JACKSON: Brandon Staley’s defensive scheme brings fresh approach to Saints
02/21/2025
By Ross Jackson
Brandon Staley’s hiring as the New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator may face skepticism due to his tenure as the Chargers’ head coach, but his track record as a defensive specialist suggests he’s back in a role that plays to his strengths.
In turn, his defensive scheme should be one that also highlights the talents of the defensive personnel in New Orleans, though some changes will certainly be made over time.
Those personnel changes for now are simply hypothetical, but the impact of Staley’s scheme isn’t. In fact, it may be exactly what the Saints need in order to bring top-level defensive play back to the Big Easy.
It may take more than the 2025 season, but a shift to a 3-4 or odd-front defensive system could pay dividends for the Saints. The altered schematic approach reverses the typical four down linemen and three linebacker front and instead uses three down linemen and four linebackers, two inside, and two outside.
The inside linebackers are typically coverage and run focused while the outside backers are most often considered pass rushers that can flip between pass rusher and linebacker, depending on the situation and play call.
The dynamic use of the front requires athleticism and speed at the second level to contribute to both pressure and coverage, while size reigns supreme in the trenches.
An athletic focus for the pass rushers allows for more speed to better counteract the NFL’s present day offensive themes of the outside run and mobile quarterbacks. Investing in more of this style of play along the defense is something that will help to bring some much needed updates to the team’s defensive approach, which has struggled in recent years.
Specified roles for other players around the unit could also help to bolster performances and play into their strengths. Cornerback Alontae Taylor was off to a fast start in 2024 as the team’s featured slot corner. During his early run, before having to be moved to the perimeter, he was noted as one of the NFL’s most disruptive players. That, unfortunately, fell off as he adjusted to yet another new role.
If the Saints invest in another starter for the outside, Taylor becomes a prime candidate for the famed STAR role in Fangio-like defensive schemes. The position would allow Taylor to play a more versatile cornerback/safety role, opening up his game to recapture the disruption he brought before his position switch in 2024.
With a growing emphasis from NFL offenses to bunch wide receivers and pass-catchers at the line of scrimmage with the intent of creating confusion for the opposition, a defense like Staley’s is perfect for players that can retain and execute the rules.
Many coverages will start out in zone and then, based on the pattern recognition of defensive backs as they watch route-runner release from the line of scrimmage, things quickly turn to man coverage. This helps teams have a set of guidelines to follow against one of the league’s most challenging offensive passing concepts, especially for heavy press-man defenses like the Saints’ former system.
Finally, the inclusion of Cover-6, which includes a Cover-2 look on one half of the field and a Cover-4 look on the other, allows an extra deep defender help to cover a fourth of the field, typically to the boundary side (the side of the field closes to the sideline from the snap hash). The extra deep defender can rotate into a robber role, allowing them to crash down to support the run or drop into an underneath zone to help eliminate the crossing routes and deep overs that have plagued New Orleans’ defense for multiple seasons.
What the Staley hire represents is more than his head coaching tenure with the Chargers. It’s also more than just his successful season as the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive coordinator. Instead, this hire provides a breath of fresh air and entirely new direction on defense. Even if those changes are implemented over multiple years, it’s something the Saints have been in need of for some time.
