The New Orleans Saints are still in the early stages of training camp, but one of the team’s newest additions, former Buffalo Bills guard David Edwards, believes the offense is already beginning to establish its identity on the ground.
Speaking with the media after practice, the veteran offensive lineman said the biggest strength of the Saints’ backfield is that every running back brings something different, giving the coaching staff plenty of options when building the rushing attack.
He pointed to
new Saints running back Travis Etienne Jr. as a player whose patience separates him.
“I think the beauty of Travis is his ability to start and stop and kind of have this patience behind the line of scrimmage as well as at the line of scrimmage,” he said. “Then make a decision and go is really special and unique.”
He also praised Alvin Kamara’s ability to change a game with one touch.
“What’s really special and unique about AK is I feel like that guy can hit a home run at any second,” he said. “His twitchiness, athleticism and burst is really unique.”
Rather than asking every running back to do the same thing, Kellen Moore and the coaching staff are working to put each player in positions that fit his skill set.
“You’ve got to find a certain balance between, ‘This guy does this well. This guy does that well,’ and then ultimately letting the guy cut it loose and play free and have fun,” he said.
That approach also refers to the blocking schemes up front. The veteran said New Orleans has been installing both zone and gap concepts throughout camp, giving the offense multiple ways to attack defenses while emphasizing the details behind every play.
“I think there’s been some great zone schemes that we’ve been activating, there’s great gap stuff,” he said. “It’s all the same stuff that I’ve kind of been accustomed to, but it’s been really cool to have the nuance and the detail.”
He added that the Saints’ coaching staff has done a good job making sure everyone on offense understands not only their own job, but how every position works together.
“I really believe our coaches have done a great job of incorporating the entire unit, 11 players working as one, to accomplish a great play. The best part is we’re still installing,” he said. “Once that full package is in, and you can activate a gap scheme, a zone scheme, a keeper, a play action, out of all these different formations, I just feel like that’s going to serve you well as an offense.”
Like every offensive line around the league this time of year, much of the focus has been on fundamentals. The emphasis has been on technique, footwork and building good habits before the physical work ramps up as the Saints had their first practice in pads on Monday.
“There are certainly clips and reps that we’ve had where you can reference and say, ‘Hey guys, this is exactly how we want to do it,'” he said. “There’s a lot of good things that we’ve done so far, and there’s a lot of stuff that we’ve got to clean up and be better at, but there are a lot of things we can point to right now and say, ‘Hey guys, this is what we’re hunting up.'”
The Saints still have plenty of work ahead before their season opener against the Detroit Lions on the road, but the early signs indicate the offensive line and running backs are beginning to develop the chemistry needed to make the ground game a reliable part of the offense.
