We know Rob Ryan loves his safeties. I also know that I’ve been frustrated and disgusted with the Saints’ safety tandem for quite some time now. Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote this piece about the state of the safeties. I remember being THRILLED by the Vaccaro draft pick even though so many other Saints fans were blasting it because it meant the Saints acquired talent to replace Roman Harper. And why stop there? Sure enough, they let Malcolm Jenkins walk too. It was nice to confirm, for once, that what I think I saw was correct and that the Saints agreed with me. Just a reminder, in 2012, Pro Football Focus ranked Roman Harper as 87th and Malcolm Jenkins as 88th out of 88 qualifying safeties. Yes, you read that correctly. So much of why Steve Spagnuolo’s defense was the worst in NFL history in terms of yards allowed was just horrific back end and over the top coverage. While both players were still on the roster with the Rob Ryan transformation last year, neither played that well.
The Jenkins/Harper tandem allowed Marshawn Lynch to send the team packing for the offseason in 2010. They allowed Vernon Davis to do the same in 2011, which probably cost the team a Super Bowl title. They followed that up with an entire season of epic failure in 2012. Enough was enough.
Fast forward to now, the safeties are Jairus Byrd, Vaccaro, Marcus Ball and maybe Rafael Bush. Champ Bailey can possibly play some safety, too. Bush’s status is in limbo till Tuesday when he’ll either be a Falcon or a Saint definitively for 2014. Isa Abdul-Quddus who had been in the mix was sent walking, too. In just a year the safety position went from Achilles’ heel guarding the front of a black hole to one of the team’s biggest strengths. That will be even more the case if Bush is retained. If he leaves, depth is sorely needed. But the transformation is close to complete and it’s a big reason why the Saints are back in the discussion as contenders. In a passing league if you can’t compete against the throw downfield you have no hope, even with a hall of fame quarterback in his prime.
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