re: Roman Harper returning to the Saints

Like I said in another thread, I like it because this team needs leadership. It's extremely young. I underestimated the value Harper, Jenkins, Vilma and Smith had in the lockerroom, which led to the rise of Junior and the arse clown committee.

Harper will be a good mentor for Vaccaro, can play in some packages and here's where it gets interesting...

Been a lot of talk recently about playing three Safeties. Sounds like we're going back to the 2013 D that worked really well. Harper is like another coach on the field and can help Allen with the install.

What's messed up about this entire situation is that it's becoming abundantly clear that Payton/Loomis completely botched the D the last two years. Rob Ryan is not without fault, but he was truthful in the statements about the change to the Seattle D.

Payton needs to just butt the hell out of the D. The only time we've ever had a good D in his time, is when he let Williams/Ryan do their own thing.

It's evident 2013 D is the scheme. Kikaha takes on the Galette role. Byrd = Jenkins, Vaccaro going back to his hybrid role, Bell will play the Rafael Bush role and Harris/Harper will do what Harper did that year.

Laurinitis takes over for Lofton and Ellerbe for Hawthorne and Anthony for Harylson.

They are placing a premium on smart players who know their assignment. This D was really good but didn't create many turnovers. It also looked weak after Jabari went down.

But with a healthy Lewis and Breaux and somebody from Williams and Swann stepping up, we should be pretty damn solid.

Moscona was asked what he thought of the signing:

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I think we won't see much of Jairus Byrd this year

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On "paper" this D is close to the 2013 version.

CB: Greer - Breaux - Maybe slight advantage to Breaux and he's definitely the ascending player.
CB:Lewis - Lewis - 2013 Lewis was obviously great. This is probably the biggest ? right now.
NB:Corey White - Swann/PJ Williams - We SHOULD be better here than 2013
S Hybrid: Vaccaro to Vaccaro - Hopefully he's improved since his rookie year.
FS: Jenkins - Byrd - Honestly, in this D they're about the same. Decent players but not playmakers for whatever reason.
SS: Bush - Bell - Bush was really good in 2013. I think we lose physicality but gain play making.
MLB: Lofton - Laurintis - Lofton sucked so can't see how we'd be much worse. I would think even after a few bad years, JL is better in coverage.
WLB: Hawthorne to Ellerbe/Robertson - Clear upgrade in every way.
SLB: Harylson to Anthony - Major upgrade in athleticism.
DE: Jordan to Jordan - Wash
DE: Hicks to Richardson/Onyemata - Hicks was really good in 2013 so this is a question mark.
Jack DE: Galette to Kikaha - The potential is there for Kikaha. If nothing else, he won't be an a-hole.
DT - Bunkley/Jenkins to Jenkins, Davison, Fairley, Rankins...Huge upgrade in interior pass rushing.

On paper if Kikaha can = Galette production and Lewis is healthy/effective, this D is equally if not more talented than a Top 5 2013 D.

May not even make the final 53.

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the Saints have been drastically missing leadership since Harper, Jenkins, Sproles, etc. etc. were let go.

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Add Smith and Vilma and subtract Sproles and you have it right.

Sproles was not a leadership figure.

I hope he's going to coach. I can't get with the coverage liability he brings.

quote:

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On paper if Kikaha can = Galette production and Lewis is healthy/effective, this D is equally if not more talented than a Top 5 2013 D

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They won't finish anywhere near top 5, though.

Like go back to a scheme that finished in the top 5?

Bobby & Deke going to love this pickup as they pretty much talked to him weekly on the radio when he was in Carolina