Saints’ defense: What to make of it?

By Gelder186  |   Monday, July 27, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

New Orleans Saints
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The only thing who may have stumbled more then the Saints secondary last year was a tourist at 4 a.m. on Bourbon Street. One of the big questions about the Saints is whether the defense can come in and improve upon last year, as their offensive air attack led by Drew Brees can take the Saints to a different level - in the playoffs at the very least.

Starting with the D-Line, at least on paper, Charles Grant and Will Smith will be back. They have depth with McCrary at DE, as well as the young and up and comer of Sedrick Ellis on the inside. Despite injuries throughout the Saints defense in 2008, the Saints run defense wasn't as bad as a lot of people thought. While the focus of a defense is stopping the run, and controlling time of possession, the Saints 17th ranked defense has a major chance to improve on that this year.

The Saints secondary was without a doubt the biggest address of their free agency needs this off-season, and it seems like they've done all that they could to address that. With their top pick in the 2009 draft, New Orleans drafted the big, physical, ball-hawk corner/safety out of Ohio State University. Some scouts had him as a safety because of his slow 40 times, while others said his game speed is just as good as OSU alum Nate Clements, who has a very similar style of play to Jenkins. Regardless of what spot Malcom ends up, he should be at least battling in training camp for a starting position.

With the addition of the high priced corner Jabari Greer, one can only expect his is automatically listed as their number one corner, based on his contract and what he has done in the past. As listed earlier, Malcom Jenkins is going to get onto the field in some way or form as a rookie, but the number two Corner battle right now, is between Tracy Porter (a second rounder last year) who displayed some real cover skills and instincts for the game before a dislocated wrist ended his season. He'll have his hands full not only recovering from any injury and getting back into game speed, but also fighting off the former Patriots starter Randall Gay who has very significant game experience, and solid overall skills.

Another key addition is new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who brings an infectious swagger and a very aggressive scheme. He has earned a reputation after having a history of top 10 defenses in Tennessee, Buffalo and and Washington.

Finally, the biggest key of their defense could be the addition of Darren Sharper. Sharper has been a stud at safety for his entire career, and just has a knack for being around the ball and doing something with the ball once he gets it into his hands. Saints fans have many reasons for positive thinking this season, as their defense has the talent to improve drastically from the 23'rd ranked spot and get them back into the playoffs.
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