SetfreexX

Horn spent A LOT of the Saints game as the Nickel defender, Henderson has tape there as well from JAX. Donte' lined up inside, and outside at LSU, and even played off the LOS as a safety at times. I'm not to worried about scheme fits, these guys are all versatile, and TOP tier athletes at the position.

Long story short: Horn under contract through 2026 *including* 5th year option Henderson's guaranteed money is being paid by JAX, and is under contract through 2024, and has a 5th year option available for 2025 We can pay Jackson and so long as the deal / guaranteed money wraps by the 2024 - 2025 season we are fine. That is how you are able to keep all three for the next several seasons. Also Donte' is likely viewed as a #2 or #3 by ''most'' teams, will he get paid sure, but it won't be top tier money, at 5'10'' and 180 lbs his matchups are by niche, he can't guard a Mike Evans, or DK Metcalf, that's what guys the size of Horn and Henderson are for.

Another team would have to be willing to part with GOOD / QUALITY OL. Given the shortage across the league this is less likely to happen which is why BELOW AVERAGE TO AVERGE OL tend to get overpaid in free agency. He touched on this in a presser right around the end of camp / pre-season if memory serves.

You forgot Donte' as well.

Just something to sink your teeth into as we all get acclimated to the newest addition.

We have 5 years of Horn (assuming we pick up the 5th yr), and we have 3 years of Henderson, now peep this, we only have to pay his base salary for 22, 23, and 24, in 25 he's eligible for a 5th year option. JAX is accountable for his guaranteed salary until that 5th year, so we have the money to extend Jackson, and have it end around this time and decide who to keep then.

It's kinda crazy right, imagine getting in rhythm versus the random spot duty... I'm still frustrated by his hands out the backfield as he's had drops since the pre-season, but I believe he's a good runner of the rock. Him and Royce should be interesting as Royce learns the PB.

The poo people say here is nuts. There is NO way Burns doesn't break the bank if he continues to perform ala TJ in PIT. Between, a 5th year option, the FT, and the eventual extension he will be here.

He's an OLB, on the EDGE of the defense, and he's typically in a 2pt stance. Calling him a DE is a stretch even if you see some hand in the dirt alignments from him.

This is what I was going to post.

I agree with you, but I'm not ready to say ''contenders'' just yet, the Dallas game should be a good measuring stick. Saints put up TD's on short fields versus GB but not yards. I will say I was surprised to see how well we got after Jameis, but being able to play man and pressure is a far cry from the soft zone, and 7 to 10 yard cushions we lived in for a decade under Rivera.

With no tape on him, imagine if we could have actually game-planned a bit and if the offense hadn't stalled out to make it a closer game than what it was.

Said team would have to be WILLING to give up said kicker. You're not gonna trade for a Gano, Butker, or a Tucker. Prior and even current management screwed the pooch at this position. If memory serves, Gano was cut in favor of Slye under Rhule / Marty as a cap casualty so there may not have been a choice. Rivera / Marty lost Butker off the PS, they should have assigned a ghost injury and set him on the IR (see Fletcher).

That's why you draft a Jaycee, and sign a Bouye to have alongside Jackson, with Chinn / Burris as the single high with the other in the box to help versus the run or blitzt off the edge. It was a thing of beauty to see us in press outside, and all the bodies mugging the LOS with a Safety ALSO coming off the EDGE. Wasn't none of that sit back poo, and give them the easy 3-5 yard dumps + YAC. I know you can't do that every snap, or versus every team, the point is we FINALLY have this as apart of the defensive arsenal, we can play coverage, and get AGGRESSIVE.

3 down in a 3 point stance is an Odd front. 4 down is an even front. 3 is an odd number. 4 is an even number. So yes, odd fronts.

This, I hate those dumb lazy assessments, Darnold >

It was an antiquated way of thinking for sure, the best teams have their core guys, but the teams with a core AND DEPTH always got he furthest. That's why I am happy to see the emphasis placed on talent at the 2nd and 3rd string positions. I wasn't happy with the Horn pick / Darnold trade. HOWEVER I'm not stupid either, I could see what they were attempting to do -- BUILD A FULL TEAM. See SF, and if the current QB isn't it, then we can always trade up IF we have a FULL TEAM in place. To this I can tip my hat as it is also a solid plan, and so far it's paying dividends.

