How is Kevin O’Dea doing, and does he deserve Greg McMahon’s job in 2017?

If you’re sad about the Saints being 5-8, you should be. Special teams is primarily responsible, in my eyes, for this team not being 7-6 and in the playoff mix. Granted Brees and the offense look awful right now and I’d have zero confidence in them making any kind of run at this point, even if they were 7-6. Still, the name of the game is playing meaningful games in December and the Saints aren’t doing that because of numerous and continual special teams blunders. That’s not solely responsible for the disappointing season, of course, but it’s played huge parts in losses in a number of close one possession games. No need to re-hash the memories of blocked kicks, poor coverage, poor returns etc… you know it all by heart. It got so bad that the Saints stopped one step short of firing their special teams coach, Greg McMahon, by hiring Kevin O’Dea to “assist” him three weeks ago. McMahon was basically “interviewing for his own job” from that point forward:

This hire felt similar to the Dennis Allen pick up that had Rob Ryan looking over his shoulder until the moment he was fired and the reins were handed to his heir apparent. And like Ryan, McMahon has had his share of Sean Payton scolds on the sideline.

While all Saints special teams not involving Thomas Morstead has been horrendous this year, blocked kicks has been the most significant issue. O’Dea specializes in kicking efficiency, so his addition was primarily to help improve this department. How has he done so far?

Wil Lutz is currently 13 for 13 on extra points and field goals since O’Dea was hired. Only five of those kicks were field goals, and the longest was only 42. But still, extra points are 33 yards long now, which equates to a relatively safe but not automatic field goal. More importantly, I have noticed a lift and “get up” on Lutz’s kicks that seem like a much improved trajectory less likely to get blocked. Those are terrific signs.

On kickoffs, it’s worth noting Lutz has averaged 63.4 per kick in the last three weeks since O’Dea came on board. His season average is 61.8, so the last three weeks have improved considerably. Despite this, Lutz has had 64% of his kicks returned, whereas 45% of his kickoffs have been returned this season. Part of that may be because the word is out the Saints can’t cover kicks, so teams are coached to take out deeper kicks. The sample size is small, but so far the average return yards over the last three games is the exact same. So, kicks are deeper and being returned more, since O’Dea came, but they are getting the same average on returns. That seems to suggest slight improvement.

On kick returns, the Saints average 16.2 per return for the season. In the last three weeks, they’ve averaged 15.75. So that’s pretty much the same, but slightly worse, and still completely horrible.

On punt returns, the Saints average a totally respectable 10.0 per return for the season. In the last three weeks, they’ve averaged 9.5. So that’s pretty much the same, slight worse too.

So far, I’d say O’Dea has done an admirable job in the area he’s expected to have an impact. Kicking. We haven’t seen much improvement in returns or coverage, in fact some of that is slightly down. Again, the sample size is small, but at least Lutz isn’t having catastrophic events. These last three weeks will dictate a lot. I’m not ready to say O’Dea deserves this job, but if Lutz remains perfect three more weeks I don’t see how you keep McMahon as the lead special teams guy over O’Dea.