Jabari Greer Out for The Season

As feared, New Orleans Saints starting cornerback Jabari Greer is out for the season with a torn ACL. This is a crippling blow to a resurgent Saints defense that is #3 in the NFL against the pass and #4 in total defense. Greer had an interception and 12 passes defensed this season, including one on a third down on the play in which he suffered the injury.

The NFL is a next man up league and second year cornerback Corey White will likely be Greer’s replacement. White is an emerging player who has demonstrated that he can be serviceable backup. While Greer does not put up gaudy defensive stats, he has been a consistent, Johnny-on-the-Spot pass defender with a knack for baiting QBs into thinking a receiver is open then swatting a pass away at the last moment.

The X factor in the Saints’ superb, 8-2, start has been the night-and-day improvement of the defense. How Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan adjusts will determine how well the Saints’ secondary can continue to excel. Tough news for the Who Dat Nation….

Greer goes up to deflect a pass but tears his ACL as he comes down.

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GRONK SMASH

Multiple sports media outlets have reported that New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who has not played since last season due to an arm injury and a back injury, is due to return to the Patriots’ lineup this Sunday. The Patriots host the unbeaten New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

This could not come at a better time for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, whose receiving weapons seem to be whittled down further every week. Gronk is the real deal and he is a matchup nightmare for defensive backs and linebackers. This is the first time in 2013 that Brady will have an elite target with which his opponents will need to contend.

NO SLAM DUNK

The Saints have had remarkable success under first year defensive coordinator Rob Ryan against the pass this season and have forced a considerable number of timely turnovers. They have had to contain elite pass catchers like Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzales of the Atlanta Falcons, Vincent Jackson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, Mike Wallace of the Miami Dolphins, and Brandon Marshall of the Chicago Bears. 

Gronkowski, much like the Saints own star tight end Jimmy Graham, is a more unique and potentially troublesome threat. Gronk is 6’6” and 265 pounds – the height of an NBA forward with the mass and strength of an NFL linebacker and above average speed and vertical jumping ability for his tight end position. 

One player is not going to solve the myriad offensive issues the Patriots have. But Brady has proven to be a magician when he simply has suitable working parts with which to work. Now he has a premium cog back in his machine. The Saints are already underdogs in this matchup (opened at +3), and will have to brew a never before used formula in the lab to contain the Pats offense with their Pro Bowl tight end back in the lineup.

Rob Gronkowski after reaching paydirt: SMASH! SMASH!! SMASH!!!

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To advertise with The Daily Hat Trick, or to submit a guest column, please contact the editor at eric@thedailyhattrick.info.

The Daily Hat Trick is sponsored by Sports N Stuff. For great deals on jerseys, shirts, cologne, and other guy stuff, visit http://www.sportsnstuff.biz/.

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Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Run 3-4?

Preseason is so close, I can smell it. I thought I would give my fellow Who Dats another does of local flavor. The New Orleans Saints, under new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, will be transitioning from a traditional 4-3 scheme, to a 3-4. The 3-4 capitalizes on intensive linebacker blitzing and tackling. Grown up Saints fans may recall that the Saints employed a 3-4 defense under former Head Coach Jim Mora, Sr. during the "Dome Patrol" years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the golden age of Saints football prior to the arrival of current Head Coach Sean Payton.

Whether or not Ryan can duplicate the success enjoyed with the Dome Patrol - Hall of Fame linebacker Rickey Jackson, perennial Pro Bowler Pat Swilling, former Pro Bowler Vaughn Johnson, and the late Pro Bowler and former NFL assistant coach Sam Mills - remains to be seen.

Special thanks to Dan Delaney of Saints Stuff for producing this piece. The original piece can be found at saintsstuff.com.

3-4 Scheme is Coming Along.

So far the biggest change is Will Smith moving from Defensive End to Outside Linebacker.

3-4 Defense's new outside linebacker.

