis Allen defensive area or
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: issues the era. And so I think that Brandon Staley's
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: defense and just the way that he utilizes his players
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: and what that prototype is and everything, there's going to
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: be a lot different about that approach under Brandon Saley
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: than what Saints fans have become accustomed to seeing under Dennistoun.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: How does that fit the current personnel on the Saints defense.
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: To be honest, there are some players that fit and
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: there are some players that don't. And so I would
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: expect there over the course of the next few years,
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: or let's say, next two offseason, to be quite a
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: bit of potential turnover over on the defensive side. I
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: think guys that get elevated by this are guys like
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Alonte Taylor and kool Aid McKinstry. Alontae Taylor could go
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: back into the slot play what's called the star role.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: We see it in college football all the time. Florida State, Florida.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: Have you used that a bunch? And so we you've
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: seen that with kind of the way that Chauncey Gardner Johnson,
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: for instance, was used years ago in the slots where
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: it was kind of this blend hybrid corner slash safety.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: You could get Alontae Taylor, who was named the most
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: disruptive player in the NFL early on in the season
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: last year until he got moved out back to the
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: perimeter and then he wasn't able to do the things
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: that he did and run support pass rush all that
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: remember this is the guy that had what three sacks
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: in the first game of the season, that would put
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: him back into that kind of role kool Aid. This
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: works out really well for because kind of what's called
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: the rip Liz, which is just code for right and
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: left defense that Nick Saban once used, that Bill Belichick
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: is used in the past, but that kool Aid mcintry
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: used it played in under Saban, would be very familiar
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: in terms of the rules of how to play in
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: the secondary in Braydon Saley's defference. So guys like that
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: get elevated. I think a slim down Carl Granderson as
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: a stand up pass rusher on the edge could be big.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: I think a guy like Isaiah Foski, who they've been
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: trying to change his his what he did in college
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: and change him to more of a five tech run
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: stopper that can maybe bounced outside. This gives him an
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: opportunity to do what it is as a viper role
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: is what it was called, and Notre Dame where he
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: was a stand up pass rusher around the head. So
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: I think there are some of those guys that kind
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: of get elevated in this, but there are others that
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: don't fit, and so maybe some of that change happens
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: here in twenty twenty five, and then if not, certainly
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: happens at twenty twenty six.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: What it'd be amazing if they could actually find value
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: for Foster. I'm gonna get those a high second round pick. Okay,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: who are the guys that don't fit?
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean I think that some of the guys
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: if you're looking at is you know, guys that are
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: more quintessential three tech defensive tackles. So the guys that
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: typically line up in between the guard and tackle and
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: are more pass rusher types, Colin Saunders, Nathan Shephard. Those
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: are guys that you know there's gonna be conversations about
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: more than likely because that defensive tackle is now either
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: going to have to be able to bounce out to
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: what's called the five techs where you're lined up over
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: the inside shoulder of the tackle and crashing inside. It's
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: a great spot for Brian Brazzy for instance. Okay, but
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: you know otherwise you want the big nose tackle, right,
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: the big three hundred and twenty pound Malcolm Brown, Sheldon Rankins,
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: Malcolm Roach type that can line up over the center
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: and change the numbers on the interior by making two
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: guys block them to create those one on ones over
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: on the other side. And so we got to find
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: that mold, which I don't think the things have in
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: the building right now.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Russ Jackson's with us. Get him on Twitter at Ross Jackson, NOLA.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Give him a follow there. He's got a great piece
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: up right now at Louisiana sports dot net if you
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: want to go check it out again. Everything always free
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: over Louisiana sports on net. But it's effectively Brandon Staley's
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: defensive scheme bringing this fresh approach to the New Orleans stage.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Go read it right now at Louisiana Sports side Net.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: Does hiring Kellen Moore as the head coach and Brandon
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Saley is the defensive coordinator potentially change the Saints outlook
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: for free agency in the draft this year.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Certainly certainly does, especially if they do on the defensive side,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: take that leap into what I would call an odd
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: man front. So it's not necessarily always three four. It
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: could be like three downlineman, three linebackers and then five
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: dbs to get into your nickel looks and stuff like that.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: There's a lot of different things that they can do there.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: But I would say that the thing that it changes
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: is the prototype for pass rusher's chance that that ends
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: up changing, and that kind of the slimmer, more athletic
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: speed rusher all of a sudden has gained some value
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: in Brandon Staley system. You look at how successful he
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: was with a Leonard Floyd, for instance, back in twenty
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: ten and a half to pack out of him with
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: the rams. Think about the I gotta be careful about
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: using this name, but you think about the Khalil Mack prototype, right,
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: not the not the actual player. Yeah, all of a sudden,
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Khalil max and New Orlean's typeline opens up. But you
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: know it's that archetype, right, the guy that can stand
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: up and win with speed around the edge, that can
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: transition speed to power when needed, but otherwise there's just
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: faster than the guy in front of them, and therefore
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: can get to the quarterback, you know. And so I
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: think that value or the value of that style of
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: player is all of a sudden. Now, all of a
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: sudden now has a role in the office in the defense.
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: It doesn't change the prototype of what the team likes.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: It's just that the prototype is different and for the role.
