Kellen Moore emphasizes tempo, motion as key offensive elements

By Ross Jackson

The New Orleans Saints introduced new head coach Kellen Moore on Thursday and throughout his introductory press conference, the offensive play caller gave some glimpses into what his team and offense will look like in New Orleans.

Along with mentioning that he wants the team to be “fast, smart and physical,” a common desire of NFL head coaches, he also got into some specifics on two offensive elements he will look to implement in 2025: tempo and motion.

“I think the biggest thing from an offensive perspective is you got to stress the defense,” Moore said. “Whether it be tempo, which we’ll use a lot of. We like to use a lot of tempo every place that I’ve been. We’ll use shifts and motions when we huddle, but we want to stress the defense.”

Looking at Moore’s offense with the Philadelphia Eagles, it is easy to pick out the emphasis he placed on both of those modern offensive components.

Use of Motion

Much like the Saints, 2024 saw a notable increase of motion for the Eagles. When it comes to overall motion usage, which includes both pre-snap motion and motion at the snap, Moore’s arrival in Philadelphia brought a noticeable change.

Per Next Gen Stats, the Eagles had the lowest motion usage rate in 2023 in the NFL at just 35.1%. In his first game as the offensive coordinator, that number skyrocketed to 65.8%. While the rate may not have remained that high for the entirety of the 17-game season, motion played a huge role all season long. 

When it comes to motion at the snap, meaning motion that is happening as the ball is being snapped to the quarterback, the Eagles went from a usage rate of just over 10%, which was the lowest in the league in 2023, and leapt to right around the league’s average at 23% in 2024, per ESPN sports analytics writer Seth Walder. A very similar leap happened in New Orleans with motion at the snap, as well. 

Using motion is great, but knowing when and how to deploy it to your roster’s benefit is a different story. Motion was often used by Philadelphia in the Super Bowl, which assisted in pre-snap diagnosis and more. Expect Moore to continue that trend with the Saints. New Orleans may not rank near the top of the league in its usage like the Miami Dolphins do year-in and year-out, but effectiveness should be more telling than rate.

Use of Tempo

The game is fun when it moves quickly and the Eagles certainly moved quickly in 2024. 

Philadelphia was No. 6 in the NFL in plays run per drive with 6.32. Compare that to New Orleans who ranked No. 21 across the league with 5.87. Not only did the Eagles run more plays per drive, they were able to run more plays and control the clock because of their rushing attack. But their usage of no huddle was also a significant cause. Moore’s offense went no huddle on 24.9% of snaps, good for No. 3 in the league. Meanwhile, the Saints ranked a respectable No. 15 among all teams going no huddle just 9.8% of the time.

Much like with motion, tempo’s effectiveness will always be more important than its usage rate. But for a team that won the Super Bowl in 2024, it’s easy to say that the effectiveness in the gameplan and approach were all there. Many reduce motion and tempo to only having an impact on the passing game, but both have a place in the run game, as well.

During Super Bowl LIX, the Eagles picked up a cheeky four yards on a no-huddle play to an odd formation (polecat). The play was a first and ten run as a part of six-consecutive no-huddle playcalls. A four-yard gain might not seem like much on paper, but the play allowed the team to stay on schedule and keep the Kansas City Chiefs offense on its heels. 

While Moore won’t have to rely on strange or challenging formations, his utilization of motion and tempo over the years have been proven to reach his desired outcome of stressing defenses. New Orleans found some success in that area early on in the 2024 season, but were not able to maintain it. Moore will bring with him a new approach that the Saints hope will provide much more long-term success.