Scott Mecum-Wikimedia Commons
Since joining the league, Rob Ryan has had multiple coaching jobs but only as a Defensive Coordinator. Ryan has worked for the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, and New Orleans Saints. Over his coaching career he hasn’t had a great reputation as far as the success of his defenses go. Before coming to the Saints, Ryan has only had one defense land in the top-10 for total defense, and one other come in the top 15. In his first year the Saints, their defense came in at 4th overall. He has coordinated both 4-3 and 3-4 defensive schemes, and has had mixed results at both. The Saints run a 3-4 defense, and it’s paid off so far. It makes one wonder if it was a one hit wonder, or if Ryan has finally found the personnel to run his defense correctly?
Ryan has had top players on his defenses in the past, such as Warren Sapp, Nnamdi Asomugha, and Demarcus Ware but they always came up short. The Saints have a well-balanced roster and it showed in 2013 on the stat sheet. The Saints were 4th in Total Defense, 2nd in Pass Defense but fell short in the passing game and came in at 19th. The Saints have a dominant front-seven with Pro Bowl Defensive End Cameron Jordan. The rushing defense looks to follow 2013 with a strong season. The Middle Linebackers look solid with David Hawthorne and Curtis Lofton, but it wouldn’t have hurt to try to add a better piece to their linebacker corps. One area that the defense did improve in was the Secondary. The Saints signed Keenan Lewis last season and he had an immediate impact. This year they signed Champ Bailey to play the opposite corner, and even though he’s older he could prove worthy. They made a serious upgrade at the Safety position when they signed top Free-Agent Jairus Byrd. The duo of Vaccaro and Byrd could be one of the top-5 in the league. With the upgraded secondary, the passing defense could easily land in the top 10.
With the success the Saints had in their first year with Ryan, it seems they could easily do it again the second time. The defense is young and it looks like they could be playing together for awhile. As long as Ryan keeps his attacking 3-4 defensive scheme, it looks like he may have finally found the right team to bring him success in his career.
Brandon Vallar is a Writer for Couch Rider Report. Follow us on Facebook or twitter.