Tag: Bryan Bresee

Chase Young highlighted as one of the NFL’s biggest risers

Saints DE Chase Young made noticeable improvements in the second half of the season. PFF sees him as one of the year’s biggest risers:

Chase Young was the New Orleans Saints’ biggest free agency acquisition last offseason. Things began slow for Young but he began to validate some of the belief the Saints showed in him as the season went on.

This improvement was seen across the defensive line after transitioning from Todd Grantham to Brian Young as the defensive line coach. Young, Brian Bresee and Cameron Jordan saw the most noticeable improvements.

Pro Football Focus highlighted Young as one of the biggest risers in the second half of the season. How PFF divided the aligns with Darren Rizzi replacing Dennis Allen, Weeks 1 to 9 and Weeks 10 to 18.

In that time frame, Young had just half a sack more, but he began to get significantly more pressures. The defensive end had 33 pressures in the back stretch of the season, highlighted by his monster game versus the New York Giants. That was the seventh most in the league during the time span.

Young improved from a 56.6 player grade in the first nine games to a 73.3 grade in the second half of the season. The Saints have a decision to make on Young. PFF saw a step up from Young and the raw numbers support their observation.

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B/R calls Saints the worst job opening this offseason

There are six teams in need of a head coach this offseason. But Bleacher Report argues the New Orleans Saints are the worst landing spot:

There are six vacancies in the 2025 NFL offseason’s coaching carousel, and Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport argues the New Orleans Saints are the worst head coach opening of the bunch.

When looking at the Saints’ roster, Davenport sees “a veteran-laden roster, with defensive stalwarts like edge-rusher Cameron Jordan and linebacker Demario Davis nearing the end of the line.”

Derek Carr leads the charge at quarterback, and has a less than favorable contract. Spencer Rattler still has developmental potential, but the quarterback position doesn’t inspire ultimate confidence.

Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed represent the future building blocks. Alvin Kamara still has some left in the tank but is more of a piece for the near future than a player to build around for years to come.

Bryan Bresee, Taliese Fuaga and Erik McCoy give you a few young building blocks in the trenches. If Bresee can build on his 7.5 sacks, you’ll have a consistent pressure player on the interior.

Fuaga and McCoy need a few more pieces around them to build the offensive line back to their former glory.

Even with these pieces, the Saints aren’t working with a lot. That’s why Davenport feels the Saints will “have to play a shell game again just to remain mediocre.”

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Advanced stats highlight one of the Saints’ biggest defensive faults

Tackling has been one of the biggest issues for the Saints run defense. These advanced stats showcase another reason for the struggles.

The New Orleans Saints struggling run defense has been a constant topic of conversation. There was a point where it appeared to improve. Over the last two weeks, however, the issues have darted back to the forefront.

You can point towards total yardage to hammer the point home, but advanced statistics get to the true root of the issue.

The Saints are one of the worst teams in the NFL when it comes to getting to rushers in the backfield. They have the second lowest contact rate behind the line of scrimmage, just 35.3%.

Demario Davis has more total tackles, but he’ll likely fail to get 10 tackles for loss for the first time since 2014. That stat is a great indication of New Orleans’ failures against the run, but it starts with the front line.

The lack of push from the defensive line allows opposing runners to average 1.5 yards before contact. That’s the third-most in the league. Compound that with tackling struggles, and it’s a recipe for disaster.

Teams are succeeding prior to the contact point and after contact has been initiated. These are two separate issues that can hamper a run defense individually. The Saints have both, and that’s the opposite of a recipe for success.

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Sacking Jordan Love must be a major key for the Saints defense

Sacking Jordan Love is critical for the Saints, but the Packers QB has been one of the least-sacked quarterbacks since becoming a starter:

Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LeFleur praised Jordan Love for being, “one of the best I’ve ever been around at avoiding sacks and negative plays.” As the New Orleans Saints visit the Packers for Monday Night Football, the Saints must do what most have failed to do, take down Love consistently.

