You’ve heard many New Orleans Saints defenders praise the potential benefits of facing the new Klint Kubiak offensive scheme, including veteran defensive tackle Khalen Saunders. The praise has been broad until now. But third-year defensive back Alontae Taylor can point specifically to a matchup with the Los Angeles Rams last season that is reminiscent of this system.
Sean McVay’s Rams and Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers have become the two feeder systems of the NFL playbook as other teams, including the Saints, play copycat. So some similarities are expected when they both move the ball in similar ways. Motion before and after the snap is critical in each system.
Taylor pointed to his struggles versus the Rams being connected to the misdirection and visual tricks presented by Klint Kubiak’s offense when speaking with local reporters on Friday.
“It kind of gives me a flashback to the Rams game, man. I had so many misreads, eyes were bad, all those things. Now I’m in practice, now I can practice it. Maybe I mess up here or there but this is where I’m making it better. And so those guys are doing all those motions, I have to put my eyes in the right place. I feel like I’ve done a really good job with better eyes here in camp. Just continue to grow in that area.”
He isn’t the only one who feels that way. Head coach Dennis Allen said Taylor had grown by “leaps and bounds” compared to where he was last summer. More experience and a full-time commitment to mastering the slot is paying off, even if he’s had to take his lumps.
Certainly, that was a learning experience for Taylor. Facing this offense on a daily basis will train the eyes. This style of offense has taken over the league, so the Saints will certainly face teams with the same principles — including a rematch with the Rams in Week 13.
“Their scheme is good, man. You really have to have perfect eyes every single play and if you don’t, there’s going to be big plays.” It’s a lesson he learned the hard way. Taylor was benched after giving up 6 catches for 90 yards and 4 first down conversions in that prime-time loss in L.A. He’s eager to get his lick back.
In many ways, Taylor took the general praise for the Saints’ offense and emphasized it by calling back to that game last year. He and the team were exploited in that Thursday night game. It gives fans a visual representation of how the new Saints offense can steady the defense. Maybe next time it’ll be their offense running amok.