 This is what SI.com has to say; 

The New Orleans Saints highlighted last week one of the reasons teams often are hesitant to undertake scheme shifts on defense. Saints GM Mickey Loomis said, according to Larry Holder of NOLA.com, that Will Smith will open camp competing for an outside linebacker spot in the team’s new 3-4 defense.

That’s 6-foot-3, 280-pound Will Smith, a player who has spent his entire nine-year NFL career playing as a defensive end in New Orleans’ former 4-3 look. Despite 67.5 career sacks, Smith’s roster spot suddenly looks unsafe, despite him taking a massive pay cut this offseason (from $9 million in 2013 to $3 million) in an effort to stick around.

This is one of the challenges when a coaching staff opts for a new attack — the players on the roster don’t always fit.

Keep reading on SI.com

Akiem Hicks will be the starting defensive end. Here is what nbcsports.com has to say;

3-4 Defense has Akiem Hicks as defensive end.

 

With new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan taking control of the New Orleans Saints defense, there were bound to be some changes to scheme and personnel as the Saints attempt to overhaul a defense that ranked dead last in the league last season.
One of those moves will be shifting a player to a new spot on the defensive line.

Keep reading on nbcsports.com

Cam  Jordan is moving back to the position he thrived in back in college. Here is what Nola.com has to say;

The Saints’ Cam Jordan may be one of a select few defenders from 2012 who can say he improved last season. Now Jordan is moving back to a 3-4 defense, a scheme he played in college at California.

Keep reading on Nola.com

3-4 should facilitate improved play from Cam Jordan.

The last change has more to do with Rob Ryan then the scheme itself. Here is what Sports Illustrated had to say;

The 3-4 captain.

Rob Ryan figures his firing in Dallas will only help him relate to a Saints defense humbled by a historically bad season.
“I don’t like getting fired,” Ryan said Thursday during his first meeting with reporters since Sean Payton hired him in February to revamp New Orleans’ last-ranked defense. “I know I got my feelings hurt and so did our players. We’re looking to do something about it.”
The Saints gave up 7,042 yards in 2012, the most ever in a single season in the NFL. Payton has said that performance forced him to make a change at defensive coordinator, even though he felt bad letting Steve Spagnuolo go after only one highly unusual season.
Spagnuolo never got to coach with Payton, who was suspended all of last season in connection with the NFL’s bounty probe. Yet shortly after Payton was reinstated, the relatively calm, analytical Spagnuolo, who favored a read-and-react 4-3 defense, was replaced by Ryan, who runs a pressure-heavy 3-4 scheme (three down linemen, four linebackers).
Ryan also has been known to exhibit a brash demeanor more akin to that of Gregg Williams, the Saints’ defensive coordinator from 2009 to 2011

Keep reading at sportsillustrated.com

What this all says to me is we will go from having a dead last defense to a top 10 defense. When you combine that with our offense that easily make us Superbowl contenders.

Retweet of the Day - February 6, 2013

The New Orleans Saints are expected to announce that they will hire Rob Ryan as their new defensive coordinator. Ryan, formerly the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys and the twin brother of New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan, is known for his girth and slovenly appearance as much as his coaching pedigree. The inhabitants of the Twitterverse did not lose sight of that.

Today retweet is by Cody (‏@iCodyNola)

"What will come first..Rob Ryan's Defense giving up 400 pts or him hitting 400 lbs eating New Orleans food.."

How's about the 400 pounds of vomit left by women at the beach when Rob takes his shirt off? 

Image from http://sportsjunk.sportsblognet.com

Retweet of the Day - January 10, 2013

The Dallas Cowboys fired unfashionably presented Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan on Tuesday. Ryan is known for his bloodline, brother of New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan and son of retired NFL coach and former defensive trailblazer Buddy Ryan. He's also known for his slovenly appearance and the fact that none of his defenses have ever reached the playoffs.

Today's retweet touches upon one of those attributes. By Blaise Miller @BlaiseInKC

"@jimrome "We didn't exactly run Rob Ryan. It was more like a roll out the door." - The Cowboys"

No need to reinvent the wheel.

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