If New Orleans can get a few sacks on Love, it would help to take away the run game on that set of downs. Love and his band of wide receivers are extremely talented, but Josh Jacobs is the biggest threat to the Saints defense.

The Saints have the sixth-worst rushing defense in the NFL, and they allow the second-most yards per carry. If the Saints can bring down Love, the Packers could elect to pass to make up for lost yardage. The Saints must then capitalize on forcing Green Bay to be temporarily one-dimensional.

Bringing down the Packers quarterback is no easy task. LeFleur’s assertion on Love is backed up by numbers. In 12 games this season, Love has only been sacked 11 times. In his first year as a starter, he had the fifth-best sack to dropback percentage. He’s tough to bring down.

The Saints’ strides as a pass rush unit under Brian Young has been praised. Chase Young has 3.5 of his 5.5 sacks and Cameron Jordan recorded all three of his sacks since the change at defensive line coach. Bryan Bresee has seen an uptick in production, too. As they go against one of the most difficult quarterbacks to sack, those improvements will be put to the test.

New Orleans has recorded no fewer than two sacks in their last five games. They’ll need to do at least that on Monday to corral a dangerous offense. It’s easier said than done, but it may be the key for the Saints defense.

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Saints and Packers looking to repeat performances in this category

The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers don’t have much in common, but their defenses are both coming off high-sack performances:

The New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers are in two different places in many major categories. One’s headed to the playoffs, the other is headed to the couch. It’s safe to say they don’t share many similarities, but there is one thing that is similar coming into the game. Each team is coming off of a monster sack performance.

The Saints brought down the elusive Jayden Daniels on eight different occasions. Bryan Bresee, the Saints best pass rusher this year, surprisingly didn’t get in on the action. Chase Young and Cameron Jordan led the charge. Those two have come along recently

The Packers terrorized Geno Smith and Sam Howell last Sunday. Green Bay sacked the Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks seven times..

The Saints pass rush hasn’t been great this season, but that strong performance versus the Washington Commanders places them just outside of the top ten. Green Bay big game seats them just inside the ten highest sack totals in the NFL.

Each team is looking for a repeat performance from their productive pass rush, and that would go a long ways towards a win for whoever accomplishes the feat.

Do New Orleans Saints need more help on defensive interior or edge?

Do the New Orleans Saints need more help on the defensive interior or out on the edge? PFF debated what’s best for them in the 2025 draft:

The New Orleans Saints have a lot of needs to address in the 2025 NFL draft, and the defensive line might be chief among them if Spencer Rattler can make some plays at quarterback down the stretch.

Pro Football Focus analyst Bradley Locker completed an exercise where he pondered two popular draft selections for each team in the league. For the Saints, those two players were Texas A&M Aggies defensive end Nic Scourton and Michigan Wolverines defensive tackle Kenneth Grant.

“The Saints rank 20th in defensive EPA per play and have a boatload of free agents set to hit the open market along the defensive line. New Orleans will desperately need more from that unit next year, so it’s hard to go wrong with either of these options,” said Locker.

The decision basically depends on which ground needs more help for next season.

Scourton would be a much-needed boon to the pass rush. He had more success in the Big Ten than the SEC, but still had 17 sacks during his career. He projects as a solid player that should be better against the pass.

The Aggies product already boasts a solid pass rush set. Given that a defensive tackle leads New Orleans in sacks, they can certainly use a boost off the edge. Carl Granderson has regressed a little bit and Chase Young hasn’t been much of an improvement.

In a surprising turn of events, though, the Saints run defense has fallen off the edge too. Bryan Bresee has become a great pass rusher, but is a long way from solid against the run. Adding another stopper up the middle could be the perfect pair with him.

That’s exactly what Grant would be. Don’t ask him to get to the passer, but he doesn’t let much by him on the ground. He is a massive presence and recent All-American.

A drop in production from Scourton this year could scare New Orleans from potentially falling into the same trap of athletic defensive linemen. Grant is a lower-risk prospect and would immediately improve their line.