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: And so at any point you could look at the
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: New Orleans Saints and say, well, what do you like
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: in a speed rusher role? And they would tell you
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: six foot three, two fifty two, forty two sixty whatever
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: it might be. But then you ask them what do
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: you like in your edge rusher role? And then they
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: tell you, you know, the towering six foot five, two hundred
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: and eighty pound guide. And the reason why the latter
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: is more present in their defense is because that's what
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: their defense called for. Defense didn't call for if the
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: scheme didn't call for a speed rusher, So now all
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: of a sudden, the defense might call for that. So
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: I think that's a place where you could see some justine.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: And then over the offensive side, I'm curious to see
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: if Kellen Moore continues to lead into the biggest offensive
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: lineman we've ever seen like he did over with Philadelphia.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: It's where everyone's tall and enormous, uh, And I'm curious
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: to see if that ends up changing a little bit
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: of what it is that they value. Both starter and depth.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: Wies on their offensive line.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: And the run game are two more things.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: One and Ross Jackson's with us A Brandon Staler sort
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: of had this this parabolic rode because of the defenses
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: that he had and or the defense he had primarily
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty with the Rams, but he had Aaron Donald,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: then you mentioned Leonard Floyd and the ed Jalen Ramsey,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: and I mean they were just incredibly talented, any of
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: the Saints. So what's realistic to think of with the
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: pieces he has, what it might look like in twenty
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: twenty five. Another way to say it is how much
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: of that defense with the Rams was personnel?
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: How much was Brandon Staley?
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, look, I think it was personnel. Right.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: You can have a good team all you want, you've
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: got to have good players. And so I think that
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: that's a big part of what flipping the roster is
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: over the course of this offseason and next offseason, is
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: the attempt to go and get good players. Do you
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: have to have the defensive player of the year, No,
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: not necessarily, But do you have to have a good
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: player at their position? Yeah? You do, And so I
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: think you got to figure that out. And I think
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: that that's a part of what's going to happen over
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: the course of the next couple of years. I don't
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: look at this as twenty twenty five being the end all,
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: be all, final form of what this looks like. I
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: think you have to give it a couple of off
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: seasons at the very least. But I will say this,
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: Brandon Staley's the guy that look Jalen Ramsey in the
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: face and said I'm moving you to slot right and
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: put him in the position where he earned his All
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: Pro recognition that season. He was technically a perimeter guy
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: before then. Staley's the guy that moved him inside into
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: that star position and then got him to be more
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: disruptive and got his notoriety back as somebody that has
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: all of a sudden been like moving around the NFL
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: and everything from Jacksonville to there, and then, you know,
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: maximize what it was that he could do by putting
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: him in a position to utilize the skill sets a
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: little bit better. Same thing for Leonard Floyd, a guy
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: that had begun to bounce around by that point, said Okay,
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: well you've been asked to do this, let's have you
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: do this instead. And so I look at Brandon Saley
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: very similarly to the way that I look at Kellen
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: Moore they do a very good job of understanding or
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: once they understand, let me say it that way, what
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: it is that a player does well maximizing that and
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: putting him in position to do that. So I give
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: Staley his credit for that, especially when he's able to
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: be letely focused on a defense. I think it's different,
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: and we've seen this across the NFL a time. There
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: are guys that are good head coaches not so great coordinators.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: There are guys that are great coordinators and awful head coaches.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: And maybe Staley checks that box as somebody that comes
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: in and is a lot better on the deep into
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: side when it's all he has to focus on.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: I mean, Dennis Allen was one. Just don't let Brandon.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Don't let Brandon Saley handleclock management. Yeah yeah, Okay, last thing.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: How big of a deal or is it a big
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: deal at all? The relationship with Staley and Kellen Moore.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: It's an interesting one, isn't it? Because you don't have
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: many of these examples, at least I haven't been able
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: to find many of these examples where a guy hires
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: a guy and then the guy that hired the guy
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: gets fired, and then the guy goes somewhere else, and
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: then the guy that got hired by the guy hires
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: the guy that hired the guy. Like, it doesn't happen
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: very often, and so it's an interesting sort of relationship
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: in that More was once Staley is offensive coordinator, and
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: now Staley is More's defense coordinator. But I do think that, like,
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: if you have a connection that allows you to do that,
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: to change roles and to flip and everything like that,
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: I think that there's something to them, you know. I'll
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: use an anecdote I used to when I used to
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: work in theater. We would do this all the time
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: where I would be the top stage manager on a show,
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: and then we would do the show, and then that
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: show would close. Then I would jump to another show,
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: and all of a sudden, the person that I hired
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: to be my assistant is the number one and they're
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: hiring me to be their assistant. And when you have
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: that kind of connection with somebody that you're okay changing
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: those roles in being in the past, that typically shows
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: a pretty good correlation or a pretty good familiarity with
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: one another, in a comfort with one another. And so
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: for us, that worked very great in the creator field,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: How does that work in the sports field, where there's
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: a lot more ego. I don't know, but I think
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: if you're willing to put that aside and join somebody
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: staff that you once hired, that maybe If nothing else,
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: what that shows you is that there's a really good
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: relationship there between and Stale, which could go a long way.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Ross Jackson, Louisiana sports Net, Locked on Saints podcast. That's
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts in on YouTube. Subscribe to
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Locked on Saints. Make sure read Ross over at Louisiana
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Sports on Net Always free again. He's got a great
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: piece up right now again everything always free. But it's
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: a great column explaining how Brandon Saley's defensive scheme kind
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: of is bringing this fresh approach to the New Orleans
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: States from what they've been really for the last fifteen years.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: So it's all there at Louisiana sports dot Net. All right, dude,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: thank you so much, great work, as always, have a
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: great weekend.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: We'll talk soon.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: Thank you man, talk to you soon and take care.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: Su