By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints are officially in their evaluation period, and that’s good news for a young, versatile defender like undrafted free agent Isaiah Stalbird.
When teams get eliminated from playoff contention in the NFL, a period of evaluation typically begins for the young players on the roster. It provides an opportunity for those players to get on the field, compete and show that they could be a part of their team’s future. If nothing else, it provides them a chance to put some time on tape for other teams that might look to land them over the offseason.
Stalbird is among the players that will get that opportunity on Sunday as the Saints (5-10) host the Las Vegas Raiders (3-12).
The position-designated linebacker will mostly hold a special teams role during the game, but what he’s been doing in practice has stood out to the Saints’ staff and has kept him around on the practice squad even though all three of his standard gameday elevations have been used.
Since interim head coach Darren Rizzi took the lead in Week 10, Stalbird has been working with the safeties, moving out of the linebacker room.
LouisianaSports.Net spoke one-on-one with Stalbird about his transition to safety and how he’s been approaching the season thus far.
“I knew I was kind of in position to do whatever it takes,” Stalbird said. “Be whatever they want me to be. Anything. I believe in my ability to play and as far as a league-level, I’m probably considered an undersized linebacker. But I feel like I have the traits to be able to play with physicality and speed. I can make up for some things I maybe don’t have that other guys have.”
That speed and physicality has certainly caught the attention of the Saints’ coaching staff. Rizzi was particularly complimentary of his growth.
“We started him off at linebacker,” he said. “He was productive and had a really good camp. But now that he’s been playing on the practice squad for us and playing in practice, you can see the movement skills and you’re like, ‘Wait a minute, this guy might be able to do multiple things.’ And so, we have him in the (defensive backs) room, with the safeties at the moment. Because we feel like if and when he comes back and he’s in the game, that’s where he could help us.”
Stalbird may not immediately get the chance to jump in on defense right away against the Raiders. But if he does, it looks like his snaps would come at safety rather than linebacker, despite his position designation. And that’s nothing new for the South Dakota State alum, who played a versatile role in college as well.
“It’s honestly not too bad a transition,” Stalbird said. “I feel like the way we run some of our coverages here is similar to what I did in college as a safety. It’s definitely just a switch up technique-wise.”
Each team gets to elevate a player from the practice squad up to three times in a single season. For Stalbird, his three elevations were used up within the first five weeks of the season. Despite that, New Orleans did not move on and instead kept him with the team. That is a strong sign of the development potential they believe they have in the young player. And it’s something that is not at all lost on Stalbird as he looks back at his rookie season.
“I’m still blessed to be here,” he said. “Because they could have been like, ‘Hey, we want to bring in somebody.’ And I could have got cut and it could have been the end of the story. Regardless of me having three games or not. I’m also blessed in that aspect as well.”
This week, Stalbird didn’t need an elevation from the practice squad. On Saturday, he was instead signed to the active roster. Because of that, he’ll have another chance to show what he can do to the coaching staff. With linebacker Anfernee Orji inactive, there’s a chance that Stalbird sees a heavy lift of special teams action, a role in which he thrives.
Special teams is what put the hybrid defender on the Saints’ map during the draft process. Now, he’ll get to make the most of every moment on Sunday. An opportunity he earned through hard work, dedication and a continuous focus on what he can do to help the team.
For Stalbird, the next chapter of his stories begins against the Raiders.