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Changes at defensive line coach paying off for Saints’ stars

The move to Brian Young as Saints defensive line coach has produced an uptick in Bryan Bresee, Cameron Jordan and Chase Young’s performance:

The changes at head coach and defensive line coach have been the most impactful changes of the New Orleans Saints’ season.

Switching from Dennis Allen to Darren Rizzi gave the team a needed shift in mentality and energy. One of the biggest moves Rizzi made was making the shift from Todd Grantham to Brian Young as the defensive line coach.

Since Young has taken over, the stars of the unit have blossomed in the pass rush. 10 sacks are in reach for Bryan Bresee. Cameron Jordan is making plays again. Chase Young is putting together consistent performances.

We look at the last two games, but you can trace the bump in consistency to the moment Brian Young took over, and Jordan and Chase Young have been the biggest benefactors.

Chase Young had sacks in back to back games after the coaching switch, only time this year. He later delivered a multi-sack game as well. Jordan’s first sack of the season came in Brian Young’s first game as defensive line coach.

While this may all feel coincidental, Jordan credited the coaching change for the Saints’ strong performance on the defensive line. This came on the heels of sacking Jayden Daniels eight times.

It’s not a coincidence. The Saints just have the right man leading the unit.

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Opposing kickers have struggled since Darren Rizzi became head coach

Since Darren Rizzi became interim head coach, opposing kickers have missed 75 percent of their field goals, and the Saints have 2 FG blocks

Apparently making your special teams coordinator your interim head coach earns you some good luck on the third phase of the game

Since Darren Rizzi has become the New Orleans Saints head coach, opposing kickers have struggled against New Orleans. Every team the Saints have faced since the coaching switch have missed a field goal, other than the Los Angeles Rams and they didn’t attempt a field goal.

The most notable miss was Bryan Bresee blocking Matt Gay’s field goal to seal a Saints win over the New York Giants. The play earned Bresee recognition as NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

It all started with Younghoe Koo and the Atlanta Falcons. Koo is a normally surefooted kicker, especially against New Orleans. He’d only missed two field goals versus the Saints coming into the game, and one was a blocked kick from beyond 60 yards.

In Week 10, Koo missed three field goals. That’s more field goals than he’d missed against the Saints in his whole career. It’s also the most kicks Koo has missed in a single game in his career.

In total, opposing teams are 2-of-8 on field goals since Rizzi has taken over. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. You be the judge.

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Bryan Bresee recognized as NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Bryan Bresee was recognized as the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He made the play of the day with a blocked field goal, but his whole game was impressive:

Congratulations are in order for Bryan Bresee, who was recognized as the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. The New Orleans Saints defensive tackle made the play of the day with a blocked field goal, but his whole game was impressive against the New York Giants.

Bresee was credited with a sack, two quarterback hits, a tackle for loss and two pass deflections on the afternoon, on top of his field goal block. That’s a really strong day for an interior lineman.

So good for him. That Bresee capped his afternoon with a game-winning effort on special teams just made his performance that much more exciting.

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Saints’ special teams was a tale of two halves vs. Giants

Special teams had their worst half of the season against the GIants, as described by Darren Rizzi. Then, they made the play of the day to close out the game:

Special teams is Darren Rizzi’s bread and butter, and it stood out for the majority of the New Orleans Saints’ Week 14 matchup against New York Giants. But the game’s third phase was in the spotlight for both good and bad reasons.

The two most notable moments on special teams were Rizzi letting loose on Matthew Hayball and Bryan Bresee leaping over the Giants’ blockers to block a game-tying field goals.

The stark contradiction between those moments is a good representation in the difference between each half of play.

Rizzi was extremely disappointed in the way his unit performed at the beginning of the game. “Our special teams had one of, maybe the worst half of the year in the first half.”

Things changed in quarters three and four. “We turned around and made some plays there in the second half. It’s kind of ironic that we ended up winning the game on a special teams play because we were having one of our worst days in recent memory.”

That improvement is highlighted by Bresee’s phenomenal play, but Hayball redeemed himself with two, much more successful, punts later in the game.

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