There's nothing wrong with a 4-3 defense, the issue is it's HARDER to find fits for it based off the players colleges provide. Look back at 2013, we had dominant EDGE rush with Hardy and Johnson and a top defense. Johnson eventually got old / injured; and we never replaced Hardy as the young up and comer (Kony Ealy / Jared Allen). Part of the reason for the change was to have better need / draft fit since there are more talented 3-4 EDGE guys versus traditional 4-3 DEs.

He's young why wouldn't he, he obviously has aspirations, and the trend in the NFL is YOUNG offensive minded prospects. Is he ready...no I don't think so, I'd say 2-3 years including the current.

He coached a 3-4 for the San Diego Chargers and they were one of the best in the league at the time, then he went to CHI and coached a 4-3, also another year of high end production. The issue was in our 3-4 was injuries / age / and talent drop off showed it's ugly head. We had no young talent on defense, and it never saw the field, we also relied on a heavy zone scheme, that veterans picked apart because after Bradberry, and rookie Donte' we didn't have any corners, I think Mike Adams was still around at Safety as well and he was like 37 ish. Just an old slow team in key spots man.

Most times the first year of a transition is tough, it also hurts when you have a BAD defensive coordinator. If memory serves Eric Washington at the time. At the time the personnel was interesting: 3-4 DE - Short and McCoy, traditional 3t DT's seemed to make sense as 3-4 DE's (Size with relative athleticism for the position requirement) -- Short gets hurt EARLY DT - Dontari Poe -- fell off a cliff as he was a true 3-4 NT, and had played it for KC, backed up by Butler, who is more a 3t than a NT, but was 6'4'' / 325 OLB - Bruce Irvin / Mario Addison / Rookie Burns & Miller -- Burns had the wrist and was a ST's gunner and still managed 7.5 sacks, I think Mario was around 9, and Irvin around 7 ILB - Kuechly and Thompson, since the DL couldn't eat up space we saw Luke look human for the first time in our lives, and he eventually retired. _______________________________________ More than ANYTHING under Rivera we RELIED on veterans too much, and we got OLD, and fast, there were no succession plans in place, so once we were old and slow like we were in key spots on defense it showed.

Snow gives off Dick LeBeau vibes from the 2000's Steelers.

To add, Bouye is the nickel, his return won't impact Jackson, this was a point of emphasis in some of the coach press conferences. Now will we see him inside / outside sure, and it will be game-plan specific I'd imagine, just like we saw Jaycee in the slot vs NO.

Noticed this a lot in pre-season and across Weeks 1 & 2, I know we've all heard the 4-3 Under talk, but I've been seeing odd fronts regularly from the defense, and I LOVE IT! With buys like -- Burns / Haynes / Reddick / Luvu able to stand and move, drop, and rush it's been nice to see what we've been able to do when you pair that with -- Brown / Jones / Fox / Gross-Matos / Roy Nixon on the DL Below is our pre-season, starting defense versus PIT in game #3 Left to Right DL - Brown / Jones / Fox EDEGE / OLB - Burns / Reddick ILB - Thompson / Carter Jr Secondary - Horn / Jackson Safety - Chinn / Burris ___________________________________________________________________________ Below from the 2nd quarter versus NO, this actually looks to be a sub package for Nickel (3-3-5 alignment) another Odd front variant In this one looks to be from left to right... DL - Nixon / Jones / Fox EDGE / OLB - Reddick / Burns MLB - Shaq Secondary - Horn / Jackson / Melvin Safeties - Chinn / Burris _____________________________________________________________ It's nice to see the athleticism, and versatility we are starting to employ after years of the heavy zone, and static alignments under Rivera. Anyone else notice this, what are your thoughts?

For those that didn't notice this, Jaycee played several snaps in the nickel position, not sure if it was due to man assignment, or keep Melvin on the perimeter with Jackson in zone. Either way having Bouye back, allows us to feature our FULL compliment of secondary starters at the cornerback position. I fully expect the coverage to improve, and facing a back up QB, on what is likely to be a bad team overall is a good point to return. I want to keep seeing us beat the teams we should beat, if it's not a playoff QB on the teams we face, I feel like our roster overall is as good, or better than most.