All of the New Orleans Saints’ reported candidates for defensive coordinator have experience running a 3-4 base. That signals change is coming for the Saints whether it’s Brandon Staley, Daronte Jones, or Christian Parker on the headset.
The Saints have worked out of a 4-3 base for more than a decade, dating back to Dennis Allen’s takeover as defensive coordinator. And their personnel reflects that. They don’t have an oversized nose tackle who can line up as a 0-tech, but more concerningly is their lack of lightweights who can rush the quarterback off the edge.
It’ll take time to tweak personnel to a point where the Saints could comfortably field a true three-man front. We would see more snaps with Cameron Jordan and Bryan Bresee attacking the gap between a guard’s outside shoulder and a tackle’s inside shoulder, rather than lining up head-over-center or outside the tackle, respectively.
But won’t change is the fact the Saints, like almost every other NFL defense, would continue to field more defensive backs than linebackers. The most common personnel packages these days are nickel and dime defenses. That was the case on Staley’s 2020 L.A. Rams defense and each of his Chargers defenses. Run-first NFL offenses have had a resurgence but most teams are still pass-happy and defenses account for it by overwhelmingly working out of nickel packages.
We might be putting the cart before the horse here. The Saints haven’t hired a defensive coordinator yet, and the change from a 4-3 base to a 3-4 may not be as overt. But it’s something to be mindful of when looking to the future and moves the Saints could make in free agency or the 2025 NFL draft.