There was a lot of praise to go around after the Saints season opening win against the Panthers. A 47-10 result over a divisional opponent will do that. Perhaps the most impressive and encouraging part of the win was the Saints rush offense, which went for 180 yards and nearly five yards per carry. A season ago, New Orleans was 27th in rush offense. New offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and a retooled offensive line aced their first test.
Former Saints lineman James Hurst joined Matt Moscona on “After Further Review” this week and discussed what he saw from his former unit and the team as a whole. You can watch the full video at the bottom of this post.
On the biggest difference between Sunday and last year:
Yeah, the biggest difference is the new scheme is much more multiple looks. So the defense is having to respond to shifts and motions before the ball snaps. Most of the time, which is very difficult. It changes the defensive players rules run and pass. So they’re having to go through a lot of. Free snap adjustments and that’s before the before the ball ever gets snapped, and then when the ball snaps, they’re having. To deal with a lot of. And look, but having to defend blockers coming from all different angles, all different body types, which, even though you might look at a fullback versus a defensive alignment as a mismatch, it’s a different way to handle the block. So it’s not easy. It makes their life more difficult. And I think most importantly, what this new scheme does, it makes the defensive players think. And I think if you ask any. Defensive coach or defensive player. They want the defense to play fast and free. They do not want them thinking and over analyzing each and every play.
On Kubiak’s offense fitting this line’s skillset:
I think so. I think there’s definitely some truth in that. I’ve talked to a few of the guys there currently and that is the feeling in the offensive line room, the tight end room. I think with some of the running backs, the reality is, Drew Brees is a generational quarterback and I was able to play with him for one season, which was really great, but my experience, it didn’t matter what play you called in the huddle with Drew because he was going to go to the line he was going to know exactly what defense we’re about to face, and he was going to make any available adjustment on any given play to put us in the best possible situation to win that play. And you know, I’m not in any way slighting Derek in this way, but Drew was unbelievably talented and gifted, and the time he spent in the film room studying those defenses. And I think what Kubiak system is doing is he’s taking a little bit of that load off of the offensive players and allowing them to go out with the defensive player and know that is going to put them in a great position to succeed. The schemes that they’re creating during the week are really going to set the guys up and they’re not going to have as many one-on-one difficult type of blocks, difficult routes. So there’s always going to be an answer and everyone on the offense knows that answer each and every play.
On Trevor Penning’s Day:
I think in the best thing is you didn’t notice him, which is what you wanted. I noticed that. You know, whether it was the design or not, they lined up Clowney across with him the whole day. And Clowney is a great player. He’s a very balanced player running. You’re not going to get plays off from him. There’s no easy play against him, so I think that was a good test for Trevor and I think it’s something that he can gain confidence from moving forward. Hopefully that confidence is going to stick around and come up against these two defense events this coming week, but I think it was a great start. It’s what you wanted to see. I think my biggest concern with Trevor is the last time he was playing as a starter in games, he didn’t fare so well and so you want to see that confidence come back and you do your best in practice and really work to get that confidence to practice that confidence and then take that over for the game. But the reality is, it’s got to be on Sunday and it’s got to be in the regular season when every single play matters, and so I’m glad to see him get some good game film under his belt and I hope he can build on it.
On Taliese Fuaga’s debut:
Fuaga was great too. He does not look like a rookie. And I know it’s a small sample size, but he’s getting rave reviews from some of the fellow lineman. We’re not going to crown him yet, but man, he looks really great. I think it would be interesting to see him versus a more talented player. He was thrown against a handful of different guys over there, which means to me they’re trying to figure out who they want to be the starter over there. But it was a great start. He made a few impact blocks in the first and second level to to spring the run and I’m really excited about him. You know, anytime you get a great left tackle that can come in there and lock it down, you know it’s a real game changer type of position.
