One of the more disappointing and confusing aspects of the New Orleans Saints defense is Brandon Staley’s usage of Jonas Sanker, who took over for Alontae Taylor this offseason. The difference in prototype was the reason for intrigue and excitement, however, instead of intensifying the usage of the STAR as a pass rusher, it’s been decreased dramatically. Hopefully this is something the Saints notice and corrected during the bye week.
This was one move that sounded good on paper. Sanker has been solid in coverage, not lockdown but not a liability either. That’s the part of the game where we figured there would be a dip, but we also assumed Sanker would make up for it in aggressiveness.
We’ve seen the flashes with how Sanker can come downhill in the run game but not so much in the pass game. Being boiled down to a coverage player in the slot is one of the reasons we toyed with the idea of moving him back to safety, but that won’t happen unless Justin Reid is traded.
Saints need to start blitzing Jonas Sanker more
Sanker’s lack of pass rusher production comes down to coaching, not player, because the opportunities simply aren’t being presented. It gets more confusing when comparing how much Sanker is blitzed in comparison to Taylor just last year.
Taylor blitzed on pass snaps 44 times last year compared to Sanker’s 8 pass rush snaps through 7 games. That’s a rate 7.9% blitz rate, which accounts for number of snaps instead of games, to Sanker’s 3.6%. On a per game basis, Staley is asking Sanker to blitz about once a game while asking Taylor to do it nearly 3 times per game. (All stats per Next Gen Stats)
Using the STAR as a pass rusher was a part of the defense last year, and it begs the question of what changed philosophically.
Same system, different players, and prototypes, and a drastically different usage. As a natural safety instead of corner, conventional wisdom leans towards using the former more aggressively at STAR. Safeties aren’t typically put into the slot for their coverage abilities.
Stereotyping the positions aside, Sanker has the traits and production to be used more in this role. It’s impossible to say he’s better Taylor because of an extremely limited sample size. However, Sanker’s get off time, pressure rate, quick pressure rate and time to pressure are all better than Taylor’s were last season. Take those numbers with a grain of salt because we’re comparing 8 pass rush snaps to 44.
It’s not enough to rank Sanker as a pass rusher, but it’s enough to say we need to see more of it, especially since it falls in line with his play style and Staley’s history.
An uptick in usage would help maximize Sanker and help a team that doesn’t do a great job getting pressure on the quarterback. It’s a change that feels beneficial for all parties, but time will tell if that was something Staley noted during his self scouting during the bye week.
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