Could the next New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator have been flying under the radar this entire time? Luke Getsy is interviewing with Dennis Allen in New Orleans on Wednesday after initially speaking with Saints brass remotely, as has been the case for all of their meetings during this hiring cycle. What’s interesting is that Getsy’s first interview was unreported.
And what’s concerning is his poor performance with the Chicago Bears the last two years. The Bears (and young quarterback Justin Fields) made only incremental progress during Getsy’s two seasons calling plays. So what would he bring to the New Orleans offense? Why are the Saints so interested in him?
Let’s look at his results in one area Saints fans have been clamoring for improvement: the run game. The Bears ranked second in the NFL in both rushing attempts (31.4 per game) and rushing yards (141.1 per game), averaging a very-good 2.9 yards before contact per carry (tied for fourth-most). His offensive line was moving teams and winning their battles up front. That was the case last year, too, when Chicago placed third with 3.4 yards before contact per carry.
Now that all sounds great. But there’s one complicating factor to consider. Justin Fields ranked second in rushing attempts for the Bears in each of the last two seasons, totaling 124 and 160 carries, respectively. That’s not something the Saints are going to get out of Derek Carr who has always played as a pocket passer. He totaled 32 carries this season and has never ran more than 40 times in a single year.
But it is something the Saints could get out of Taysom Hill. He has averaged 83.5 carries per season over the last four years, and Hill is arguably their most explosive option on the ground; he’s led the team in yards per attempt during that span (among players with 10 or more carries each season). Maybe the Saints believe Getsy could get the offensive line right and get even more out of Hill by importing some of the plays designed for Fields.
That’s only part of the problem, though. The Saints found success using more play action and pre-snap motion to get advantageous looks for Carr on passing plays late in the season. If Getsy is tasked with continuing that trend, he’ll have to make it a greater priority than he did in Chicago. The Bears were a bottom-10 team in play action pass attempts in 2022 and just reached the middle of the pack in 2023. Carr has been one of the league’s most effective quarterbacks on play action passes in his career, so it would make sense for a new play caller to emphasize them.
And what about personnel tendencies? The Bears ran a lot of 11 and 12 personnel this year (on 39% and 23% of their first downs) while mixing in 21 personnel looks (13%) to get more tight ends on the field; the Saints leaned hard on 11 personnel (48%) and occasionally worked in a second tight end with 12 personnel (20%). With Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau both underutilized and under contract for 2024, maybe getting them more involved wouldn’t be a bad thing.
One aspect we shouldn’t overlook: run-pass option plays. The Saints mainly used them as a vehicle for setting up Hill’s runs, but Getsy’s Bears had some success throwing on RPO plays. They threw twice as often as New Orleans and gained the 11th-most passing yardage in the league on these plays. Carr has never used them with much volume (or had much success) but maybe that’s something Getsy could tap into.
There are reasons to believe Getsy could work out in New Orleans — if they hire him after all. There are also reasons for skepticism. He never got the Bears into the league’s top-20 teams in total yardage or points scored. Effective as they were on the ground, Chicago fielded a mediocre-at-best passing attack even after loading up with weapons and better protection for Fields in 2023. How much of that is on Fields and how much is on Getsy is still being argued, but what’s clear is that Getsy wouldn’t just be installing his own offense in New Orleans. He’d have to adapt it to the players available and, particularly, his quarterback.
Getsy isn’t the best candidate in this hiring cycle. The Saints are waiting to see how things play out with one or both of the San Francisco 49ers candidates, Klint Kubiak and Brian Griese. The best options have already been hired away so the Saints and other teams still in the hunt have to settle for a second-tier candidate (which is also true for those being hired — these are second-tier jobs). As we’ve discussed, the Saints may have to hire someone who is a retread or desperate for the opportunity to call plays and pad out their resume. To that end, guys like Getsy and Kubiak fit the description.
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